The Maid of Honour Volume Ii Part 10

The chill of presentiment touched Gabrielle like an icy wind as she pa.s.sed in to the dreary hall, black now in shadowy twilight. The crumbling implements of torture on the walls took fantastic and forbidding shapes. The panoplies of helmets of the Moyen Age seemed to mope, and mow, and wink their eyeless sockets. Somehow, Lorge seemed more grimly forbidding than before, after the long absence; there was a pervading odour of dank decay which was as a breath from out the charnel-house. The chatelaine shuddered, and drawing her cloak closer took her foster-sister by the hand.

"What is it? Toinon, tell me," she whispered. "Has something dreadful happened?"

Toinon glanced round quickly with the same strange expression of doubt mingled with concern, and held her peace.

What could it be? Toinon appeared to consider that her mistress had done something wrong--or was it some act, whose unwisdom she would surely rue, which filled the eyes of the foster-sister with disapproval. In the look there was pained surprise as well as pity.

The tightened lips were closed, imprisoning reproach.

Foreboding, she knew not what, the marquise mounted the grand staircase and opened the door of the long saloon, expecting to find the children there.

"Not here? Where are they?" began Gabrielle. Then her voice died away, the words frozen on her lips. The brothers had remained below, ostensibly to superintend the removal of the baggage from the coach.

In the dim saloon with its view through the gaunt row of windows of the crocus-coloured Loire, stood Gabrielle aghast, and Toinon, with brows knit anxiously--and against the light at the further end a tall, upright figure like a sable shadow, that was only too familiar.

"She!" murmured the startled chatelaine, clasping her hands upon her breast. "Mademoiselle Aglae Brunelle!"

"It was a trick, then," Toinon muttered, with a deepening frown. "She knew not of her coming!"

The commanding figure swept swiftly past the tapestries of Odette and the mad old king, and with a glad cry Aglae seized Gabrielle's cold hands and covered them with kisses.

"The good marquise!" she cooed. "The dear excellent marquise! I am so glad, so glad, to have been summoned! There was a little unpleasantness, was there not? A deplorable misunderstanding, and our dearest lady like the angel that she is, has forgiven and forgotten, and we are better friends than ever."

"I never summoned you," began the marquise, faintly, but her voice was quickly drowned in the torrent of the other's volubility.

"I know--I know," she purred, with kittenish gestures of overweening joy. "It was but a tiny ripple on our ideal life! Madame was sorry to have so misread her Aglae's devotion, and bade the dear abbe to invite her hither on a visit. Did I delay an instant? Surely not, for I burned to show the good marquise how cruelly she'd wronged me. Oh!

What ineffable delight! Is it not well to be divided by a tiff to taste the glad moment of reunion?"

Gabrielle remaining silent, too giddy and too sick to collect her thoughts, the other went on glibly--

"I arrived yesterday, a whole day before you, and have been so good--have I not, Mademoiselle Toinon? You like not poor Aglae, and frown at her, but must speak honest truth. Knowing to my dismay and grief when I went hence that madame could deign to be jealous of one so insignificant, I refrained from embracing my pets until madame should grant permission. And since I adore them as if they were my own, madame can guess what that has cost me. Yes! I can hardly believe it possible myself, but I've not yet seen either Victor or Camille, the sweet ones!"

With a sigh of admiration and a large gesture of the dusky arms, suggestive of amazement at such self-control, Aglae ceased, shaking her head archly, and holding the unwilling chatelaine by both hands, gazed long and fondly at her.

It was evident that the woman was playing a part, and was over-acting it. Was this done purposely, that the marquise, who was not clever, might have no doubt about the acting? It seemed so to watchful Toinon.

The creature had succeeded somehow in inflicting her baleful presence for a second time upon the _menage_, and wished it to be understood that the returned Mademoiselle Brunelle was another person, no relation to the one who had been ejected. Why had she come? What did she propose to do? She surely did not expect the hapless marquise to clasp in her arms one who had so injured her--respond in earnest to her blandishments?

