CHAPTER V. THE TWENTY-SEVEN
The child was sleeping peacefully on the bed. The mother did not movefrom the sofa on which Lupin had laid her; but her easier breathing andthe blood which was now returning to her face announced her impendingrecovery from her swoon.
He observed that she wore a wedding-ring. Seeing a locket hanging fromher bodice, he stooped and, turning it, found a miniature photographrepresenting a man of about forty and a lad--a stripling rather--in aschoolboy's uniform. He studied the fresh, young face set in curly hair:
"It's as I thought," he said. "Ah, poor woman!"
The hand which he took between his grew warmer by degrees. The eyesopened, then closed again. She murmured:
"Jacques..."
"Do not distress yourself... it's all right he's asleep."
She recovered consciousness entirely. But, as she did not speak, Lupinput questions to her, to make her feel a gradual need of unbosomingherself. And he said, pointing to the locket:
"The schoolboy is Gilbert, isn't he?"
"Yes," she said.
"And Gilbert is your son?"
She gave a shiver and whispered:
"Yes, Gilbert is my son, my eldest son."
So she was the mother of Gilbert, of Gilbert the prisoner at the Sante,relentlessly pursued by the authorities and now awaiting his trial formurder!
Lupin continued:
"And the other portrait?"
"My husband."
"Your husband?"
"Yes, he died three years ago."
She was now sitting up. Life quivered in her veins once more, togetherwith the horror of living and the horror of all the ghastly things thatthreatened her. Lupin went on to ask:
"What was your husband's name?"
She hesitated a moment and answered:
"Mergy."
He exclaimed:
"Victorien Mergy the deputy?"
"Yes."
There was a long pause. Lupin remembered the incident and the stirwhich it had caused. Three years ago, Mergy the deputy had blown outhis brains in the lobby of the Chamber, without leaving a word ofexplanation behind him; and no one had ever discovered the slightestreason for that suicide.
"Do you know the reason?" asked Lupin, completing his thought aloud.
"Yes, I know it."
"Gilbert, perhaps?"
"No, Gilbert had disappeared for some years, turned out of doors andcursed by my husband. It was a very great sorrow, but there was anothermotive."
"What was that?" asked Lupin.
But it was not necessary for Lupin to put further questions. MadameMergy could keep silent no longer and, slowly at first, with all theanguish of that past which had to be called up, she told her story:
"Twenty-five years ago, when my name was Clarisse Darcel and my parentsliving, I knew three young men at Nice. Their names will at once giveyou an insight into the present tragedy: they were Alexis Daubrecq,Victorien Mergy and Louis Prasville. The three were old acquaintances,had gone to college in the same year and served in the same regiment.Prasville, at that time, was in love with a singer at the opera-house atNice. The two others, Mergy and Daubrecq, were in love with me. I shallbe brief as regards all this and, for the rest, as regards the wholestory, for the facts tell their own tale. I fell in love with VictorienMergy from the first. Perhaps I was wrong not to declare myself atonce. But true love is always timid, hesitating and shy; and I didnot announce my choice until I felt quite certain and quite free.Unfortunately, that period of waiting, so delightful for those whocherish a secret passion, had permitted Daubrecq to hope. His anger wassomething horrible."
Clarisse Mergy stopped for a few seconds and resumed, in a stifledvoice:
"I shall never forget it... The three of us were in the drawing-room.Oh, I can hear even now the terrible words of threat and hatred whichhe uttered! Victorien was absolutely astounded. He had never seen hisfriend like this, with that repugnant face, that bestial expression:yes, the expression of a wild beast... Daubrecq ground his teeth. Hestamped his feet. His bloodshot eyes--he did not wear spectacles inthose days--rolled in their sockets; and he kept on saying, 'I shall berevenged ... I shall be revenged... Oh, you don't know what I am capableof!... I shall wait ten years, twenty years, if necessary... But it willcome like a thunderbolt... Ah, you don't know!... To be revenged... Todo harm... for harm's sake... what joy! I was born to do harm... And youwill both beseech my mercy on your knees, on your knees, yes, on yourknees...' At that moment, my father entered the room; and, with hisassistance and the footman's, Victorien Mergy flung the loathsomecreature out of doors. Six weeks later, I married Victorien."
"And Daubrecq?" asked Lupin, interrupting her. "Did he not try..."
