"To-morrow morning," said he, "I will give these to Nicholas. You should not have taken them, my children; to profit by a theft is the same as to be the thief."
"It's a pity—they are so handsome!" said Francois.
"When you have learned a trade, and earn money, you can buy some quite as handsome. Come, go to bed; it is late, children."
"You are not angry, brother?" said Amandine timidly.
"No, no, my girl; it is not your fault. You live with rogues—you do as they do without knowing it. When you are with honest people, you will do as they do; and you soon shall be there—or deuce take me! Good-night!"
"Good-night, brother;" and, embracing them both, Martial departed.
"What is the matter, Francois? you look so sad!" said Amandine.
"Brother has taken my handkerchief; and, besides, did you not hear?"
"What?"
"He wants to make us apprentices."
"Are you not glad?"
"Faith, no!"
"You would rather remain here, and be beaten every day?"
"I am beaten; but I don't have to work. I am all day in the boat, or fishing or playing, or serving the company, who sometimes give me something for drink, as the lame man did; it is much more amusing than to be shut up from morning till night in a shop, to work like a dog."
"But did you not hear brother say, if we remained here any longer we would become bad?"
"All the same to me, since other children call us already little thieves. Work is too tiresome."
"But here they always beat us!"
"They beat us because we listen more to Martial than to them."
"He is so good to us."
"He is good, he is good, I do not deny; so I love him well. They do not dare to harm us before him. He takes us out to walk, it is truer but that is all; he never gives us anything."
"Brother, he has nothing; what he earns he gives to our mother for board."
"Nicholas has something. I am sure that if we were to listen to him and mother, he would not treat us so; he would give us fine things, like to-day; he would no longer suspect us; we should have money, like Tortillard."
"But we should have to steal, and that would cause brother Martial so much sorrow!"
"Can't help that!"
"Oh, Francois! Besides, if they caught us, we should go to prison."
"In prison, or shut up all day in a shop, is the same thing. Besides, the lame man said they amused them—selves so much in prison."
"But the sorrow we would cause to Martial—don't you think of that? It is on our account he came back here, and now remains; alone, he could easily get along: he could return and poach in the woods he likes so well."
"Well! let him take us in the woods with him," said Francois: "that would be best of all; I would be with him I love so much, and I should not have to work at a trade I cannot bear."
The conversation of Francois and Amandine was interrupted. Their door locked on the outside with a double turn.
"We are shut up!" cried Francois.
"Oh! what for, brother? What are they going to do with us?"
"Perhaps it is Martial."
"Listen, listen, his dog barks!" said Amandine.
"It sounds to me as if they were hammering something," said Francois; "perhaps they are trying to break open Martial's door!"
"Yes, yes, his dog barks all the time."
"Listen, Francois! now it sounds like driving nails. Oh, dear, I am afraid. What could brother have done? now hear how his dog howls!"
"Amandine, I hear nothing now," said Francois, approaching the door.
The two children, holding their breath, listened with anxiety.
"Now they return," said Francois, in a low tone, "I hear them walking in the corridor."
"Let us jump into bed; mother would kill us if she found us up," said
Amandine.
"No!" answered Francois, still listening: "they have just passed our door; they are running downstairs; now they open the kitchen door."
"You think so?"
"Yes, yes; I know the noise it makes."
"Martial's dog keeps on howling," said Amandine; then suddenly she cried, "Francois, brother calls us."
"Martial?"
"Yes, don't you hear him?" And, notwithstanding the thickness of the two closed doors, the stentorian voice of Martial, calling to the children, could be heard. "We cannot go to him—we are locked up," said Amandine: "they wish to do him some harm, for he calls to us."
"Oh, if I could," cried Francois, resolutely, "I would prevent them, if they were to cut me to pieces! But brother does not know that we are locked up; he will think that we will not help him."
"Call to him, Francois, that we are shut up."
He was about to follow the advice of his sister, when a violent blow shook the blind on the outside of the little window of their room.
"They are coming that way to kill us!" cried Amandine, and, in her fright, she threw herself on the bed, and covered her face with her hands.
Francois remained immovable, although he partook of the alarm of his sister. Yet, after the violent blow of which we have spoken, the blind was not opened; the most profound silence reigned throughout the house.
