The Son of Monte-Cristo The Son Of Monte Cristo Part 19

"And, in addition, I hold relations with persons who condescend to recognize in me a certain ability in the management of confidential matters."

"Pshaw! Who are these persons!"

"I will give you the name of one, sir--Monsieur Franchet."

And Cyprien stole a glance at his master, who started in spite of all his self-control. This Franchet was at the climax of his celebrity, and exercised the mysterious function of Director-General of the Police. He owed his elevation solely to the Society of Jesus. This occult power, whose ramifications extended all over France, was mysterious and tremendous in its workings. No one could expect any favor if he did not first render this society most abject homage.

Cyprien now became invested with immense importance in the eyes of the Marquis. He was now not only an accomplice, but a protector, who might become a formidable adversary.

A brief silence followed this revelation, and then the Marquis bade Cyprien go on with what he was saying.

"I was saying, sir, that I have employed all the resources of my weak mind in the defence of the sacred interests of the society, and that I had the power to replace you in the position which your imprudence has forfeited!"

The lacquey was becoming insolent.

"And how will you perform this miracle?" asked the Marquis.

"By including you in the great plan which will prove our zeal for the monarchy."

The Marquis frowned. He was not pleased at the a.s.sociation!

Cyprien dropped his voice.

"A vast conspiracy," he said, "is forming to overthrow the king!"

The Marquis started.

"Not so--the monarchy is strong."

"There is no chariot so strong that it is not at the mercy of a grain of sand. I a.s.sure you, sir, that the danger is real. A Republican party----"

Fongereues shrugged his shoulders.

"A _Republican_ party," repeated Cyprien, emphasizing the word, "is covering the country with its net. In a few months--in a few weeks, perhaps--a movement will burst out simultaneously all over France, and it may come to pa.s.s that the throne will fall quicker than we think.

Royalty is unpopular in these days. Strength is the only sustaining force. And is the throne strong enough to resist a general uprising? I doubt it. And I, poor servant that I am, can arrest this movement, even now! I can betray the chiefs of this a.s.sociation. But I am an insignificant person. No matter how great the services may be that I render, a bone or two will be thrown to me to gnaw, and that will be deemed sufficient. But let the Marquis de Fongereues, peer of France, denounce at the Tuileries the formidable a.s.sociation that threatens the throne and the altar--let him present himself in the cabinet of the king with his hands full of proofs--let him show the doc.u.ments and the lists of the conspirators, and the Marquis de Fongereues will become master of France. He may exact any recompense he pleases for saving the throne and the altar!"

The Marquis rose hastily. His eyes flashed.

"And you say that this formidable secret is yours Cyprien?"

"I hold the threads of the plot in my hand!"

"And yet, you are ready to abandon the benefits which would a.s.suredly be yours should you decide to make the revelation?"

"I am, first of all, your servant, sir!"

"Throw your cards on the table, Cyprien! What do you want me to do in exchange for this great service?"

"I impose no condition. I have faith in the generosity of my master."

"And you are right!" the Marquis replied. "If I succeed, I will make you rich, and place you so high on the social ladder that the greatest names in France will bow before you!"

"Thank you, honored sir. When the hour arrives, I will remind you of your words. But now we must think of Pierre Labarre. Time presses!"

"I am ready. Where are we to find him?"

"Two leagues from here, near the little town of Vagney."

"It is now three o'clock," said the Marquis. "We can surely return here to-night. You had best order the horses at once."

When the Marquis was alone, he bowed his face in his hands.

"If I could believe him!" he murmured. "But I am afraid!"

A few brief words of explanation are here necessary. The Fongereues family re-entered France with the allied armies, and immediately obtained the favor of the king. The old Marquis was elevated to the peerage, and Magdalena felt that her ambitious projects were on the eve of fulfilment. The Vicomte de Talizac easily obtained proof of the death of Simon Fougere; his wife and children had disappeared, and probably perished. The Vicomte, therefore, did not hesitate to claim as sole heir the estate on the death of the Marquis in 1817. But this estate, though considerable, was far less important than he and Magdalena had hoped.

The Vicomte was deeply in debt, and his creditors became impatient. If he and the Vicomtesse had not been madly extravagant, all the more so from the restrictions they had so long endured, their revenues would have been more than sufficient. But these two persons, who had not recoiled from a terrible crime to ensure their undisputed possession of the Fongereues fortune, were now carried away by a wild thirst for excitement and gayety. The hotel they occupied became the scene of perpetual fetes and the rendezvous of the aristocracy.

Magdalena's son, who now bore the t.i.tle of the Vicomte de Talizac, brought up amid this mad prodigality, developed early the faults of his nature, which were increased by the foolish indulgence of his mother.

His father read his character at a glance, and cautioned Magdalena, who at the first syllable he uttered silenced him in the most peremptory manner.

"Do you think," said Magdalena, "that my son is to conduct himself as if he were to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow? I am happy to say that he knows nothing of your petty economies."

As her husband protested, she lowered her voice and looked him full in the face. "Do you think," she said, "that it was to make a beggar of my son, that I told you to kill the other?"

The two guilty creatures gazed at each other; the Marquis was the first to turn his uneasy eyes away. From this moment the struggle began, and the Marquis led a most terrible life.

Before long the alliance with Mademoiselle de Salves was projected. This marriage was to the Marquis de Fongereues the last plank between himself and destruction. Unless this plan was carried to a happy termination, he was ruined. Already there were rumors floating about the court of spots on the hitherto untarnished shield of the Marquis de Fongereues. People were beginning to desert the hotel as rats fly from a falling house. The haughty manners of the Marquis and of Magdalena had conciliated no one.

The insolence of Talizac had become proverbial; he had fought several duels from which he had come off unharmed. The approaching fall of this detested family was hailed with delight. It is therefore easy to understand why the Marquis was so eager to find Pierre Labarre.

He was interrupted in his reflections by Cyprien, who now returned with the innkeeper.

"I am sorry, sir," said the latter, "to be the bearer of annoyances. You know that we at this season are liable to inundations, and we have just learned that the torrent that crosses the road at Vagney is rising rapidly, and makes it dangerous to travel."

"But is there no other road?"

"None which is not equally flooded. Every where the danger would be just as great."

"I am willing to pay any price to get on this afternoon."

The innkeeper did everything to place obstacles in the path of the Marquis, who, however, insisted on going.

"Well!" said Schwann, to himself, "I shall not be easy until they return, for I fear that the inundation has only just begun."

CHAPTER XVI.