"No, but on our wedding-day, Louis Prasville, who acted as my husband'sbest man in defiance of Danbrecq's opposition, went home to find thegirl he loved, the opera-singer, dead, strangled..."
"What!" said Lupin, with a start. "Had Daubrecq..."
"It was known that Daubrecq had been persecuting her with his attentionsfor some days; but nothing more was known. It was impossible to discoverwho had gone in or out during Prasville's absence. There was not a tracefound of any kind: nothing, absolutely nothing."
"But Prasville..."
"There was no doubt of the truth in Prasville's mind or ours. Daubrecqhad tried to run away with the girl, perhaps tried to force her, tohustle her and, in the course of the struggle, maddened, losing hishead, caught her by the throat and killed her, perhaps without knowingwhat he was doing. But there was no evidence of all this; and Daubrecqwas not even molested."
"And what became of him next?"
"For some years we heard nothing of him. We knew only that he had lostall his money gambling and that he was travelling in America. And, inspite of myself, I forgot his anger and his threats and was only tooready to believe that he had ceased to love me and no longer harbouredhis schemes of revenge. Besides, I was so happy that I did not careto think of anything but my happiness, my love, my husband's politicalcareer, the health of my son Antoine."
"Antoine?"
"Yes, Antoine is Gilbert's real name. The unhappy boy has at leastsucceeded in concealing his identity."
Lupin asked, with some hesitation:
"At what period did... Gilbert... begin?"
"I cannot tell you exactly. Gilbert--I prefer to call him that and notto pronounce his real name--Gilbert, as a child, was what he is to-day:lovable, liked by everybody, charming, but lazy and unruly. When he wasfifteen, we put him to a boarding-school in one of the suburbs, with thedeliberate object of not having him too much at home. After two years'time he was expelled from school and sent back to us."
"Why?"
"Because of his conduct. The masters had discovered that he used to slipout at night and also that he would disappear for weeks at a time, whilepretending to be at home with us."
"What used he to do?"
"Amuse himself backing horses, spending his time in cafes and publicdancing-rooms."
"Then he had money?"
"Yes."
"Who gave it him?"
"His evil genius, the man who, secretly, unknown to his parents, enticedhim away from school, the man who led him astray, who corrupted him, whotook him from us, who taught him to lie, to waste his substance and tosteal."
"Daubrecq?"
"Daubrecq."
Clarisse Mergy put her hands together to hide the blushes on herforehead. She continued, in her tired voice:
"Daubrecq had taken his revenge. On the day after my husband turned ourunhappy child out of the house, Daubrecq sent us a most cynical letterin which he revealed the odious part which he had played and themachinations by which he had succeeded in depraving our son. And hewent on to say, 'The reformatory, one of these days... Later on, theassize-court ... And then, let us hope and trust, the scaffold!'"
Lupin exclaimed:
"What! Did Daubrecq plot the present business?"
"No, no, that is only an accident
. The hateful prophecy was just a wishwhich he expressed. But oh, how it terrified me! I was ailing at thetime; my other son, my little Jacques, had just been born. And everyday we heard of some fresh misdeed of Gilbert's--forgeries, swindles--somuch so that we spread the news, in our immediate surroundings, of hisdeparture for abroad, followed by his death. Life was a misery; and itbecame still more so when the political storm burst in which my husbandwas to meet his death."
"What do you mean?"
"A word will be enough: my husband's name was on the list of theTwenty-seven."
"Ah!"
The veil was suddenly lifted from Lupin's eyes and he saw, as in aflash of lightning, a whole legion of things which, until then, had beenhidden in the darkness.
