XXXI.
For a few moments the fatigue of the old dealer seemed to havedisappeared. He was sitting up straight, with tremulous lips, withflashing eyes, and continued in a strangely strident voice,--
"Fools alone attach no weight to trifling occurrences. And still itis those that appear most insignificant which we ought to fear most,because they alone determine our fate, precisely as an atom of sanddismembers the most powerful engine.
"It was on a fine afternoon in the month of October when Sarah Brandonappeared for the first time before the eyes of Malgat. He was at thattime a man of forty, sprung from an old and respectable though modestfamily, content with his lot in life, and rather simple, as most menare who have always lived far from the intrigues of society. He hadone passion, however,--he filled the five rooms of his lodgingswith curiosities of every kind, happy for a week to come, if he haddiscovered a piece of old china, or a curious piece of furniture, whichhe could purchase cheap. He was not rich, his whole patrimony havingbeen long since spent on his collections; but he had a place thatbrought him some three thousand dollars; and he was sure of an amplepension in his old age.
"He was honest in the highest sense of the word; his honesty beinginstinctive, so to say, never reasoning, never hesitating. For fifteenyears now, he had been cashier; and hundreds of millions had passedthrough his hands without arousing in him a shadow of covetousness. Hehandled the gold in the bags, and the notes in the portfolios, withas much indifference as if they had been pebbles and dry leaves. Hisemployers, besides, felt for him more than ordinary esteem: it was trueand devoted friendship. Their confidence in him was so great, that theywould have laughed in the face of any one who should have come and toldthem, 'Malgat is a thief!'
"Such he was, when, that morning, he was standing near his safe, and sawa gentleman come to his window who had just cashed a check drawn bythe Central Bank of Philadelphia upon the Mutual Discount Bank. Thisgentleman, who was M. Elgin, spoke such imperfect French, that Malgatasked him, for convenience sake, to step inside the railing. He came in,and behind him Sarah Brandon.
"How can I describe to you the sensations of the poor cashier as hebeheld this amazing beauty! He could hardly stammer out a few incoherentwords; and the gentleman and the young lady had long since left, whenhe was still lost in a kind of idiotic delight. He had been overtaken byone of those overwhelming passions which sometimes felled to the groundthe strongest and simplest of men at the age of forty.
"Alas! Sarah had but too keenly noticed the impression she had produced.To be sure, Malgat was very far from that ideal of a millionaire husbandof whom these adventurers dreamed; but, after all, he held the keys ofa safe in which lay millions. One might always get something out of himwherewith to wait for better things to come. Their plan was soon formed.
"The very next day M. Elgin presented himself alone at the office to askfor some information. He returned three days after with another draft.By the end of the week, he had furnished Malgat with an opportunity torender him some trifling service. Thus relations began to existbetween them; and, at the end of a fortnight, Sir Thorn could, with allpropriety, ask the cashier to dine with him in Circus Street. A voicefrom within--one of those presentiments to which we ought always tolisten--warned Malgat not to accept the invitation; but he was alreadyno longer his own master.
"He went to dinner in Circus Street, and he left it madly in love.
"He had felt as if Sarah Brandon's eyes had been all the time uponhim,--those strange, sublimely beautiful eyes, which upset our verybeing within us, weakening the most powerful energy, troubling thesenses, and leading reason astray--eyes which dazzle, enchant, andbewitch.
"The commonest politeness required that Malgat should call upon Mrs.Brian and M. Elgin. This call was followed by many others. A man lessblinded by passion might have become suspicious at the eagerness withwhich these wretches, driven by necessity, carried on their intrigue.Six weeks after their first meeting, Malgat fancied that Sarah waswildly in love with him. It was absurd, most assuredly; it was foolish,insane. Nevertheless, he believed it. He thought those rapturous glanceswere genuine; he believed in the truthfulness of that intoxicatingsweetness of her voice, and those enchanting blushes, which his comingnever failed to call forth.
"Now began the second act of the hideous comedy. Mrs. Brian appeared oneday, all of a sudden, to notice something, and promptly requested Malgatnever to put foot again within that house. She accused him of an attemptto seduce Sarah Brandon. I dare say, you can imagine, the fool! how heprotested, affirming the purity of his intentions, and swearing that hewould be the happiest of mortals if they would condescend to grant himthe hand of her niece. But Sir Thorn, in the haughtiest tone possible,asked him how he could dare think of such a thing, and presume thathe could ever be a fit match for a young lady who had a dower of twohundred thousand dollars.