The brothers had come up the stairs to reconnoitre, and stood somewhat shyly in the doorway. Was there to be an explosion---a harrowing scene in which pa.s.sion was to be torn to tatters; or was the artful play of the abbe to win the trick? He took in the situation with an exulting heart-thump. He had judged rightly. Of course he had! The marquise, pale as marble, was struck dumb--discomfited. She neither stormed nor wept. With a movement almost as kittenish as Aglae's, he joined the group.

"Reconciled? I knew it," he cried, rubbing his white hands with relief. "Clovis, come and witness this delightful spectacle. The past is past and buried. We shall now begin afresh, and, profiting by experience, will be so happy, that madame will forgive our little _ruse_. The fact is, my sweet Gabrielle, that Clovis intends to devote himself to a yet deeper course of study, which requires a secretary and a partner--one who has an inkling of the secrets which are to be unearthed for the world's benefit. I took on myself, therefore, to risk the vials of a transient annoyance for the ultimate good of all.

Mademoiselle will now be so occupied with her new duties that, to her regret, she must renounce all intercourse with the little ones. This, I believe, will meet your wishes? You are not angry? That is well. We are both pardoned, are we not?"

The marquise cast one slow glance of dumb remonstrance at Clovis, who was shifting from one foot to the other, guiltily, and shaking herself free from the exuberant Aglae, left the room with Toinon.

Her strange reception by the latter was fully explained. Her foster-sister had believed that she was sufficiently unstable of purpose herself to have summoned the evil spirit that had been exorcised; it had not entered the girl's head that the men could have dared secretly to play such a trick upon her patience. What was their motive for the proceeding? Did the woman wield an occult power over the marquis such as forced him to obey her will even from a distance?

Did she hold him in such abject thraldom that he really could not get on without her? The abbe had been the acting party in the arrangement.

Had he re-introduced the bugbear merely to distress his sister-in-law, and display his malignant spleen? Such speculations as these pa.s.sed vaguely through Gabrielle's dizzy brain as she stared aimlessly from her bedroom window into the courtyard, mechanically counting the big familiar stones which composed the opposite wall, surveying the iron-bound postern door with its complicated locks and bolts.

Toinon watched her mistress with growing ire as she bustled hither and thither arranging the details of the toilet.

Though scarce conceivable it was true--she could perceive it in every mournful line on the gloomy face of the marquise--that these bad men had deliberately done behind her back that which they knew to be most abhorrent to the gentle chatelaine; and she the one to whom they owed every earthly comfort! By so mad a stroke they had overreached themselves, for, of course, madame would resent the intolerable insolence--order the woman off with contumely--send the men packing.

Toinon was aware of the late marechal's testamentary dispositions; was thankful now to remember that it rested with her mistress alone to turn out the ex-governess as well as the chevalier and the abbe; and it somewhat nettled the faithful abigail that she should not at once have shown a proper spirit, and have abruptly closed the situation.

The marquis looked just now so shamefaced that a few indignant words would have brought him to a sense of his wickedness. Whether there were or not guilty relations between the marquis and mademoiselle, was beside the point. The latter had by her fiendish behaviour well-nigh driven the marquise out of the world, and here she was playing the affectionate friend with exaggerated pantomime. It was disgusting.

Madame being much too good, would perhaps give her shelter till the morrow, instead of expelling her into the night; but madame must rise in the morning with a firm resolve to make them all understand that she was mistress.

Thus grumbling, Toinon, who was answered only by a sigh. A thrill of doom had pa.s.sed over Gabrielle. She felt the feeling of helplessness in face of the inevitable which brings with it an abiding sense of calm. She was hedged round by enemies--what mattered one the more?

