CHAPTER XXVII.
A CRUEL SLUR.
Florestan had conducted Tantaine to the sumptuous library, in which theCount had received Mascarin's visit; and, to pass away the time, the oldman took a mental inventory of the contents of the room. He tried thetexture of the curtains, looked at the handsome bindings of the books,and admired the magnificent bronzes on the mantelpiece.
"Aha," muttered he, as he tried the springs of a luxurious armchair,"everything is of the best, and when matters are settled, I half thinkthat I should like a resting-place just like this----"
He checked himself, for the door opened, and the Count made hisappearance, calm and dignified, but very pale. Tantaine made a low bow,pressing his greasy hat against his breast.
"Your humble servant to command," said he.
The Count had come to a sudden halt.
"Excuse me," said he, "but did you send up a card asking for aninterview?"
"I am not Mascarin certainly, but I used that highly respectablegentleman's name, because I knew that my own was totally unknown to you.I am Tantaine, Adrien Tantaine."
M. de Mussidan gazed with extreme surprise upon the squalid individualbefore him. His mild and benevolent face inspired confidence, and yet hedoubted him.
"I have come on the same business," pursued the old man. "I have beenordered to tell you that it must be hurried on."
The Count hastily closed the door and locked it; the manner of this manmade him feel even too plainly the ignominy of his position.
"I understand," answered he. "But how is it that you have come, and notthe other one?"
"He intended to come; but at the last moment he drew back; Mascarin, yousee, has a great deal to lose, while I----" He paused, and holding upthe tattered tails of his coat, turned round, as though to exhibit hisshabby attire. "All my property is on my back," continued he.
"Then I can treat with you?" asked the Count.
Tantaine nodded his head. "Yes, Count, I have the missing leaves fromthe Baron's journal, and also, well--I suppose you know everything, allof your wife's correspondence."
"Enough," answered the Count, unable to hide his disgust. "Sit down."
"Now, Count, I will go to the point--are you going to put the police onus?"
"I have said that I would do nothing of the kind."
"Then we can get to business."
"Yes, if----"
The old man shrugged his shoulders.
"There is no 'if' in the case," returned he. "We state our conditions,for acceptance or rejection."
These words were uttered in a tone of such extreme insolence that theCount was strongly tempted to hurl the extortionate scoundrel from thewindow, but he contrived to restrain his passion.
"Let us hear the conditions then," said he impatiently.
Tantaine extracted from some hidden recess of his coat a much-wornpocketbook, and drew from it a paper.
"Here are our conditions," returned he slowly. "The Count de Mussidanpromises to give the hand of his daughter to Henri Marquis deCroisenois. He will give his daughter a wedding portion of six hundredthousand francs, and promises that the marriage shall take place withoutdelay. The Marquis de Croisenois will be formally introduced at yourhouse, and he must be cordially received. Four days afterwards he mustbe asked to dinner. On the fifteenth day from that M. de Mussidan willgive a grand ball in honor of the signing of the marriage contract. Theleaves from the diary and the whole of the correspondence will be handedto M. de Mussidan as soon as the civil ceremony is completed."
With firmly compressed lips and clenched hands, the Count sat listeningto these conditions.
"And who can tell me," said he, "that you will keep your engagements,and that these papers will be restored to me at all?"
Tantaine looked at him with a air of pity.
"Your own good sense," answered he. "What more could we expect to getout of you than your daughter and your money?"
The Count did not answer, but paced up and down the room, eyeing theambassador keenly, and endeavoring to detect some weak point in hismanner of cynicism and audacity. Then speaking in the calm tone of a manwho had made up his mind, he said,--
"You hold me as in a vice, and I admit myself vanquished. Stringent asyour conditions are, I accept them."
"That is the right style of way to talk in," remarked Tantainecheerfully.
"Then," continued the Count, with a ray of hope gleaming in his face,"why should I give my daughter to De Croisenois at all?--surely thisis utterly unnecessary. What you want is simply six hundred thousandfrancs; well, you can have them, and leave me Sabine."
