Castles in the Air

  5.

  Now in all this matter, I ask you, Sir, who ran the greatest risk?Why, I--Hector Ratichon, of course--Hector Ratichon, in whoseapartment M. de Firmin-Latour was discovered in a position borderingon absolute inanition. And the proof of this is, that that selfsamenight I was arrested at my lodgings at Passy, and charged with robberyand attempted murder.

  It was a terrible predicament for a respectable citizen, a man ofintegrity and reputation, in which to find himself; but PapaMosenstein was both tenacious and vindictive. His daughter, driven todesperation at last, and terrified that M. le Marquis had indeed beenfoully murdered by M. de Naquet, had made a clean breast of the wholeaffair to her father, and he in his turn had put the minions of thelaw in full possession of all the facts; and since M. le Comte deNaquet had vanished, leaving no manner of trace or clue of his personbehind him, the police, needing a victim, fell back on an innocentman. Fortunately, Sir, that innocence clear as crystal soon shinesthrough every calumny. But this was not before I had suffered terribleindignities and all the tortures which base ingratitude can inflictupon a sensitive heart.

  Such ingratitude as I am about to relate to you has never beenequalled on this earth, and even after all these years, Sir, you seeme overcome with emotion at the remembrance of it all. I was underarrest, remember, on a terribly serious charge, but, conscious of mineown innocence and of my unanswerable system of defence, I bore thepreliminary examination by the juge d'instruc-tion with exemplarydignity and patience. I knew, you see, that at my very firstconfrontation with my supposed victim the latter would at once say:

  "Ah! but no! This is not the man who assaulted me."

  Our plan, which so far had been overwhelmingly successful, had beenthis.

  On the morning of the tenth, M. de Firmin-Latour having pawned theemeralds, and obtained the money for them, was to deposit that moneyin his own name at the bank of Raynal Freres and then at once go tothe office in the Rue Daunou.

  There he would be met by Theodore, who would bind him comfortably butsecurely to a chair, put a shawl around his mouth and finally lock thedoor on him. Theodore would then go to his mother's and there remainquietly until I needed his services again.

  It had been thought inadvisable for me to be seen that morninganywhere in the neighbourhood of the Rue Daunou, but that perfidiousreptile Theodore ran no risks in doing what he was told. To begin withhe is a past master in the art of worming himself in and out of ahouse without being seen, and in this case it was his business toexercise a double measure of caution. And secondly, if by some unluckychance the police did subsequently connect him with the crime, therewas I, his employer, a man of integrity and repute, prepared to swearthat the man had been in my company at the other end of Paris all thewhile that M. le Marquis de Firmin-Latour was, by special arrangement,making use of my office in the Rue Daunou, which I had lent him forpurposes of business.

  Finally it was agreed between us that when M. le Marquis wouldpresently be questioned by the police as to the appearance of the manwho had assaulted and robbed him, he would describe him as tall andblond, almost like an Angliche in countenance. Now I possess--as yousee, Sir--all the finest characteristics of the Latin race, whilstTheodore looks like nothing on earth, save perhaps a cross between arat and a monkey.

  I wish you to realize, therefore, that no one ran any risks in thisaffair excepting myself. I, as the proprietor of the apartment wherethe assault was actually supposed to have taken place, did run a verygrave risk, because I could never have proved an alibi. Theodore wassuch a disreputable mudlark that his testimony on my behalf would havebeen valueless. But with sublime sacrifice I accepted these risks, andyou will presently see, Sir, how I was repaid for my selflessness. Ipined in a lonely prison-cell while these two limbs of Satan concocteda plot to rob me of my share in our mutual undertaking.