That Clovis should be so unutterably base as he now showed himself to be filled her with a numb surprise, tinged with subdued regret. The world, from the point where she now stood, was of such exceeding hideousness, that it came home with conviction to the spectator that nothing mattered any more. Oh! to be out of it! To be protected by a shield of sod from the tawdry mockeries that make this dwelling-place untenable! Should she, acting on Toinon's counsel, gird up her loins on the morrow, and a.s.sert her rights? _a quoi bon?_ Gabrielle felt so shocked, so sore, so weary, and so desolate, that to show energy was not worth while. They had had the tact to let her comprehend at once that there was to be no more interference between herself and the dear ones. That was a prudent move on their part. Were these not now her all? If she and they were permitted to live their quiet life in the secluded wing, what signified the rest? Victor and Camille were out of reach of the greed and malice of the foe, quite secure from harm, for were their mother to be s.n.a.t.c.hed away, they would be removed at once by the marechale, and watched over by the friendly solicitor.

Toinon surveyed her mistress with amazed disgust when the latter quietly remarked, as she unrobed to go to rest, that for the present she would watch and wait; and act, if need were, by and by.

CHAPTER XIX.

A COUNCIL OF WAR.

Could we remove the fronts from the imposing domiciles whose dignified exteriors compel our admiring awe, we should often rub our eyes in astonishment at the curious spectacle within. Than the outgoings and incomings of the inhabitants of Lorge nothing could appear more decorous and respectable, and yet as regarded a prospect of lasting peace, that group was composed of the least promising elements.

On the day after the return from Paris Gabrielle remained in seclusion, making no sign, while the others waited with more or less impatience to see if she would throw down the gauntlet. Aglae could scarce conceal her satisfaction at the warmness of her dear friend's greeting. Clovis was genuinely delighted to see her and made no secret of his joy, whereat the abbe was annoyed, though he knew better than to betray the feeling. Time had not loosed the bonds wherein the marquis was held by his affinity. On the contrary, absence had in his case made the heart grow fonder, for he seemed now to have quite forgotten the fear with which former admiration had been mingled. It was rather hard, the abbe could not help considering, that his own influence, for which he had laboured with such patience and dexterity, should pale so easily before that of this lady, who for twelve months had made no move. By summoning her to his aid, had he raised up a spirit which by and by he would be powerless to lay? No. For the attainment of an object that was now clearly modelled before his sight, the a.s.sistance of Mademoiselle Brunelle was absolutely necessary. The object attained, he would steal a march on her, and on his brothers as well, if need were. Meanwhile, it was of the best augury that the chatelaine should remain quiescent. It has been said that the woman who hesitates is lost. Certain it is that one of the nature of the marquise--of the cla.s.s who seem specially made to endure slings and arrows--does not gain strength by delay. She can in a moment of impulse perform an act of energy; but if she waits and broods her strength exhales itself in moans.

The marquis and his friend got out their books, made a grand parade of being vastly busy--even dug out the blessed 'cello and groaned out an affecting fugue; but expecting you know not what it is impossible to keep the mind from wandering, and Aglae, try as she would to command herself, jumped up at intervals and strode the polished floor with statuesque arms crossed over the ample bosom, longing for something to occur.

"No news is good news, believe me," the abbe whispered in caution, as hour succeeded hour, and their patience began to ooze. "If she accepts her position without a struggle, a most important point is gained."

Aglae sniffed fretfully, and pa.s.sed her square-tipped fingers through the ma.s.ses of her blue-black hair. "That is mighty well," she said, tartly; "but for the creature to take me back again so quietly, after all that pa.s.sed, makes me long to pinch, and beat, and slap anything so deplorably spiritless. If she does not do something to-morrow, you will have to lock me up, for I shall not be able to prevent myself from rushing into her room and banging her head against the wall."

"No more blunders!" returned the abbe, sternly. "You have not the skill to read her. Do not forget that it was by your wrong-headedness and bungling that you brought about your own defeat. Remember the terms of the agreement which was to bring you back among us. You were to be guided by me absolutely, and abstain from silly little private plots which could only prove disastrous to us both."