He paused and waited for the reply, believing that the day was his; buthe was wrong.
"That would not be the same thing at all," answered Tantaine. "We shouldnot gain our ends by such means."
"I can do more," said the Count. "Give me six months, and I will add amillion to the sum I have already offered."
Tantaine did not appear impressed by the magnitude of this offer. "Ithink," remarked he, "that it will be better to close this interview,which, I confess, is becoming a little annoying. You agreed to acceptthe conditions. Are you still in that mind?"
The Count bowed. He could not trust himself to speak.
"Then," went on Tantaine, "I will take my leave. Remember, that as youfulfil your engagement, so we will keep to ours."
He had laid his hand on the handle of the door, when the Count said,--
"Another word, if you please. I can answer for myself and Madame deMussidan, but how about my daughter?"
Tantaine's face changed. "What do you mean?" asked he.
"My daughter may refuse to accept M. de Croisenois."
"Why should she? He is good-looking, pleasant, and agreeable."
"Still she may refuse him."
"If mademoiselle makes any objection," said the old man in peremptoryaccents, "you must let me see her for a few minutes, and after that youwill have no further difficulty with her."
"Why, what could you have to say to my daughter?"
"I should say----"
"Well, what would you say?"
"I should say that if she loves any one, it is not M. de Breulh." Heendeavored to pass through the half-opened door, but the Count closed itviolently.
"You shall not leave this room," cried he, "until you have explainedthis insulting remark."
"I had no intention of offending you," answered Tantaine humbly."I only----" He paused, and then, with an air of sarcasm which satstrangely upon a person of his appearance, went on, "I am aware thatthe heiress of a noble family may do many things without having herreputation compromised, when girls in a lower social grade would beforever lost by the commission of any one of them; and I am sure if thefamily of M. de Breulh knew that the young lady to whom he was engagedhad been in the habit of passing her afternoons alone with a young manin his studio----"
He paused, and hastily drew a revolver, for it seemed to him as if theCount were about to throw himself upon him. "Softly, softly, if youplease," cried he. "Blows and insults are fatal mistakes. I have betterinformation than yourself, that is all. I have more than ten times seenyour daughter enter a house in the Rue Tour d'Auvergne, and asking forM. Andre, creep silently up the staircase."
The Count felt that he was choking. He tore off his cravat, and criedwildly, "Proofs! Give me proofs!"
During the last five minutes Tantaine had shifted his ground soskilfully that the heavy library table now stood between himself and theCount, and he was comparatively safe behind this extemporized defence.
"Proofs?" answered he. "Do you think that I carry them about with me? Ina week I could give you the lovers' correspondence. That, you will say,is too long to wait; but you can set your doubts at rest at once. If yougo to the address I will give you before eight to-morrow morning, andenter the rooms occupied by M. Andre, you will find the portraitof Mademoiselle Sabine carefully concealed from view behind a greencurtain, and a very good portrait it is. I presume you will admit thatit
could not have been executed without a sitting."
"Leave this," cried the Count, "without a moment's delay."
Tantaine did not wait for a repetition of these words. He passed throughthe doorway, and as soon as he was outside he called out in cheerfulaccents. "Do not forget the address, Number 45, Rue Tour d'Auvergne,name of Andre, and mind and be there before eight a.m."
The Count made a rush at him on hearing this last insult, but he wastoo late, for Tantaine slammed the door, and was in the hall before theinfuriated master of the house could open it. Tantaine had resumedall his airs of humility, and took off his hat to the footmen as hedescended the steps. "Yes," muttered he, as he walked along, "the ideawas a happy one. Andre knows that he is watched, and will be careful;and now that M. de Mussidan is aware that his sweet, pure daughterhas had a lover, he will be only too happy to accept the Marquis deCroisenois as his son-in-law." Tantaine believed that Sabine was moreculpable than she really had been, for the idea of pure and honorablelove had never entered his brain.