  Well, Sir, the day came when I was taken from my prison-cell for thepurpose of being confronted with the man whom I was accused of havingassaulted. As you will imagine, I was perfectly calm. According to ourplan the confrontation would be the means of setting me free at once.I was conveyed to the house in the Rue de Grammont, and here I waskept waiting for some little time while the juge d'instruction went into prepare M. le Marquis, who was still far from well. Then I wasintroduced into the sick-room. I looked about me with the perfectcomposure of an innocent man about to be vindicated, and calmly gazedon the face of the sick man who was sitting up in his magnificent bed,propped up with pillows.

  I met his glance firmly whilst M. le Juge d'instruction placed thequestion to him in a solemn and earnest tone:

  "M. le Marquis de Firmin-Latour, will you look at the prisoner beforeyou and tell us whether you recognize in him the man who assaultedyou?"

  And that perfidious Marquis, Sir, raised his eyes and looked mesquarely--yes! squarely--in the face and said with incredibleassurance:

  "Yes, Monsieur le Juge, that is the man! I recognize him."

  To me it seemed then as if a thunderbolt had crashed through theceiling and exploded at my feet. I was like one stunned and dazed; theblack ingratitude, the abominable treachery, completely deprived me ofspeech. I felt choked, as if some poisonous effluvia--the poison, Sir,of that man's infamy--had got into my throat. That state of inertialasted, I believe, less than a second; the next I had uttered a hoarsecry of noble indignation.

  "You vampire, you!" I exclaimed. "You viper! You . . ."

  I would have thrown myself on him and strangled him with glee, butthat the minions of the law had me by the arms and dragged me away outof the hateful presence of that traitor, despite my objurgations andmy protestations of innocence. Imagine my feelings when I found myselfonce more in a prison-cell, my heart filled with unspeakablebitterness against that perfidious Judas. Can you wonder that it tookme some time before I could collect my thoughts sufficiently to reviewmy situation, which no doubt to the villain himself who had justplayed me this abominable trick must have seemed desperate indeed? Ah!I could see it all, of course! He wanted to> see me sent to NewCaledonia, whilst he enjoyed the fruits of his unpardonablebacksliding. In order to retain the miserable hundred thousand francswhich he had promised me he did not hesitate to plunge up to the neckin this heinous conspiracy.

  Yes, conspiracy! for the very next day, when I was once more hailedbefore the juge d'instruction, another confrontation awaited me: thistime with that scurvy rogue Theodore. He had been suborned by M. leMarquis to turn against the hand that fed him. What price he was paidfor this Judas trick I shall never know, and all that I do know isthat he actually swore before the juge d'instruction that M. leMarquis de Firmin-Latour called at my office in the late forenoon ofthe tenth of October; that I then ordered him--Theodore--to go out toget his dinner first, and then to go all the way over to Neuilly witha message to someone who turned out to be non-existent. He went on toassert that when he returned at six o'clock in the afternoon he foundthe office door locked, and I--his employer--presumably gone. This atfirst greatly upset him, because he was supposed to sleep on thepremises, but seeing that there was nothing for it but to accept theinevitable, he went round to his mother's rooms at the back of thefish-market and remained there ever since, waiting to hear from me.

  That, Sir, was the tissue of lies which that jailbird had concoctedfor my undoing, knowing well that I could not disprove them because ithad been my task on that eventful morning to keep an eye on M. leMarquis whilst he went to the Mont de Piete first, and then to MM.Raynal Freres, the bankers where he deposited the money. For thispurpose I had been obliged to don a disguise, which I had notdiscarded till later in the day, and thus was unable to disprovesatisfactorily the monstrous lies told by that perjurer.

  Ah! I can see that sympathy for my unmerited misfortunes has filledyour eyes with tears. No doubt in your heart you feel that mysituation at that hour was indeed desperate, and that I--HectorRatichon, the confidant of kings, the benefactor of the oppressed--didspend the next few years of my life in a penal settlement, where thosearch-malefa
ctors themselves should have been. But no, Sir! Fate may bea fickle jade, rogues may appear triumphant, but not for long, Sir,not for long! It is brains that conquer in the end . . . brains backedby righteousness and by justice.