Clarisse Mergy continued, in a firmer voice:
"Yes, his name was on it, but by mistake, by a piece of incredibleill-luck of which he was the victim. It is true that Victorien Mergywas a member of the committee appointed to consider the question of theTwo-Seas Canal. It is true that he voted with the members who were infavour of the company's scheme. He was even paid--yes, I tell you soplainly and I will mention the sum--he was paid fifteen thousand francs.But he was paid on behalf of another, of one of his political friends,a man in whom he had absolute confidence and of whom he was the blind,unconscious tool. He thought he was showing his friend a kindness; andit proved his own undoing. It was not until the day after the suicide ofthe chairman of the company and the disappearance of the secretary, theday on which the affair of the canal was published in the papers, withits whole series of swindles and abominations, that my husband knewthat a number of his fellow-members had been bribed and learnt that themysterious list, of which people suddenly began to speak, mentionedhis name with theirs and with the names of other deputies, leaders ofparties and influential politicians. Oh, what awful days those were!Would the list be published? Would his name come out? The torture of it!You remember the mad excitement in the Chamber, the atmosphere of terrorand denunciation that prevailed. Who owned the list? Nobody couldsay. It was known to be in existence and that was all. Two names weresacrificed to public odium. Two men were swept away by the storm. And itremained unknown where the denunciation came from and in whose hands theincriminating documents were."
"Daubrecq," suggested Lupin.
"No, no!" cried Madame Mergy. "Daubrecq was nothing at that time: he hadnot yet appeared upon the scene. No, don't you remember, the truth cameout suddenly through the very man who was keeping it back: Germineaux,the ex-minister of justice, a cousin of the chairman of the CanalCompany. As he lay dying of consumption, he wrote from his sick-bed tothe prefect of police, bequeathing him that list of names, which, hesaid, would be found, after his death, in an iron chest in the corner ofhis room. The house was surrounded by police and the prefect took uphis quarters by the sick man's bedside. Germineaux died. The chest wasopened and found to be empty."
"Daubrecq, this time," Lupin declared.
"Yes, Daubrecq," said Madame Mergy, whose excitement was momentarilyincreasing. "Alexis Daubrecq, who, for six months, disguised beyondrecognition, had acted as Germineaux's secretary. It does not matterhow he discovered that Germineaux was the possessor of the paper inquestion. The fact remains that he broke open the chest on the nightbefore the death. So much was proved at the inquiry; and Daubrecq'sidentity was established."
"But he was not arrested?"
"What would have been the use? They knew well enough that he must havedeposited the list in a place of safety. His arrest would have involveda scandal, the reopening of the whole case..."
"So..."
"So they made terms."
Lupin laughed:
"That's funny, making terms with Daubrecq!"
"Yes, very funny," said Madame Mergy, bitterly. "During this time heacted and without delay, shamelessly, making straight for the goal. Aweek after the theft, he went to the Chamber of Deputies, asked for myhusband and bluntly demanded thirty thousand francs of him, to be paidwithin twenty-four hours. If not, he threatened him with exposure anddisgrace. My husband knew the man he was dealing with, knew him to beimplacable and filled with relentless hatred. He lost his head and shothimself."
"How absurd!" Lupin could not help saying. "How absurd! Daubrecqpossesses a list of twenty-seven names. To give up any one of thosenames he is obliged, if he would have his accusation believed, topublish the list itself--that is to say, to part with the document, orat least a photograph of it. Well, in so doing, he creates a scandal, itis true, but he deprives himself, at the same time, of all further meansof levying blackmail."
"Yes and no," she said.
"How do you know?"
"Through Daubrecq himself. The villain came to see me and cynicallytold me of his interview with my husband and the words that had passedbetween them. Well, there is more than that list, more than that famousbit of paper on which the secretary put down the names and the amountspaid and to which, you will remember, the chairman of the company,before dying, affixed his signature in letters of blood. There is morethan that. There are certain less positive proofs, which the peopleinterested do not know of: the correspondence between the chairmanand the secretary, between the chairman and his counsel, and so on. Ofcourse, the list scribbled on the bit of paper is the only evidencethat counts; it is the one incontestable proof which it would be no goodcopying or even photographing, for its genuineness can be tested mostabsolutely. But, all the same, the other proofs are dangerous. Theyhave already been enough to do away with two deputies. And Daubrecqis marvelously clever at turning this fact to account. He selectshis victim, frightens him out of his senses, points out to him theinevitable scandal; and the victim pays the required sum. Or else hekills himself, as my husband did. Do you understand now?"
"Yes," said Lupin.
And, in the silence that followed, he drew a mental picture ofDaubrecq's life. He saw him the owner of that list, using his power,gradually emerging from the shadow, lavishly squandering the moneywhich he extorted from his victims, securing his election as adistrict-councillor and deputy, holding sway by dint of threatsand terror, unpunished, invulnerable, unattackable, feared by thegovernment, which would rather submit to his orders than declare warupon him, respected by the judicial authorities: so powerful, in a word,that Prasville had been appointed secretary-general of police, over theheads of all who had prior claims, for the sole reason that he hatedDaubrecq with a personal hatred.