"Malgat left with tottering steps, despair in his heart, and resolved tokill himself. When he returned home, he actually went to look among hiscuriosities for an old flint-lock pistol, and began to load it.
"Ah! why did he not kill himself then? He would have carried hisdeceptive illusions and his unstained honor with him to the grave.
"He was just about to make his will when they brought him a letter fromSarah. She wrote thus:--
"'When a girl like myself loves, she loves for life, and she is hiswhom she loves, or she is nobody's. If your love is true, if dangers anddifficulties terrify you no more than they terrify me, knock to-morrownight, at ten o'clock, at the gate of the court. I will open.'
"Mad with joy and hope, Malgat went to the fatal meeting. Do you knowwhat happened? Sarah fell around his neck, and said,--
"'I love you. Let us run away.'
"Ah! if he had taken her at her word, and answered her, offering her hisarm,--
"'Yes, let us flee,' the plot might have been defeated, and he mighthave been saved; for she would certainly not have gone with him.
"But with that clear perception which was a perfect marvel in her, andlooked like the gift of second sight, she had taken the measure of thecashier, and exposed herself to the danger, well-knowing that he wouldshrink from doing what she asked.
"He did shrink, the idiot! he was afraid. He said to himself that itwould be a mean thing to abuse the attachment of this pure and trustfulgirl, to separate her from her family, and to ruin her forever.
"He did have this wonderful power of self-denial to dissuade her fromtaking such a step, and to induce her to be patient, giving time anopportunity of coming to their assistance, while he would do all hecould to overcome the obstacles in the way.
"For hours after he had left Sarah Brandon, Malgat had not recoveredfrom the excitement; and he would have thought the whole a dream, butfor the penetrating perfume which his clothes still retained where shehad rested her beautiful head. But, when he at last began to examinehis position, he came to the conclusion that he had indulged in childishillusions, and that he could never hope to satisfy the demands made byM. Elgin and Mrs. Brian. There _was_ but one way, a single way, bywhich he could ever hope to obtain possession of this woman whomhe worshipped; and that was the one she had herself proposed,--anabduction. To determine upon such a step, however, was for Malgat to endhis peaceful life forever, to lose his place, to abandon the past, andto venture upon an unknown future. But how could he reason at a momentwhen his whole mind was filled with thoughts of the most amazinghappiness that ever was enjoyed by mortal being?
"Whenever he thought of flight, there arose before him one obstaclewhich he could not overcome. He had no money. How could he expose thisrich heiress, who left all for his sake, this beautiful girl, who wasaccustomed to every imaginable luxury, to want and humiliation? No; thathe could never dare. And yet his whole available capital did not amountto three thousand dollars. His fortune was invested in those curiositiesthat were piled up all over his rooms,--beautiful objects to his eyesin former days, but now hateful, and annoying to behold. He knewthey represented a large su
m, quite a respectable fortune; but suchcollections cannot be sold overnight; and time was pressing.
"He had seen Sarah several times secretly; and each time she hadappeared to him more mournful and dejected. She could bring him nothingbut most distressing news. Mrs. Brian spoke of giving her in marriage toa friend of hers. M. Elgin proposed to take her abroad. And, with suchtroubles filling his head, the poor cashier had to attend to hisdaily duties, and from morning till night receive tens and hundreds ofthousands; and never yet, I swear it, the thought occurred to him oftaking a small fraction of these treasures.
"He had determined to sell all his collections as a whole, at any pricehe could get, when one day, a few moments before the office closed, alady appeared, whose ample dress concealed her figure, while a thickveil completely shrouded her features.
"This lady raised her veil. It was she. It was Sarah Brandon.
"Malgat begged her to enter. He was overcome. What new misfortune hadhappened to induce her to take such a step? She told him in a few words.
"Sir Thorn had found out their secret meetings: he had told her to beready to start for Philadelphia the next morning.
"The crisis had come. They must choose now between two things,--eitherto flee that very day, or be separated forever.
"Ah! never had Sarah been so beautiful as at this moment, when sheseemed to be maddened by grief; never had her whole personal beautyexhaled such powerful, such irresistible charms. Her breath went andcame, causing her almost to sob at every respiration; and big tears,like scattered beads from a chaplet of pearls, rolled down her palecheeks.