  Whether I had actually foreseen the treachery of those tworattlesnakes, or whether my habitual caution and acumen alone promptedme to take those measures of precaution of which I am about to tellyou, I cannot truthfully remember. Certain it is that I did take thoseprecautions which ultimately proved to be the means of compensating mefor most that I had suffered.

  It had been a part of the original plan that, on the day immediatelyfollowing the tenth of October, I, in my own capacity as HectorRatichon, who had been absent from my office for twenty-four hours,would arrive there in the morning, find the place locked, force anentrance into the apartment, and there find M. le Marquis in hispitiable plight. After which I would, of course, immediately notifythe police of the mysterious occurrence.

  That had been the role which I had intended to play. M. le Marquisapproved of it and had professed himself quite willing to endure atwenty-four-hours' martyrdom for the sake of half a million francs. But,as I have just had the honour to tell you, something which I will notattempt to explain prompted me at the last moment to modify my plan inone little respect. I thought it too soon to go back to the Rue Daunouwithin twenty-four hours of our well-contrived coup, and I did notaltogether care for the idea of going myself to the police in order toexplain to them that I had found a man gagged and bound in my office.The less one has to do with these minions of the law the better. Mindyou, I had envisaged the possibility of being accused of assault androbbery, but I did not wish to take, as it were, the very first stepsmyself in that direction. You might call this a matter of sentiment orof prudence, as you wish.

  So I waited until the evening of the second day before I got the keyfrom Theodore. Then before the concierge at 96 Rue Daunou had closedthe porte-cochere for the night, I slipped into the house unobserved,ran up the stairs to my office and entered the apartment. I struck alight and made my way to the inner room where the wretched Marquishung in the chair like a bundle of rags. I called to him, but he madeno movement. As I had anticipated, he had fainted for want of food. Ofcourse, I was very sorry for him, for his plight was pitiable, but hewas playing for high stakes, and a little starvation does no man anyharm. In his case there was half a million at the end of his briefmartyrdom, which could, at worst, only last another twenty-four hours.I reckoned that Mme. la Marquise could not keep the secret of herhusband's possible whereabouts longer than that, and in any event I wasdetermined that, despite all risks, I would go myself to the police onthe following day.

  In the meanwhile, since I was here and since M. le Marquis wasunconscious, I proceeded then and there to take the precaution whichprudence had dictated, and without which, seeing this man's treacheryand Theodore's villainy, I should undoubtedly have ended my days as aconvict. What I did was to search M. le Marquis's pockets for anythingthat might subsequently prove useful to me.

  I had no definite idea in the matter, you understand; but I had vaguenotions of finding the bankers' receipt for the half-million francs.

  Well, I did not find that, but I did find the receipt from the Mont dePiete for a parure of emeralds on which half a million francs had beenlent. This I carefully put away in my waistcoat pocket, but as therewas nothing else I wished to do just then I extinguished the light andmade my way cautiously out of the apartment and out of the house. Noone had seen me enter or go out, and M. le Marquis had not stirredwhile I went through his pockets.

  6.

  That, Sir, was the precaution which I had taken in order to safeguardmyself against the machinations of traitors. And see how right I was;see how hopeless would have been my plight at this hour when Theodore,too, turned against me like the veritable viper that he was. I neverreally knew when and under what conditions the infamous bargain wasstruck which was intended to deprive me of my honour and of myliberty, nor do I know what emolument Theodore was to receive for histreachery. Presumably the two miscreants arranged it all some timeduring that memorable morning of the tenth even whilst I was riskingmy life in their service.

  As for M. de Firmin-Latour, that worker of iniquity who, in order tosave a paltry hundred thousand francs from the hoard which I hadhelped him to acquire, did not hesitate to commit such an abominablecrime, he did not long remain in the enjoyment of his wealth or of hispeace of mind.