"And you saw him again?" he asked.
"I saw him again. I had to. My husband was dead, but his honour remaineduntouched. Nobody suspected the truth. In order at least to defend thename which he left me, I accepted my first interview with Daubrecq."
"Your first, yes, for there have been others."
"Many others," she said, in a strained voice, "yes, many others... atthe theatre... or in the evening, at Enghien... or else in Paris, atnight ... for I was ashamed to meet that man and I did not want peopleto know it... But it was necessary... A duty more imperative than anyother commanded it: the duty of avenging my husband..."
She bent over Lupin and, eagerly:
"Yes, revenge has been the motive of my conduct and the solepreoccupation of my life. To avenge my husband, to avenge my ruined son,to avenge myself for all the harm that he has done me: I had no otherdream, no other object in life. That is what I wanted: to see that mancrushed, reduced to poverty, to tears--as though he still knew how tocry!--sobbing in the throes of despair..."
"You wanted his death," said Lupin, remembering the scene between themin Daubrecq's study.
"No, not his death. I have often thought of it, I have even raised myarm to strike him, but what would have been the good? He must have takenhis precautions. The paper would remain. And then there is no revengein killing a man... My hatred went further than that... It demanded hisruin, his downfall; and, to achieve that, there was but one way: to cuthis claws. Daubrecq, deprived of the document that gives him his immensepower, ceases to exist. It means immediate bankruptcy and disas
ter...under the most wretched conditions. That is what I have sought."
"But Daubrecq must have been aware of your intentions?"
"Certainly. And, I assure you, those were strange meetings of ours: Iwatching him closely, trying to guess his secret behind his actions andhis words, and he... he..."
"And he," said Lupin, finishing Clarisse's thought, "lying in wait forthe prey which he desires... for the woman whom he has never ceased tolove... whom he loves... and whom he covets with all his might and withall his furious passion..."
She lowered her head and said, simply:
"Yes."
A strange duel indeed was that which brought face to face those twobeings separated by so many implacable things! How unbridled mustDaubrecq's passion be for him to risk that perpetual threat of death andto introduce to the privacy of his house this woman whose life he hadshattered! But also how absolutely safe he must feel himself!
"And your search ended... how?" asked Lupin.
"My search," she replied, "long remained without fruit. You know themethods of investigation which you have followed and which the policehave followed on their side. Well, I myself employed them, years beforeeither of you did, and in vain. I was beginning to despair. Then, oneday, when I had gone to see Daubrecq in his villa at Enghien, I pickedup under his writing-table a letter which he had begun to write,crumpled up and thrown into the waste-paper-basket. It consisted ofa few lines in bad English; and I was able to read this: 'Emptythe crystal within, so as to leave a void which it is impossible tosuspect.' Perhaps I should not have attached to this sentence all theimportance which it deserved, if Daubrecq, who was out in the garden,had not come running in and begun to turn out the waste-paper-basket,with an eagerness which was very significant. He gave me a suspiciouslook: 'There was a letter there,' he said. I pretended not tounderstand. He did not insist, but his agitation did not escape me; andI continued my quest in this direction. A month later, I discovered,among the ashes in the drawing-room fireplace, the torn half of anEnglish invoice. I gathered that a Stourbridge glass-blower, of the nameof John Howard, had supplied Daubrecq with a crystal bottle made after amodel. The word 'crystal' struck me at once. I went to Stourbridge, gotround the foreman of the glass-works and learnt that the stopper of thisbottle had been hollowed out inside, in accordance with the instructionin the order, so as to leave a cavity, the existence of which wouldescape observation."
Lupin nodded his head:
"The thing tallies beyond a doubt. Nevertheless, it did not seem to me,that, even under the gilt layer... And then the hiding-place would bevery tiny!"
