XXIV
AT SAINT LAZARE
"Hop along there! See if you can't hurry up a bit!"
The warder opened the door of Elizabeth's Dollon's cell and pushed in anold woman--a horrid looking creature.
"In with you!" commanded the warder in a harsh tone. "You are to stayhere till to-morrow. We will find another place for you when we getinstructions...."
Poor Elizabeth Dollon stared miserably at this strange companion whichFate, in the person of a warder, had thrust on her.
The old woman stared with no little curiosity at the pale, sad girl....Silence fell for a few minutes, then the new prisoner asked, in a toneof rough familiarity:
"What's your name?"
"I call myself Elizabeth!"
"Don't know it!... Elizabeth, who?..."
"Elizabeth Dollon...."
The old woman rose from the corner of the mattress she had seatedherself on.
"True? You're Elizabeth Dollon?... Well, that's funny! Have you beennabbed long?..."
"You ask if it is long since I was...?"
"Nabbed!... Taken!... Arrested!... Eh?"
Elizabeth nodded in the affirmative. It seemed to her that an infinityof time had passed since her imprisonment at Saint Lazare.
"I was nabbed last night. If you want to know my name, I'm called MotherToulouche. They say I'm one of the band of Numbers, and that I receivestolen goods! Lies! That's well understood!"
Elizabeth had no desire to go into such an unsavoury question. Thishorrid old woman rather frightened her; but, such had been her distressand fears since she had been a prisoner, that it was a relief not to bequite alone; to have even this old creature to speak to was better thansolitary confinement.
In her character of old jail-bird, Mother Toulouche made herself quicklyat home.
"Moved to-morrow, they say I'm to be! Pity! At bottom you're not one ofthe scurvy sort, but you must be here to play spy on me, for allthat!... When do you go out? Are you long for Saint Lago?" Alas, howcould Elizabeth tell?
* * * * *
"I like being a barrister," thought Fandor, as he entered Saint Lazare."For the last hour I have felt a different person, much more serious,more sure of myself, not to say, more eloquent!... I must be eloquent,since I have succeeded in persuading my friend, Maitre Dubard, to gethimself appointed officially as Mademoiselle Dollon's counsel; then toobtain a permit of communication, and to hand this same permit over tome, so that his identification papers, safely tucked away in myportfolio, make of me the most indisputable of Maitres Dubard!"
* * * * *
Fandor might well congratulate himself! By means of this ruse--his ownidea--he was enabled to see Elizabeth, not in the prison parlour, but ina special cell, and without a witness. As Fandor crossed the thresholdof the sordid building, he said to himself:
"I am Maitre Dubard, visiting his client, in order to prepare herdefence!"
He easily accomplished the necessary formalities, and, at last, he sawhimself being conducted by a morose warder to a little parlour, scantilyfurnished with a table and a few stools.
"Please be seated, maitre," said the surly fellow. "I'll fetch yourclient along!"
Fandor put down his portfolio, but remained standing, anxious, allaquiver at the thought that he was about to see his dear Elizabethappear between two warders, just like a common prisoner!
"In a moment she will be here," thought he.... But she must on noaccount recognise him on entering! By an exclamation she might betrayhis identity and complicate things! Therefore, Fandor feigned to beabsorbed in a newspaper he unfolded and raised, so as to hide his facefrom the approaching pair. The door opened.
"Come now! Go in!..." growled the warder. "Maitre, when you wish toleave, you have only to ring."
The door fell to, heavily, behind the warder.
Fandor made a sharp movement. He stood revealed. He hurried up toElizabeth.
"Oh, tell me how you are, Mademoiselle Elizabeth!" he cried.
But the girl was struck dumb: she grew suddenly pale, and made no reply.
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Will you not give me your hand even? You do notunderstand why I am here? I had to see you, speak to you without awitness ... that's why I have passed myself off as an advocate!"
The startled girl was regaining her self-control. Fandor was gazing ather with frankly admiring eyes.
"Poor Elizabeth! How I have made you suffer!"