Mademoiselle was silent, and her heavy mobile brows shaped themselves into something like a scowl. She bit her thick red lips and smiled an engaging smile, as she patted the abbe with a fan, playfully. "Of course, I will do as you bid," she said, "but you must not look so cross. I am all grat.i.tude for your many kindnesses and too glad of so skilled a guide." Then as she turned away there were lines about her mouth that were not pretty to look upon, and a sullen shade upon her brow, that was gone again like a summer thunder-cloud.

The cla.s.sically-modelled bosom of mademoiselle covered a black well of bitterness. She loathed herself for having bungled; she hated Gabrielle with an all-absorbing hate as the author of her discomfiture; she detested the abbe for his domineering ways--and Clovis for not having defended her. She hated all and everyone in that she had accidentally been kept in the dark as to the real owner of the fortune, whereby she had been betrayed into a pitfall.

As she was being ignominiously conducted to Blois, like a thief taken in the act, a boiling geyser of venom had scalded her cheeks; and as she writhed behind a lace handkerchief she registered a vow to be avenged on Gabrielle some day a hundred-fold for that which she had borne at her hands. The knowledge did not tend to appease her wrath that without outside help she would be incapable of fulfilling the vow. The devil will do much to a.s.sist his own, but his methods are not artistically complete, and at a critical moment he whisks into s.p.a.ce with a grin, leaving his votaries to disaster. Hence it is not always well to depend too much upon the devil. It is a fact worthy of remark that in the legends of his many compacts with mankind it is always a.s.sumed that he is honest in his dealings and a model of business-like straightforwardness, while it is the insignificant mortal--mere wax in such hands--who ultimately cheats and circ.u.mvents him. Surely this is all wrong. We would not wish the devil to be inconsistent, and it is in the fitness of things that his ardent worshippers should find the ground slippery under foot, and the power in which they trusted--nowhere.

Vainly she revolved the chances of ever returning to Lorge, when suddenly arrived the abbe's first letter, which was quite sticky and mawkish with honey. What was he driving at? He would not write thus without an object. She smiled, locked away the missive, and waited.

Then came the second letter, wherein, to her surprise, she found the gates open again which she feared were hermetically closed. Go back to Lorge? Of course she would, with alacrity, and follow the abbe's instructions, though she understood them not. She knew that the old nuisance was defunct, that the marquise was in full possession. What was this miracle which called her back to Paradise? It mattered not.

Her ma.s.sive foot once more within the threshold, she would profit by the experience of the past, and in the end come out the gainer.

Now you will perceive how odd a mixture was the ex-governess; a woman who hung for awhile in the balance, till the devil inserted a toe and, by its weight, settled the matter. She had genuinely liked the marquis's children, and would, if circ.u.mstances so ordained, have gone down to posterity as a typically virtuous second wife, but for that devil's toe!

Well, the toe was inserted, and proved a heavy one, for down came the scale with a thud. Perceiving they were a fruitful cause of danger, she made up her mind without a qualm that she would avoid her quondam pets in the future, and school herself to gaze with sphinx-like stoniness on the twain whom she had kissed and cuddled.

What happened to them--one way or the other--was become a matter of complete indifference. The black well seethed and boiled. She would have revenge, somehow, and at the same time feather her nest.

Suspense lasted till the end of the second day. As the party--minus the chatelaine--were sitting down to dinner, there appeared upon the scene, Toinon, who demurely laid a note upon the marquis's plate, and without a word retired.

As many weak people do, Clovis stared at the letter, longing to open it, and yet loth to do so, knowing that its contents could scarcely be agreeable, and it was not until the snorting and sniffing of the affinity awoke him to a sense of responsibility, that he took it up and broke the seal. The letter was exceedingly unpleasant and to the purpose.