"Malgat stood a moment before her, stunned by the blow; and theimminence of the danger extorted from him a confession of the reasonsthat had made him hesitate so long. He told her, cruelly humiliated bythe avowal, that he had no money.
"But she rose when she heard it, as if she had been stung by an insult,and repeated with crushing irony,--
"'No money? No money?'
"And when Malgat, more heartily ashamed of his poverty than he couldhave been of a crime, blushed to the roots of his hair, she pointed atthe immense safe, which overflowed with gold and bank-notes, and said,--
"'And what is all that?'
"Malgat jumped up, and stood before the safe, his arms far outstretched,as if to defend it, and said in an accent of ineffable terror,--
"'What are you thinking of? And my honor?'
"This was to be his last effort to preserve his honor. Sarah looked himstraight in the face, and said slowly,--
"'And my honor! My honor is nothing to you? Do I not give myself? Do youmean to drive a bargain?'
"Great God! She said this with an accent and with a look which wouldhave tempted an angel. Malgat fell helpless into a chair.
"Then she came close up to him, and, casting upon him those burningglances which blazed with superhuman audacity, she sighed,--
"'If you loved me really! Ah, if you really loved me!'
"And she bent over him, tremulous with passion, watching his features soclosely, that their lips nearly touched.
"'If you loved me as I love you,' she whispered again.
"It was all over; Malgat was lost. He drew Sarah towards him, and said,kissing her,--
"'Very well then. Yes!'
"She immediately disengaged herself, and with eager hands seized oneparcel of bank-notes after another, pushing them into a little moroccobag which she held in her hand. And, when the bag was full, she said,--
"'Now we are safe. To-night at ten o'clock, at the gate of the court-yard, with a carriage. To-morrow, at daybreak, we shall be out ofFrance, and free. Now we are bound to each other forever,--and I loveyou!'
"And she went away. And he let her go away."
The old gentleman had become ghastly white, his few hairs seemed tostand on end, and large drops of perspiration inundated his face as heswallowed at a gulp a cup of tea, and then went on, laughing bitterly,--
"You suppose, no doubt, that, _when_ Sarah had left him, Malgat came tohimself? By no means. It seemed as if, with that kiss, with which shehad paid him for his crime, the infamous creature had inspired him withthe same genius for evil that was in her.
"Far from repenting, he rejoiced at what had been done; and when helearned, that, on the following day, the board of directors were to meetto examine the books, he laughed at the faces they would make; forI told you he was mad. With all the coolness of a hardened thief, hecalculated the total amount of what had been abstracted: it was fourhundred thousand francs. Immediately, in order to conceal the true stateof things, he took his books, and, with almost diabolic skill, alteredthe figures, and changed the entries, so as to make it appear that thedefalcation was of long date, and that various sums had been abstractedfor several months. When he had finished his fearful task, he wrote tothe board a hypocritical letter, in which he stated that he had robbedthe safe in order to pay his differences on 'Change, and that now, whenhe could no longer conceal his crime, he was going to commit suicide.When this was done, he left his office, as if nothing had happened.
"The proof that he acted under the incomprehensible influence of a kindof hallucination is this, that he felt neither remorse nor fear. As hewas resolved not to return to his house, nor to encumber himself withluggage, he dined at a restaurant, spent a few minutes at a theatre, andthen posted his letter to the board of directors, so that it might reachthem early in the morning.
"At ten o'clock he knocked at the gate of the house in Circus Street. Aservant came and opened, saying in a mysterious manner,--
"'Please go up. The young lady is waiting.'
"A terrible presentiment seized him at that moment, and chilled him tothe marrow in his bones. In the parlor Sarah was sitting on a sofa, andMaxime de Brevan by her side. They were laughing so loud, that he heardthem in the anteroom. When Malgat entered, she raised her head with adissatisfied air, and said rudely,--
"'Ah! It is you. What do you want now?'
"Surely, such a reception ought to have disabused the unfortunate man.But no! When he began to stammer some explanations, she interrupted him,saying,--
"'Let us speak frankly. You come to run away with me, don't you? Well,that is simply nonsense. Look at yourself, my good friend, and tell meif a girl such as I am can be in love with a man like you. As to thatsmall loan, it does not pay me, I assure you, by half, for the sublimelittle comedy which I have had to play. Believe me, at all events, whenI tell you that I have taken all my precautions so as not to be troubledby anything you may say or do. And now, sir, I wish you good-evening;or must I go?'