  The very next day I made certain statements before M. le Juged'instruction with regard to M. Mauruss Mosenstein, which caused theformer to summon the worthy Israelite to his bureau, there to beconfronted with me. I had nothing more to lose, since those execrablerogues had already, as it were, tightened the rope about my neck, butI had a great deal to gain--revenge above all, and perhaps thegratitude of M. Mosenstein for opening his eyes to the rascality ofhis son-in-law.

  In a stream of eloquent words which could not fail to carryconviction, I gave then and there in the bureau of the juged'instruction my version of the events of the past few weeks, from themoment when M. le Marquis de Firmin-Latour came to consult me on thesubject of his wife's first husband, until the hour when he tried tofasten an abominable crime upon me. I told how I had been deceived bymy own employe, Theodore, a man whom I had rescued out of the gutterand loaded with gifts, how by dint of a clever disguise which wouldhave deceived his own mother he had assumed the appearance andpersonality of M. le Comte de Naquet, first and only lawful lord ofthe beautiful Rachel Mosenstein. I told of the interviews in myoffice, my earnest desire to put an end to this abominableblackmailing by informing the police of the whole affair. I told ofthe false M. de Naquet's threats to create a gigantic scandal whichwould forever ruin the social position of the so-called Marquis deFirmin-Latour. I told of M. le Marquis's agonized entreaties, hisprayers, supplications, that I would do nothing in the matter for thesake of an innocent lady who had already grievously suffered. I spokeof my doubts, my scruples, my desire to do what was just and what wasright.

  A noble expose of the situation, Sir, you will admit. It left me hotand breathless. I mopped my head with a handkerchief and sank back,gasping, in the arms of the minions of the law. The juge d'instructionordered my removal, not back to my prison-cell but into his ownante-room, where I presently collapsed upon a very uncomfortable benchand endured the additional humiliation of having a glass of water heldto my lips. Water! when I had asked for a drink of wine as my throatfelt parched after that lengthy effort at oratory.

  However, there I sat and waited patiently whilst, no doubt, M. le Juged'Instruction and the noble Israelite were comparing notes as to theirimpression of my marvellous speech. I had not long to wait. Less thanten minutes later I was once more summoned into the presence of M. leJuge; and this time the minions of the law were ordered to remain inthe antechamber. I thought this was of good augury; and I waited tohear M. le Juge give forth the order that would at once set me free.But it was M. Mosenstein who first addressed me, and in very truthsurprise rendered me momentarily dumb when he did it thus:

  "Now then, you consummate rascal, when you have given up the receiptof the Mont de Piete which you stole out of M. le Marquis's pocket youmay go and carry on your rogueries elsewhere and call yourselfmightily lucky to have escaped so lightly."

  I assure you, Sir, that a feather would have knocked me down. Thecoarse insult, the wanton injustice, had deprived me of the use of mylimbs and of my speech. Then the juge d'instruction proceeded dryly:

  "Now then, Ratichon, you have heard what M. Mauruss Mosenstein hasbeen good enough to say to you. He did it with my approval andconsent. I am prepared to give an _ordonnance de non-lieu_ in yourfavour which will have the effect of at once setting you free if youwill restore to this gentleman here the Mont de Piete receipt whichyou appear to have stolen."

  "Sir," I said with consummate dignity in the face of this reiteratedtaunt, "I have stolen nothing--"

  M. le Juge's hand was already on the bell-pull.
br />   "Then," he said coolly, "I can ring for the gendarmes to take you backto the cells, and you will stand your trial for blackmail, theft,assault and robbery."

  I put up my hand with an elegant and perfectly calm gesture.

  "Your pardon, M. le Juge," I said with the gentle resignation ofundeserved martyrdom, "I was about to say that when I re-visited myrooms in the Rue Daunou after a three days' absence, and found thepolice in possession, I picked up on the floor of my private room awhite paper which on subsequent examination proved to be a receiptfrom the Mont de Piete for some valuable gems, and made out in thename of M. le Marquis de Firmin-Latour."

