The Indiscretion of the Duchess Part 29

"You won't steal her away before--before--"

"Before we fight? I will not, on my honor." He paused and added: "For there is one thing I want more even than her."

I could guess what that was.

And then he put out his hand, took up the necklace, and thrust it carelessly into the pocket of his coat. And looking across the room, I saw the inn-keeper, Jacques Bontet, standing in the doorway and staring with all his eyes at the spot on the table where the glittering thing had for a moment lain; and as the fellow set down the wine he had brought for the duke, I swear that he trembled as a man who has seen a ghost; for he spilled some of the wine and c.h.i.n.ked the bottle against the gla.s.s. But while I stared at him, the duke lifted his gla.s.s and bowed to me, saying, with a smile and as though he jested in some phrase of extravagant friendship for me:

"May nothing less than death part you and me?"

And I drank the toast with him, saying "Amen."

CHAPTER XVII.

A Reluctant Intrusion.

As Bontet the inn-keeper set the wine on the table before the Duke of Saint-Maclou, the big clock in the hall of the inn struck noon. It is strange to me, even now when the story has grown old in my memory, to recall all that happened before the hands of that clock pointed again to twelve. And last year when I revisited the neighborhood and found a neat new house standing on the site of the ramshackle inn, I could not pa.s.s by without a queer feeling in my throat; for it was there that the results of the d.u.c.h.ess' indiscretion finally worked themselves out to their unexpected, fatal, and momentous ending. Seldom, as I should suppose, has such a mixed skein of good and evil, of fatality and happiness, been spun from material no more substantial than a sportive lady's idle freak.

"By the way, Mr. Aycon," said the duke, after we had drunk our toast, "I have had a message from the magistrate at Avranches requesting our presence to-morrow morning at eleven o'clock. An inquiry has to be held into the death of that rascal Lafleur, and our evidence must be taken. It is a mere formality, the magistrate is good enough to a.s.sure me, and I have a.s.sured him that we shall neither of us allow anything to interfere with our waiting on him, if we can possibly do so."

"I could have sent no other message myself," said I.

"I will also," continued the duke, "send word by Bontet here to those two friends of mine at Pontorson. It would be dull for you to dine alone with me, and, as the evening promises to be fine, I will ask them to be here by five o'clock, and we will have a stroll on the sands and a nearer look at the Mount before our meal. They are officers who are quartered there."

"Their presence," said I, "will add greatly to the pleasure of the evening."

"Meanwhile, if you will excuse me, I shall take an hour or two's rest. We missed our sleep last night, and we should wish to be fresh when our guests arrive. If I might advise you--"

"I am about to breakfast, after that I may follow your advice."

"Ah, you've not breakfasted? You can't do better, then. _Au revoir_;" and with a bow he left me, calling to Bontet to follow him upstairs and wait for the note which was to go to the officers at Pontorson. It must be admitted that the duke conducted the necessary arrangements with much tact.

In a quarter of an hour my breakfast was before me, and I seated myself with my back to the door and my face to the window. I had plenty to think about as I ate; but my chief anxiety was by some means to obtain an interview with Marie Delha.s.se, not with a view to persuading her to attempt escape with me before the evening--for I had made up my mind that the issue with the duke must be faced now, once for all--but in the hope of discovering why she had allowed herself to be persuaded into leaving the convent. Until I knew that, I was a prey to wretched doubts and despondency, which even my deep-seated confidence in her could not overcome. Fortunately I had a small sum of money in my pocket, and I felt sure that Bontet's devotion to the duke would not be proof against an adequate bribe: perhaps he would be able to a.s.sist me in eluding the vigilance of Madame Delha.s.se and obtaining speech with her daughter.

Bontet, detained as I supposed by the duke, had left a kitchen-girl to attend on me; but I soon saw him come out into the yard, carrying a letter in his hand. He walked slowly across to the stable door, at which the face, suddenly presented and withdrawn, had caught my attention. He stopped before the door a moment, then the door opened. I could not see whether he opened it or whether it was unlocked from within, for his burly frame obstructed my view; but the pause was long enough to show that more than the lifting of a latch was necessary. And that I thought worth notice. The door closed after Bontet. I rose, opened my window and listened; but the yard was broad and no sound reached me from the stable.

I waited there five minutes perhaps. The inn-keeper did not reappear, so I returned to my place. I had finished my meal before he came out. This time I was tolerably sure that the door was closed behind him by another hand, and I fancied that I heard the click of a lock. Also I noticed that the letter was no longer visible--of course, he might have put it in his pocket. Jumping up suddenly as though I had just chanced to notice him, I asked him if he were off to Pontorson, or, if not, had he a moment for conversation.

"I am going in a few minutes, sir," he answered; "but I am at your service now."

The words were civil enough, but his manner was surly and suspicious.

Lighting a cigarette, I sat down on the window-sill, while he stood just outside.

"I want a bedroom," said I. "Have you one for me?"

"I have given you the room on the first floor, immediately opposite that of the duke."

"Good. And where are the ladies lodged?"

He made no difficulty about giving me an answer.

"They have a sitting room on the first floor," he answered, "but hitherto they have not used it. They have two bedrooms, connected by an interior door, on the second floor, and they have not left them since their arrival."

"Has the duke visited them there?"

"I don't think he has seen them. They had a conversation on their arrival;" and the fellow grinned.

Now was my time. I took a hundred-franc note out of my pocket and held it in my hand so that he could see the figures on it. I hoped that he would not be exorbitant, for I had but one more and some loose napoleons in my pocket.

"What was the conversation about?" I asked.

He put out his hand for the note; but I kept my grasp on it. Honesty was not written large--no, nor plain to read--on Bontet's fat face.

"I heard little of it; but the young lady said, as they hurried upstairs: 'Where is he? Where is he?'"

"Yes, yes!"

And I held out the note to him. He had earned it. And greedily he clutched it, and stowed it in his breeches pocket under his blouse.

"I heard no more; they hurried her up; the old lady had her by one arm and the duke by the other. She looked distressed--why, I know not; for I suppose"--here a sly grin spread over the fellow's face--"that the pretty present I saw is for her."

"It's the property of the duke," I said.

"But gentlemen sometimes make presents to ladies," he suggested.

"It may be his purpose to do so. Bontet, I want to see the young lady."

He laughed insolently, kicking his toe against the wall.

"What use, unless you have a better present, sir? But it's nothing to me.

If you can manage it, you're welcome."

"But how am I to manage it? Come, earn your money, and perhaps you'll earn more."

"You're liberal, sir;" and he stared at me as though he were trying to look into my pocket and see how much money was there. I was glad that his glance was not so penetrating. "But I can't help you. Stay, though. The old lady has ordered coffee for two in the sitting-room, and bids me rouse the duke when it is ready: so perhaps the young lady will be left alone for a time. If you could steal up--"

I was not in the mood to stand on a punctilio. My brain was kindled by Marie's words, "Where is he?" Already I was searching for their meaning and finding what I wished. If I could see her, and learn the longed-for truth from her, I should go in good heart to my conflict with the duke.

"Go to your room," said Bontet, whom my prospective _largesse_ had persuaded to civility and almost to eagerness, "and wait. If madame and the duke go there, I'll let you know. But you must risk meeting them."

"I don't mind about that," said I; and, in truth, nothing could make my relations with the pair more hostile than they were already.

My business with Bontet was finished; but I indulged my curiosity for a moment.

"You have a good stable over there, I see," I remarked. "How many horses have you there?"