"Ah! she might have spoken a long time yet, and Malgat would not havethought of interrupting her. The fearful truth broke all of a suddenupon him; and he felt as if the whole world were going to pieces.He understood the enormity of the crime; he discerned the fatalconsequences, and knew he was ruined. A thousand voices arose from hisconscience, telling him, 'You are a thief! You are a forger! You aredishonored!'
"But, when he saw Sarah Brandon get up to leave the room, he was seizedwith an attack of furious rage, and threw himself upon her, crying,--
"'Yes, I am lost; but you shall die, Sarah Brandon!'
"Poor fool! who did not know that these wretches had, of course,foreseen his wrath, and prepared for the emergency. Supple, like one ofthose lost children of the gutter among whom she had lived once upon atime, Sarah Brandon escaped from Malgat's grasp, and by a clever trickthrew him upon an arm-chair. Before he could rise again, he was heldfast by Maxime de Brevan, and by M. Elgin, who had heard the noise, andrushed in from the adjoining room.
"The poor man did not attempt to resist. Why should he? Within him,moreover, a faint hope began to rise. It seemed to him impossible thatsuch a monstrous wrong could be carried out, and that he would have onlyto proclaim the wickedness of these wretches to have them in his power.
"'Let me go!' he said. 'I must go!'
"But they did not allow him to go as yet. They guessed what was going onin his mind. Sir Thorn asked hi
m coolly,--
"'Where do you think of going? Do you mean to denounce us? Have a care!You would only sacrifice yourself, without doing us any harm. If youthink you can use Sarah's letter, in which she appoints a meeting, as aweapon against us, you are mistaken. She did not write that letter; and,moreover, she can prove an alibi. You see we have prepared everythingfor this business during the last three months; and nothing has beenleft to chance. Do not forget that I have commissioned you twenty timesto buy or sell for me on 'Change, and that it was always done in yourname, at my request. How can you say you did not speculate on 'Change?'
"The poor cashier's heart sank within him. Had he not himself, forfear lest a suspicion should fall upon Sarah Brandon, told the boardof directors in his letter that he had been tempted by unluckyspeculations? Had he not altered the entries in the books in order toprove this assertion? Would they believe him if he were to tell thetruth? Whom could he ever hope to persuade that what was probable wasfalse, and that the improbable was true? Sir Thorn continued with hishorrid sneers,--
"'Have you forgotten the letters which you wrote me for the purpose ofborrowing money from me, and in which you confess your defalcations?Here they are. You can read them.'
"These letters, M. Champcey, are those which Sarah showed you; andMalgat was frightened out of his senses. He had never written suchletters; and yet there was his handwriting, imitated with such amazingperfection, that he began to doubt his own senses and his own reason. Heonly saw clearly that no one would look upon them as forgeries.
"Ah! Maxime de Brevan is an artist. His letter to the navy departmenthas, no doubt, proved it to you.
"Seeing Malgat thus stupefied, Sarah took the word, and said,--
"'Look here, my dear; I'll give you some advice. Here are ten thousandfrancs: take them, and run for your life. It is time yet to take thetrain for Brussels.'
"But he rose, and said,--
"'No! There is nothing left for me but to die. May my blood come uponyou!'
"And he rushed out, pursued by the insulting laugh of the wretches."
Amazed at the inconceivable boldness of this atrocious plot, Daniel andHenrietta were shuddering with horror. As to Mrs. Bertolle, she had sunkinto a chair, trembling in all her limbs. The old gentleman, however,continued with evident haste,--
"Whether Malgat did, or did not, commit suicide, he was never heard ofagain. The trial came on, and he was condemned _in contumaciam_ to tenyears' penal servitude. Sarah, also, was examined by a magistrate; butshe made it a success.
"And that was all. And this crime, one of the most atrocious everconceived by human wickedness, went to swell the long list of unpunishedoutrages. The robbers triumphed impudently in broad daylight. They hadfour hundred thousand francs. They could retire from business.
"No, indeed! Twenty thousand francs a year was far too little for theirimmoderate desires! They accepted this fortune as an installment onaccount on the future, and used it to wait patiently for new victims tobe stripped.