  "What have you done with it, you abominable knave?" the irascible oldusurer rejoined roughly, and I regret to say that he grasped hismalacca cane with ominous violence.

  But I was not to be thus easily intimidated.

  "Ah! voila, M. le Juge," I said with a shrug of the shoulders. "I havemislaid it. I do not know where it is."

  "If you do not find it," Mosenstein went on savagely, "you will findyourself on a convict ship before long."

  "In which case, no doubt," I retorted with suave urbanity, "the policewill search my rooms where I lodge, and they will find the receiptfrom the Mont de Piete, which I had mislaid. And then the gossip willbe all over Paris that Mme. la Marquise de Firmin-Latour had to pawnher jewels in order to satisfy the exigencies of her first and onlylawful husband who has since mysteriously disappeared; and some peoplewill vow that he never came back from the Antipodes, whilst others--byfar the most numerous--will shrug their shoulders and sigh: 'One neverknows!' which will be exceedingly unpleasant for Mme. la Marquise."

  Both M. Mauruss Mosenstein and the juge d'instruc-tion said a greatdeal more that afternoon. I may say that their attitude towards me andthe language that they used were positively scandalous. But I hadbecome now the master of the situation and I could afford to ignoretheir insults. In the end everything was settled quite amicably. Iagreed to dispose of the receipt from the Mont de Piete to M. MaurussMosenstein for the sum of two hundred francs, and for another hundredI would indicate to him the banking house where his preciousson-in-law had deposited the half-million francs obtained for theemeralds. This latter information I would indeed have offered himgratuitously had he but known with what immense pleasure I thus put aspoke in that knavish Marquis's wheel of fortune.

  The worthy Israelite further agreed to pay me an annuity of twohundred francs so long as I kept silent upon the entire subject ofMme. la Marquise's first husband and of M. le Marquis's role in themysterious affair of the Rue Daunou. For thus was the affair classedamongst the police records. No one outside the chief actors of thedrama and M. le Juge d'Instruction ever knew the true history of how adashing young cavalry officer came to be assaulted and left to starvefor three days in the humble apartment of an attorney-at-law ofundisputed repute. And no one outside the private bureau of M. le Juged'Instruction ever knew what it cost the wealthy M. Mosenstein to havethe whole affair "classed" and hushed up.

  As for me, I had three hundred francs as payment for work which I hadrisked my neck and my reputation to accomplish. Three hundred insteadof the hundred thousand which I had so richly deserved: that, and apaltry two hundred francs a year, which was to cease the moment thatas much as a rumour of the whole affair was breathed in public. As ifI could help people talking!

  But M. le Marquis did not enjoy the fruits of his villainy, and I hadagain the satisfaction of seeing him gnaw his finger-nails with ragewhenever the lovely Rachel paid for his dinner at fashionablerestaurants. Indeed Papa Mosenstein tightened the strings of hismoney-bags even more securely than he had done in the past. Underthreats of prosecution for theft and I know not what, he forced hisson-in-law to disgorge that half-million which he had so pleasantlytucked away in the banking house of Raynal Freres, and I was indeedthankful that prudence had, on that memorable morning, suggested to methe advisability of dogging the Marquis's footsteps. I doubt not butwhat he knew whence had come the thunderbolt which had crushed hislast hopes of an independent fortune, and no doubt too he does notcherish feelings of good will towards me.

  But this eventuality leaves me cold. He has only himself to thank forhis misfortune. Everything would have gone well but for his treachery.We would have become affluent, he and I and Theodore. Theodore hasgone to live with his mother, who has a fish-stall in the Halles; shegives him three sous a day for washing down the stall and selling thefish when it has become too odorous for the ordinary customers.

  And he might have had five hundred francs for himself and remained myconfidential clerk.

  CHAPTER IV

  CARISSIMO