"Tiny, but large enough," she said. "On my return from England, I wentto the police-office to see Prasville, whose friendship for me hadremained unchanged. I did not hesitate to tell him, first, the reasonswhich had driven my husband to suicide and, secondly, the object ofrevenge which I was pursuing. When I informed him of my discoveries, hejumped for joy; and I felt that his hatred for Daubrecq was as strongas ever. I learnt from him that the list was written on a slip ofexceedingly thin foreign-post-paper, which, when rolled up into a sortof pellet, would easily fit into an exceedingly limited space. Neitherhe nor I had the least hesitation. We knew the hiding-place. We agreedto act independently of each other, while continuing to correspond insecret. I put him in touch with Clemence, the portress in the SquareLamartine, who was entirely devoted to me..."
"But less so to Prasville," said Lupin, "for I can prove that shebetrays him."
"Now perhaps, but not at the start; and the police searches werenumerous. It was at that time, ten months ago, that Gilbert came into mylife again. A mother never loses her love for her son, whatever he maydo, whatever he may have done. And then Gilbert has such a way withhim... well, you know him. He cried, kissed my little Jacques, hisbrother and I forgave him."
She stopped and, weary-voiced, with her eyes fixed on the floor,continued:
"Would to Heaven that I had not forgiven him! Ah, if that hour could butreturn, how readily I should find the horrible courage to turn him away!My poor child... it was I who ruined him!..." And, pensively, "I shouldhave had that or any sort of courage, if he had been as I pictured himto myself and as he himself told me that he had long been: bearing themarks of vice and dissipation, coarse, deteriorated.
"But, though he was utterly changed in appearance, so much so that Icould hardly recognize him, there was, from the point of view of--howshall I put it?--from the moral point of view, an undoubted improvement.You had helped him, lifted him; and, though his mode of life was hatefulto me, nevertheless he retained a certain self-respect... a sort ofunderlying decency that showed itself on the surface once more... He wasgay, careless, happy... And he used to talk of you with such affection!"
She picked her words, betraying her embarrassment, not daring, inLupin's presence, to condemn the line of life which Gilbert had selectedand yet unable to speak in favour of it.
"What happened next?" asked Lupin.
"I saw him very often. He would come to me by stealth, or else I wentto him and we would go for walks in the country. In this way, I wasgradually induced to tell him our story, of his father's suicide andthe object which I was pursuing. He at once took fire. He too wantedto avenge his father and, by stealing the crystal stopper, to avengehimself on Daubrecq for the harm which he had done him. His firstidea--from which, I am bound to tell you, he never swerved--was toarrange with you."
"Well, then," cried Lupin, "he ought to have...!"
"Yes, I know... and I was of the same opinion. Unfortunately, my poorGilbert--you know how weak he is!--was under the influence of one of hiscomrades."
"Vaucheray?"
"Yes, Vaucheray, a saturnine spirit, full of bitterness and envy, anambitious, unscrupulous, gloomy, crafty man, who had acquired a greatempire over my son. Gilbert made the mistake of confiding in him andasking his advice. That was the origin of all the mischief. Vaucherayconvinced him and convinced me as well that it would be better if weacted by ourselves. He studied the business, took the lead and finallyorganized the Enghien expedition and, under your direction, the burglaryat the Villa Marie-Therese, which Prasville and his detectives had beenunable to search thoroughly, because of the active watch maintained byLeonard the valet. It was a mad scheme. We ought either to have trustedin your experience entirely, or else to have left you out altogether,taking the risk of fatal mistakes and dangerous hesitations. But wecould not help ourselves. Vaucheray ruled us. I agreed to meet Daubrecqat the theatre. During this time the thing took place. When I camehome, at twelve o'clock at night, I heard the terrible result: Leonardmurdered, my son arrested. I at once received an intuition of thefuture. Daubrecq's appalling prophecy was being realized: it meant trialand sentence. And this through my fault, through the fault of me, themother, who had driven my son toward the abyss from which nothing couldextricate him now."
Clarisse wrung her hands and shivered from head to foot. What sufferingcan compare with that of a mother trembling for the head of her son?Stirred with pity, Lupin said:
"We shall save him. Of that there is not the shadow of a doubt. But,it is necessary that I should know all the details. Finish your story,please. How did you know, on the same night, what had happened atEnghien?"
She mastered herself and, with a face wrung with fevered anguish,replied:
"Through two of your accomplices, or rather two accomplices ofVaucheray, to whom they were wholly devoted and who had chosen them torow the boats."
"The two men outside: the Growler and the Masher?"