"Unfortunately, such victims would not show themselves. The house wasmounted upon a most expensive footing. M. de Brevan had, of course,claimed his share; Sir Thorn was a gambler; Sarah loved diamonds; andgrim Mrs. Brian had her own vices. In short, the hour came when dangerwas approaching; but, just at that moment, Sarah, looking around, metwith the unlucky victim she needed.
"This one was a handsome young man, almost a child yet, kind, generous,and chivalrous. He was an orphan, and came up from his province, hisheart full of illusions, and in his pockets his entire fortune,--a sumof five hundred thousand francs. His name was Charles de Kergrist.
"Maxime managed to bring him to the house in Circus Street. He sawSarah, and was dazzled. He loved her, and was lost.
"Ah! The poor fellow did not last long. At the end of five months, hishalf million was in the hands of Sarah. And, when he had not a centleft, she well-nigh forced him to write her three forged drafts,swearing, that, on the day on which they became due, she would take themup herself. But when the day came, and he called in Circus Street, hewas received as Malgat had been received. They told him that the forgeryhad been discovered: that suit had been brought; that he was ruined.They offered him, also, money to flee.
"Poor Kergrist! They had not miscalculated. Descended from a family inwhich a keen sense of honor had been hereditary for many generations,he did not hesitate. As soon as he left the house, he hanged himself onSarah's window, thinking that he would thus hold up to public censurethe infamous creature who had led him to commit a crime.
"Poor child! They had deceived him. He was not ruined. The forgery hadnever been discovered; the drafts had never been used at all. A carefulinvestigation revealed nothing against Sarah Brandon; but the scandalsof the suicide diminished her prestige. She felt it; and, giving up herdreams of greatness, she thought of marrying a fool who was immenselywealthy, M. Wilkie Gordon, when Sir Thorn spoke to her of CountVille-Handry.
"In fortune, name, and age, the count was exactly what Sarah had dreamedof so often. She threw herself upon him.
"How the old gentleman was drawn to Circus Street; how he wassurrounded, insnared, intoxicated, and finally made a husband--all thatyou know but too well, M. Champcey. But what you do not know is the factthat this marriage brought discord into the camp. M. de Brevan would nothear of it; and it was the hope he had of breaking it up, which madehim speak to you so frankly of Sarah Brandon. When you went to askhis advice, he was on bad terms with her: she had turned him off, andrefused to pay him any money. And he was so mortally offended, that hewould have betrayed her to the courts even, if he had known how to do itwithout inculpating himself.
"You were the very person to reconcile them again, inasmuch as you gaveMaxime an opportunity of rendering Sarah Brandon a great service.
"He did not then anticipate that she would ever fall in love withyou, and that she, in her turn, would have to succumb to one of thosedesperate passions which she had so often kindled in others, and usedfor her own advantage. This discovery made him furious; and Sarah'slove, and Maxime's rage, will explain to you the double plot bywhich you were victimized. Sarah, who loved you, wanted to get rid ofHenrietta, who was your betrothed: Maxime, stung by jealousy, wanted youto die."
Visibly overcome by fatigue, Papa Ravinet fell back in his chair, andremained silent for more than five minutes. Then he seemed to make onemore effort, and went on,--
"Now, let us sum up the whole. I know how Sarah, Sir Thorn, and Mrs.Brian have gone to work to rob Count Ville-Handry, and to ruin him. Iknow what they have done with the millions which they report were lostin speculations; and I have the evidence in my hand. Therefore, I canruin them, without reference to their other crimes. Crochard's affidavitalone suffices to ruin M. de Brevan. The two Chevassats, husband andwife, have caught themselves by keeping the four thousand francs yousent to Miss Henrietta. We have them safe, the wretches! The hour ofvengeance has come at last."
Henrietta did not let him conclude: she interrupted him, saying,--
"And my father, sir, my father?"
"M. Champcey will save him, madam."
Daniel had risen, deeply moved, and now asked,--
"What am I to do?"
"You must call on the Countess Sarah, and look as if you had forgottenall that has happened,--as far as she is concerned, Miss Henrietta."
The young officer blushed all over, and stammered painfully,--
"Ah, I cannot play that part! I would not be able."
But Henrietta stopped him. Laying her hand on his shoulder, and lookingdeep into the eyes of her betrothed, as if to search the very depths ofhis conscience, she said,--
"Have you reasons for hesitating?"
He hung his head, and said,--
"I shall go."