The poor girl's eyes filled with tears.
"Why have you betrayed me?" she demanded in a voice trembling withrestrained emotion. "Oh, how could you get me arrested? You, who wellknow I am not guilty?"
"You really believe I have betrayed you? You actually credited me withthat?"
These two young people, meeting in a prison parlour under such tragiccircumstances, were hurt and even angry with each other.
Elizabeth Dollon went on:
"Why did you not tell me that you had found on that piece of soap tracesof my brother's finger-marks? Why did you accuse me of having received avisit from him, when you yourself had proved that he was dead?"
Fandor took Elizabeth's two little hands in his and pressed them longand tenderly.
"My dear Elizabeth, when I engineered this theatrical stroke in thepresence of the examining magistrate, in order to secure your arrest,believe me, I had no time to warn you of what I meant to do.... Ah, if Icould have warned you--but it would have only disturbed you to no goodpurpose, besides--your being really taken by surprise was a help--therecould not be any idea of collusion.... Of course, you want the answer tothis riddle? You shall have it--that is why I am here.... Don't youremember, Elizabeth, that on the evening before the fatal day you toldme that I had twice rung you up on the telephone? And that each time youanswered the call you could not find me at the end of the line?... Youcannot imagine what I felt when I heard you say that! I nevertelephoned! I never telephoned to the convent!
"The obvious conclusion was, that the individuals who, for some reason,did not wish to make themselves known, did wish to keep track of you,and to assure themselves that you were still at the convent, rue de laGlaciere...."
Fandor's voice trembled a little, as he went on:
"And I was at once afraid, my poor child, that these people who werepursuing you, might be the very same who had got into Madame Bourrat'shouse, and had tried to kill you.... Ah, do you not see how greatly ithurt and troubled me to think that I had taken you to the convent, andhad there placed you in security--as I thought--but where you were farfrom being safe?"
Again Fandor took Elizabeth's hands in his.
"You do understand now, dear child, why I had you arrested?... I feltyou would be safe here.... You see, I could not get your persecutorsimprisoned and so prevent them from getting at you. To imprison you wasthe alternative: you are better guarded here than elsewhere."
Elizabeth smiled a little smile when she saw how moved Fandor was.
"But," replied she, "there is the other point! You certainly told methat you were sure my brother was killed in prison--in his cell!"
"Certainly, I did! The assassination of your brother was premeditated.If the criminals have had accomplices at the Depot, and such therecertainly were, they have been bought over little by little.... The factof your brother's murder is fresh in the memory of the police, of all,therefore, a special watch is kept over you. I ascertained that it wouldbe so, and Fuselier himself assured me of it: there is a warderspecially told off to keep a close guard over you, a safe man, known tobe beyond suspicion.... No, Elizabeth, do believe me, if I was the causeof your horrified surprise the other day, and then of your imprisonment,I wished to be sure that you were as safe as it was possible to be;then, freed from such intense anxiety, I felt I should be at liberty tocontinue my investigations.... Do say you forgive me!"
All Elizabeth could say was:
"But why not have warned me?... I still can't quite see!..."
"Why, because, I
only thought of the plan at the last moment! Also,because I feared you might not be able to act surprise naturallyenough!... It was absolutely--yes, absolutely necessary--that everyoneshould take your arrest seriously.... Surely, Elizabeth, you canunderstand that!"
He repeated his plea.
"Do, do say you forgive me, Elizabeth!"
The smile returned to Elizabeth's lips: she was much moved.
"Indeed, I do... You are always my very good friend: you think ofeverything, and you watch over me as if ..."
Intimidated, blushing hotly, she stopped short, then changed theconversation.
"Do tell me if you have heard anything fresh!"
Fandor returned to his normal self also. He had sworn to himself that hewould not tell Elizabeth he loved her, until he had succeeded inunravelling the tangled skein of the terrible Dollon affair.
"I shall speak," thought he, "when she is once more at peace and free,when she is out of danger. I do not want her to consent to love me justbecause I have devoted myself to her brother's case. Elizabeth shall bemy wife, please God; but only if I deserve her, if I can win her."