"Yes. On your return from the villa, when you landed after being pursuedon the lake by the commissary of police, you said a few words to them,by way of explanation, as you went to your car. Mad with fright, theyrushed to my place, where they had been before, and told me the hideousnews. Gilbert was in prison! Oh, what an awful night! What was I to do?Look for you? Certainly; and implore your assistance. But where was I tofind you?... It was then that the two whom you call the Growler and theMasher, driven into
a corner by circumstances, decided to tell me of thepart played by Vaucheray, his ambitions, his plan, which had long beenripening..."
"To get rid of me, I suppose?" said Lupin, with a grin.
"Yes. As Gilbert possessed your complete confidence, Vaucheray watchedhim and, in this way, got to know all the places which you live at. Afew days more and, owning the crystal stopper, holding the list of theTwenty-seven, inheriting all Daubrecq's power, he would have deliveredyou to the police, without compromising a single member of your gang,which he looked upon as thenceforth his."
"The ass!" muttered Lupin. "A muddler like that!" And he added, "So thepanels of the doors..."
"Were cut out by his instructions, in anticipation of the contest onwhich he was embarking against you and against Daubrecq, at whose househe did the same thing. He had under his orders a sort of acrobat,an extraordinarily thin dwarf, who was able to wriggle through thoseapertures and who thus detected all your correspondence and allyour secrets. That is what his two friends revealed to me. I at onceconceived the idea of saving my elder son by making use of his brother,my little Jacques, who is himself so slight and so intelligent,so plucky, as you have seen. We set out that night. Acting on theinformation of my companions, I went to Gilbert's rooms and found thekeys of your flat in the Rue Matignon, where it appeared that you wereto sleep. Unfortunately, I changed my mind on the way and thought muchless of asking for your help than of recovering the crystal stopper,which, if it had been discovered at Enghien, must obviously be atyour flat. I was right in my calculations. In a few minutes, my littleJacques, who had slipped into your bedroom, brought it to me. I wentaway quivering with hope. Mistress in my turn of the talisman, keepingit to myself, without telling Prasville, I had absolute power overDaubrecq. I could make him do all that I wanted; he would becomethe slave of my will and, instructed by me, would take every step inGilbert's favour and obtain that he should be given the means of escapeor else that he should not be sentenced. It meant my boy's safety."
"Well?"
Clarisse rose from her seat, with a passionate movement of her wholebeing, leant over Lupin and said, in a hollow voice:
"There was nothing in that piece of crystal, nothing, do you understand?No paper, no hiding-place! The whole expedition to Enghien was futile!The murder of Leonard was useless! The arrest of my son was useless! Allmy efforts were useless!"
"But why? Why?"
"Why? Because what you stole from Daubrecq was not the stopper made byhis instructions, but the stopper which was sent to John Howard, theStourbridge glassworker, to serve as a model."
If Lupin had not been in the presence of so deep a grief, he could nothave refrained from one of those satirical outbursts with which themischievous tricks of fate are wont to inspire him. As it was, hemuttered between his teeth:
"How stupid! And still more stupid as Daubrecq had been given thewarning."
"No," she said. "I went to Enghien on the same day. In all that businessDaubrecq saw and sees nothing but an ordinary burglary, an annexation ofhis treasures. The fact that you took part in it put him off the scent."
"Still, the disappearance of the stopper..."
"To begin with, the thing can have had but a secondary importance forhim, as it is only the model."
"How do you know?"
"There is a scratch at the bottom of the stem; and I have made inquiriesin England since."
"Very well; but why did the key of the cupboard from which it was stolennever leave the man-servant's possession? And why, in the second place,was it found afterward in the drawer of a table in Daubrecq's house inParis?"
"Of course, Daubrecq takes care of it and clings to it in the way inwhich one clings to the model of any valuable thing. And that is why Ireplaced the stopper in the cupboard before its absence was noticed. Andthat also is why, on the second occasion, I made my little Jacques takethe stopper from your overcoat-pocket and told the portress to put itback in the drawer."
"Then he suspects nothing?"
"Nothing. He knows that the list is being looked for, but he does notknow that Prasville and I are aware of the thing in which he hides it."
Lupin had risen from his seat and was walking up and down the room,thinking. Then he stood still beside Clarisse and asked:
"When all is said, since the Enghien incident, you have not advanced asingle step?"
