Secret des Champdoce. English

  CHAPTER XV.

  A STAB IN THE DARK.

  September had now arrived; and though the weather was very bad, the Dukede Champdoce, accompanied by his faithful old servant, Jean, left Parison a visit to his training stables. Having had a serious difference withDiana, he had made up his mind to try whether a long absence on his partwould not have the effect of reducing her to submission, and at thesame time remembering the proverb, that "absence makes the heart growfonder."

  He had already been away two whole days, and was growing extremelyanxious at not having heard from Madame de Mussidan, when one evening,as he was returning from a late inspection of his stud, he was informedthat there was a man waiting to see him. The man was a poor old fellowbelonging to the place, who eked out a wretched subsistence by begging,and executing occasional commissions.

  "Do you want me?" asked the Duke.

  With a sly look, the man drew from his pocket a letter.

  "This is for you," muttered he.

  "All right; give it to me, then."

  "I was told to give it to you only in private."

  "Never mind that; hand it over."

  "Well, if I must, I must."

  Norbert's sole thought was that this letter must have come from Diana,and throwing the man a coin, hurried to a spot where it was light enoughto read the missive. He did not, however, recognize Diana's firm, boldhand on the envelope.

  "Who the devil can this be from?" thought Norbert, as he tore openthe outer covering. The paper within was soiled and greasy, and thehandwriting was of the vilest description, it was full of bad spelling,and ran thus:--

  "Sir,--

  "I hardly dare tell you the truth, and yet my conscience will give meno relief until I do so. I can no longer bear to see a gentleman such asyou are deceived by a woman who has no heart or honorable feeling. Yourwife is unfaithful to you, and will soon make you a laughing stock toall. You may trust to this being true, for I am a respectable woman,and you can easily find out if I am lying to you. Hide yourself thisevening, so that you may command a view of the side-door in the wallof your garden, and between half-past ten and eleven you will see yourwife's lover enter. It is a long time since he has been furnished witha key. The hour for the meeting has been judiciously fixed, for all theservants will be out; but I implore you not to be violent, for I wouldnot do your wife any harm, but I feel that you ought to be warned.

  "From one

  "WHO KNOWS."

  Norbert ran through the contents of this infamous anonymous letter in aninstant. The blood surged madly through his brain, and he uttered a howlof fury. His servants ran in to see what was the matter.

  "Where is the fellow who brought this letter?" said he. "Run after himand bring him back to me."

  In a few minutes the sturdy grooms made their appearance, pushing in themessenger, who seemed over-powered with tears.

  "I am not a thief," exclaimed he. "It was given to me, but I will giveit back."

  He was alluding to the louis given to him by Norbert, for the largenessof the sum made him think that the donor had made a mistake.

  "Keep the money," said the Duke; "I meant it for you; but tell me whogave this letter to you."

  "I can't tell you," answered the man. "If I ever saw him before, may mynext glass of wine choke me. He got out of a cab just as I was passingnear the bridge, and calling to me, said, 'Look at this letter; athalf-past seven take it to the Duke de Champdoce, who lives by hisstables in the road to the Forest. Do you know the place?' 'Yes,' Isays, and then he slips the letter and a five-franc piece into my hand,got back into the cab, and off he went."

  "What was the man like?" asked he.

  "Well, I can hardly say. He wasn't young or old, or short or tall.I recollect he had a gold watch-chain on, but that was about all Inoticed."

  "Very well; you can be off."

  At this moment Norbert's anger was turned against the writer ofthe letter only, for he did not place the smallest credence in theaccusations against his wife. If he did not love her, he at any raterespected her. "My wife," said he to himself, "is an honorable andvirtuous woman, and it is some discharged menial who has taken thiscowardly mode of revenge." A closer inspection of the letter seemed toshow him that the faults in caligraphy were intentional. The concludingportion of the letter excited his attention, and, calling Jean, he askedhim if it was true that all the servants would be absent from the houseto-day.

  "There will be none there this evening; not until late at night,"answered the old man.

  "And why, pray?"

  "Have you forgotten, your Grace, that the first coachman is going to bemarried, and the Duchess was good enough to say that all might go to thewedding dinner and ball, as long as some one remained at the porter'slodge?"

  After the first outburst, Norbert affected an air of calmness, andlaughed at the idea of having permitted himself to be disturbed for sotrivial a cause. But this was mere pretence, for doubt and suspicion hadentered his soul, and no power on earth could expel them. "Why shouldnot my wife be unfaithful to me?" thought Norbert. "I give her creditfor being honorable and right-minded, but then all deceived husbandshave the same idea. Why should I not take advantage of this information,and judge for myself? But no. I will not stoop to such an act ofbaseness. I should be as infamous as the writer of this letter if Iwas to play the spy, as she recommends me to do." He glanced round,and perceived that his servants were looking at him with undisguisedcuriosity.

  "Go to your work," said he. "Extinguish the lights, and see that all thedoors and windows are carefully closed."

  He had made up his mind now, and taking out his watch, saw that it wasjust eight o'clock. "I have time to reach Paris," muttered he, "by theappointed time." Then he called Jean to him again. There was no need toconceal anything from this trusty adherent of the house of Champdoce. "Imust start for Paris," said the Duke, "without an instant's delay."