And Jerome Fandor told her the story of the famous wicker trunk--but hedid not mention Thomery's death, nor did he speak of the horrible murderof Jules.... What was the use of saddening Elizabeth, of addingneedlessly to her terrors? Instead, he thought it better to learn whathe could from her.
"I have not found that famous list!" said he.
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" cried Elizabeth. "I was so worried!... Justimagine that, I found the list after all, and I thought I had lost it!It was in one of my little handbags. I had put it there to bring to you.Here it is: they were quite willing to let me keep it!"
Fandor eagerly took the paper from Elizabeth and proceeded to examineit. Yes, it certainly was a page torn from a note-book of medium size.An unknown hand had traced the following words in bold writing. Thenames succeeded one another in the form of a list.
_Baroness de Vibray, April 3. Jacques Dollon._ _Dep.... idem._ _Sonia Danidoff, April 12._ _Barbey-Nanteuil, May 15._ _Gerin...?_ _Madame B...?_ _Thomery, during May._ _Barbey-Nanteuil, end May._
Fandor could not find anything more on the paper. Whilst Elizabeth satsilent, Fandor reflected:
"Baroness de Vibray, April 3. Jacques Dollon ... these correspondexactly with the commencement of this mysterious affair: the two firstdeaths, and the date of their death.... What does _Dep._ signify? Theinitials of a name--or--yes, Dep ... Depot idem--yes, _Depot the sameday!_ That's it! _Sonia Danidoff, April 12_ ... the full name, the exactdate. _Barbey-Nanteuil, May 15_: the affair of rue du Quatre Septembreoccurred May 20; that's pretty near. Two more names, and one date whichexactly tallies. _Gerin?_... _Madame B_....? Who are they? Why no date?Ah, Gerin, lawyer of Madame de Vibray, a crime planned, without date,perhaps because he was not indispensable ... and _Thomery_! Thomery, whodied in the middle of May, as this plan indicates! But, how about thelast line? _Barbey-Nanteuil, end of May?_ Oh, beyond a doubt the bankerswere to be victims of some fresh aggression on the part of themysterious author of these lines!"
"_Barbey-Nanteuil, end of May!_ We are at the 28th of the month: onlythree more days before the sinister date falls due! Are they to beattacked, or is it their money? How to defend them? How organise a trapfor the mice?"
Suddenly, Fandor looked up, saw Elizabeth's anxiety, and said quietly:
"Well, this list agrees in every particular with the description yougave me of it, and I don't quite see what fresh information we arelikely to get from it. However, will you leave it with me?"
Fandor rose.
"Ah, there is one point which has just occurred to me"--Fandor's voicetrembled a good deal--"Do you know for a fact that your brother hadbought Thomery shares?"
"He had very few, three or four. I think the Barbey-Nanteuil got themfor him."
"And your brother had to pay for them by a certain date?"
"Yes."
Fandor now felt he must tear himself away. He was deeply moved.
"Elizabeth!... Elizabeth!" he cried. "I swear to you we shall clear upthese dreadful mysteries amidst which we live, and more, you and I! Onlyhave confidence, I implore you! Grant me a week's grace, less even!"Fandor pressed Elizabeth's hands as though he could never let them go!Such little hands, and so dear!
It was not a farewell he took--it was a veritable flight he took fromthe girl who now meant so much to him!
Leaving the prison, Fandor walked straight ahead, thinking aloud.
"It is clear--evident! The Barbey-Nanteuils have sold Thomery shares tobe paid up on a certain date. Thomery was murdered so that his sharesshould fall to zero, and so that the Barbey-Nanteuils should realiseenormous sums at their monthly clearance. Next Saturday, the coffers ofthe Barbey-Nanteuil bank will be full of gold, and this same Saturday isthe last day of May, the fatal day inscribed on the list. Yes, thiscoming Saturday, they will pillage the Barbey-Nanteuil bank!"