"Not one. I have acted from day to day, led by those two men or leadingthem, without any definite plan."
"Or, at least," he said, "without any other plan than that of gettingthe list of the Twenty-seven from Daubrecq."
"Yes, but how? Besides, your tactics made things more difficult forme. It did not take us long to recognize your old servant Victoire inDaubrecq's new cook and to discover, from what the portress told us,that Victoire was putting you up in her room; and I was afraid of yourschemes."
"It was you, was it not, who wrote to me to retire from the contest?"
"Yes."
"You also asked me not to go to the theatre on the Vaudeville night?"
"Yes, the portress caught Victoire listening to Daubrecq's conversationwith me on the telephone; and the Masher, who was watching the house,saw you go out. I suspected, therefore, that you would follow Daubrecqthat evening."
"And the woman who came here, late one afternoon..."
"Was myself. I felt disheartened and wanted to see you."
"And you intercepted Gilbert's letter?"
"Yes, I recognized his writing on the envelope."
"But your little Jacques was not with you?"
"No, he was outside, in a motor-car, with the Masher, who lifted him upto me through the drawing-room window; and he slipped into your bedroomthrough the opening in the panel."
"What was in the letter?"
"As ill-luck would have it, reproaches. Gilbert accused you of forsakinghim, of taking over the business on your own account. In short, itconfirmed me in my distrust; and I ran away."
Lupin shrugged his shoulders with irritation:
"What a shocking waste of time! And what a fatality that we were notable to come to an understanding earlier! You and I have been playing athide-and-seek, laying absurd traps for each other, while the days werepassing, precious days beyond repair."
"You see, you see," she said, shivering, "you too are afraid of thefuture!"
"No, I am not afraid," cried Lupin. "But I am thinking of all the usefulwork that we could have done by this time, if we had united our efforts.I am thinking of all the mistakes and all the acts of imprudencewhich we should have been saved, if we had been working together. I amthinking that your attempt to-night to search the clothes which Daubrecqwas wearing was as vain as the others and that, at this moment, thanksto our foolish duel, thanks to the din which we raised in his house,Daubrecq is warned and will be more on his guard than ever."
Clarisse Mergy shook her head:
"No, no, I don't think that; the noise will not have roused him, for wepostponed the attempt for twenty-four hours so that the portress mightput a narcotic in his wine." And she added, slowly, "And then, you see,nothing can make Daubrecq be more on his guard than he is already. Hislife is nothing but one mass of precautions against danger. He leavesnothing to chance... Besides, has he not all the trumps in his hand?"
Lupin went up to her and asked:
"What do you mean to convey? According to you, is there nothing to hopefor on that side? Is there not a single means of attaining our end?"
"Yes," she murmured, "there is one, one only..."
He noticed her pallor before she had time to hide her face between herhands again. And again a feverish shiver shook her frame.
He seemed to understand the reason of her dismay; and, bending towardher, touched by her grief:
"Please," he said, "please answer me openly and frankly. It's forGilbert's sake, is it not? Though the police, fortunately, have notbeen able to solve the riddle of his past, though the real name ofVaucheray's accomplice has not leaked out, there is one man, at lea
st,who knows it: isn't that so? Daubrecq has recognized your son Antoine,through the alias of Gilbert, has he not?"
"Yes, yes..."
"And he promises to save him, doesn't he? He offers you his freedom, hisrelease, his escape, his life: that was what he offered you, was it not,on the night in his study, when you tried to stab him?"
"Yes... yes... that was it..."
"And he makes one condition, does he not? An abominable condition, suchas would suggest itself to a wretch like that? I am right, am I not?"
Clarisse did not reply. She seemed exhausted by her protracted strugglewith a man who was gaining ground daily and against whom it wasimpossible for her to fight. Lupin saw in her the prey conquered inadvance, delivered to the victor's whim. Clarisse Mergy, the loving wifeof that Mergy whom Daubrecq had really murdered, the terrified mother ofthat Gilbert whom Daubrecq had led astray, Clarisse Mergy, to save herson from the scaffold, must, come what may and however ignominious theposition, yield to Daubrecq's wishes. She would be the mistress,the wife, the obedient slave of Daubrecq, of that monster with theappearance and the ways of a wild beast, that unspeakable person of whomLupin could not think without revulsion and disgust.