  "On account of that letter?" asked the old man with an expression of thedeepest sorrow upon his features.

  "Yes, for that reason only."

  "Some one has been making false charges against the Duchess."

  "How do you know that?"

  "It was easy enough to guess."

  "Have the carriage got ready, and tell the coachman to wait for me infront of the club. I myself will go on foot."

  "You must not do that," answered Jean gravely. "The servants may haveconceived the same suspicions as I have. You ought to creep away withoutany one being a bit the wiser. The other domestics need not even supposethat you have left the house. I can get you a horse out of the littlestables without any one being the wiser. I will wait for you on theother side of the bridge."

  "Good; but remember that I have not a moment to lose."

  Jean left the room, and as he reached the passage Norbert heard him sayto one of the servants, "Put some cold supper on the table; the Dukesays that he is starving."

  Norbert went into his bedroom, put on a great coat and a pair of highboots, and slipped into his pocket a revolver, the charges of which hehad examined with the greatest care. The night was exceedingly dark, afine, icy rain was falling, and the roads were very heavy. Norbert foundJean with the horse at the appointed spot, and as he leaped into thesaddle the Duke exclaimed, "Not a soul saw me leave the house."

  "Nor I either," returned the attached domestic. "I shall go back andact as if you were at supper. At three in the morning I will be in thewine-shop on the left-hand side of the road. When you return, give agentle tap on the window-pane with the handle of your whip." Norbertsprang into the saddle, and sped away through the darkness like aphantom of the night. Jean had made an excellent choice in the horse hehad brought for his master's use, and the animal made its way rapidlythrough the mud and rain; but Norbert by this time was half mad withexcitement, and spurred him madly on. As he neared home a new ideacrossed his brain. Suppose it was a practical joke on the part ofsome of the members of the club? In that case, they would doubtlessbe watching for his arrival, and, a
fter talking to him on indifferentsubjects, would, when he betrayed any symptoms of impatience, overwhelmhim with ridicule. The fear of this made him cautious. What should he dowith the horse he was riding? The wine-shops were open, and perhaps hemight pick up some man there who would take charge of it for him. As hewas debating this point, his eyes fell upon a soldier, probably on hisway to barracks.

  "My man," asked the Duke, "would you like to earn twenty francs?"

  "I should think so, if it is nothing contrary to the rules andregulations of the army."

  "It is only to take my horse and walk him up and down while I pay avisit close by."

  "I can stay out of the barracks a couple of hours longer, but no more,"returned the soldier.

  Norbert told the soldier where he was to wait for him, and then went onrapidly to his own house, and reached the side street along which ranthe garden belonging to his magnificent residence. On the opposite sideof the street the houses all had porticoes, and Norbert took up hisposition in one of these, and peered out carefully. He had studied thewhole street, which was not a long one, from beginning to end, and wasconvinced that he was the only person in it. He made up his mind that hewould wait until midnight; and if by that time no one appeared, he wouldfeel confident that the Duchess was innocent, and return without any onebut Jean having known of his expedition. From his position he could seethat three windows on the second floor of his house were lighted up, andthose windows were in his wife's sleeping apartment. "She is the lastwoman in the world to permit a lover to visit her," thought he. "No, no;the whole thing is a hoax." He began to think of the way in which hehad treated his wife. Had he nothing to reproach himself with? Ten daysafter their marriage he had deserted her entirely; and if during thelast few weeks he had paid her any attention, it was because he wasacting in obedience to the whims of another woman. Suppose a lover waswith her now, what right had he to interfere? The law gave him leave,but what did his conscience say? He leaned against the chill stone untilhe almost became as cold as it was. It seemed to him at that moment thatlife and hope were rapidly drifting away from him. He had lost all countof how long he had been on guard. He pulled out his watch, but it wastoo dark to distinguish the hands or the figures on the dial-plate. Aneighboring clock struck the half-hour, but this gave him no clue asto the time. He had almost made up his mind to leave, when he heard thesound of a quick step coming down the street. It was the light, quickstep of a sportsman,--of a man more accustomed to the woods and fieldsthan the pavement and asphalt of Paris. Then a shadow fell upon theopposite wall, and almost immediately disappeared. Then Norbert knewthat the door had opened and closed, and that the man had entered thegarden. There could be no doubt upon this point, and yet the Duke wouldhave given worlds to be able to disbelieve the evidence of his senses.It might be a burglar, but burglars seldom work alone; or it might bea visitor to one of the servants, but all the servants were absent. Heagain raised his eyes to the windows of his wife's room. All of a suddenthe light grew brighter; either the lamp had been turned up, or freshcandles lighted. Yes, it was a candle, for he saw it borne across theroom in the direction of the great staircase, and now he saw that theanonymous letter had spoken the truth, and that he was on the brink of adiscovery. A lover had entered the garden, and the lighted candle was asignal to him. Norbert shuddered; the blood seemed to course throughhis veins like streams of molten fire, and the misty atmosphere thatsurrounded him appeared to stifle him. He ran across the street, forcedthe lock, and rushed wildly into the garden.