Sitting down beside her, gently, with gestures of pity, he made her lifther head and, with his eyes on hers, said:
"Listen to me. I swear that I will save your son: I swear it... Your sonshall not die, do you understand?... There is not a power on earth thatcan allow your son's head to be touched as long as I am alive."
"I believe you... I trust your word."
"Do. It is the word of a man who does not know defeat. I shall succeed.Only, I entreat you to make me an irrevocable promise."
"What is that?"
"You must not see Daubrecq again."
"I swear it."
"You must put from your mind any idea, any fear, however obscure, of anunderstanding between yourself and him... of any sort of bargain..."
"I swear it."
She looked at him with an expression of absolute security and reliance;and he, under her gaze, felt the joy of devotion and an ardent longingto restore that woman's happiness, or, at least, to give her the peaceand oblivion that heal the worst wounds:
"Come," he said, in a cheerful tone, rising from his chair, "all willyet be well. We have two months, three months before us. It is more thanI need... on condition, of course, that I am unhampered in my movements.And, for that, you will have to withdraw from the contest, you know."
"How do you mean?"
"Yes, you must disappear for a time; go and live in the country. Haveyou no pity for your little Jacques? This sort of thing would end byshattering the poor little man's nerves... And he has certainly earnedhis rest, haven't you, Hercules?"
The next day Clarisse Mergy, who was nearly breaking down under thestrain of events and who herself needed repose, lest she should fallseriously ill, went, with her son, to board with a friend who had ahouse on the skirt of the Forest of Saint-Germain. She felt very weak,her brain was haunted by visions and her nerves were upset by troubleswhich the least excitement aggravated. She lived there for some daysin a state of physical and mental inertia, thinking of nothing andforbidden to see the papers.
One afternoon, while Lupin, changing his tactics, was working out ascheme for kidnapping and confining Daubrecq; while the Growler and theMasher, whom he had promised to forgive if he succeeded, were watchingthe enemy's movements; while the newspapers were announcing theforthcoming trial for murder of Arsene Lupin's two accomplices, oneafternoon, at four o'clock, the telephone-bell rang suddenly in the flatin the Rue Chateaubriand.
Lupin took down the receiver:
"Hullo!"
A woman's voice, a breathless voice, said:
"M. Michel Beaumont?"
"You are speaking to him, madame. To whom have I the honour..."
"Quick, monsieur, come at once; Madame Mergy has taken poison."
Lupin did not wait to hear details. He rushed out, sprang into hismotor-car and drove to Saint-Germain.
Clarisse's friend was waiting for him at the door of the bedroom.
"Dead?" he asked.
"No," she replied, "she did not take sufficient. The doctor has justgone. He says she will get over it."
"And why did she make the attempt?"
"Her son Jacques has disappeared."
"Carried off?"
"Yes, he was playing just inside the forest. A motor-car was seenpulling up. Then there were screams. Clarisse tried to run, but herstrength failed and she fell to the ground, moaning, 'It's he... it'sthat man... all is lost!' She looked like a madwoman."
"Suddenly, she put a little bottle to her lips and swallowed thecontents."
"What happened next?"
"My husband and I carried her to her room. She was in great pain."
"How did you know my address, my name?"
"From herself, while the doctor was attending to her. Then I telephonedto you."
"Has any one else been told?"
"No, nobody. I know that Clarisse has had terrible things to bear... andthat she prefers not to be talked about."
"Can I see her?"
"She is asleep just now. And the doctor has forbidden all excitement."
"Is the doctor anxious about her?"
"He is afraid of a fit of fever, any nervous strain, an attack of somekind which might cause her to make a fresh attempt on her life. And thatwould be..."
"What is needed to avoid it?"
"A week or a fortnight of absolute quiet, which is impossible as long asher little Jacques..."
Lupin interrupted her:
"You think that, if she got her son back..."
"Oh, certainly, there would be nothing more to fear!"
"You're sure? You're sure?... Yes, of course you are!... Well, whenMadame Mergy wakes, tell her from me that I will bring her back her sonthis evening, before midnight. This evening, before midnight: it's asolemn promise."
With these words, Lupin hurried out of the house and, stepping into hiscar, shouted to the driver:
"Go to Paris, Square Lamartine, Daubrecq the deputy's!"