Martial had ceased to call the children.
Somewhat recovered and excited by deep curiosity, Francois ventured to half open the window, and tried to see without through the slats of the blinds.
"Take care, brother," whispered Amandine, who, hearing Francois open the window had partly raised herself up. "Do you see anything?"
"No; the night is too dark."
"Do you hear nothing?"
"No; the wind blows too hard."
"Come back, come back then!"
"Ah! now I see something."
"What?"
"The light of a lantern; it comes and goes."
"Who carries it?"
"I only see the light."
"Oh! now it comes nearer; some one speaks."
"Who is that?"
"Listen, listen! it is Calabash."
"What does she say?"
"She tells them to hold the foot of the ladder steady."
"Oh! do you see, it was in taking away the long ladder which was against our window that they made such a noise just now."
"I hear nothing more."
"What are they doing with the ladder now?"
"I can't see anything more."
"Do you hear nothing?"
"No."
"Oh, Francois, it is, perhaps, to get into brother Martial's room by the window that they have taken the ladder?"
"That may be."
"If you would open the shutter a little to see—"
"I dare not."
"Only a little."
"Oh! no, no. If mother should see it—"
"It is so dark there is no danger."
Francois, yielding to the entreaties of his sister, opened the blinds and looked out.
"Well, brother?" said Amandine, overcoming her fears, and approaching
Francois on tiptoe.
"By the light of the lantern," said he; "I see Calabash holding the foot of the ladder, placed against Martial's window."
"What then?"
"Nicholas goes up the ladder; he has his hatchet in his hands; I see it shine."
"Hullo, you are not gone to bed! you are spying us!" cried the widow suddenly, calling to Francois and his sister. Just as she was going into the kitchen she saw the light from the half-opened window. The unfortunate children had neglected to extinguish their light. "I am coming up," added the widow, in a terrible voice; "I am coining to you, little spies."
Such are the events which took place at the Ravageur's Island, the evening before Mrs. Seraphin was to conduct thither Fleur-de-Marie.
CHAPTER XXV.
FURNISHED ROOMS.
Brasserie passage, a dark and gloomy passage, but little known, although situated in the center of Paris, extended on one side from the Rue Traversiere Saint Honore to the Cour Saint Guillaume on the other. About the middle of this wet, muddy, dark, and gloomy street, where the sun scarcely ever penetrates, stood a furnished house.
On a rascally-looking sign was to be seen, "Furnished Rooms;" on the right of an obscure alley opened the door of a shop not less obscure, where the proprietor was generally to be found. This man, whose name has been several times mentioned on Ravageur's Island, was Micou; openly a seller of old iron; but secretly he bought and sold stolen metal, such as iron, lead, copper, and tin. To say that Micou was in business and friendly relations with the Martials, is sufficiently to appreciate his morality.
Micou was a corpulent man of about fifty years of age, with a low, cunning look, a pimply nose, and bloated cheeks; he wore an otter-skin cap, and was wrapped up in an old green garrick. Over the little iron stove near which he was warming himself, a board with numbers painted on it was nailed against the wall; there were suspended the keys of the rooms whose lodgers were absent. The window looking into the street was soaped in such a manner that those without could not see what was going on within the shop; this window was heavily barred with iron. Throughout this large shop reigned great obscurity: on the damp and blackish walls were suspended rusty chains of all sorts and sizes; the floor was nearly covered with fragments and clippings of iron and lead. Three peculiar knocks at the door attracted the attention of Micou.
"Come in!" cried he, and Nicholas appeared. He was very pale; his face seemed still more sinister-looking than the evening previous, and yet it will be seen he feigned a kind of noisy gayety during the following conversation. This scene took place the morning after his quarrel with his brother Martial.
"Oh! here you are, good fellow!" said the lodging-house keeper, cordially.
"Yes, Daddy Micou; I come to have some business with you."
"Shut the door."
"My dog and little cart are there—with the swag."
"What do you bring me? folded tripe (stolen sheet-lead)?"
"No, Micou."
"It is not dredge, you are too cunning now; you are no longer a ravageur; perhaps it is iron?"
"No, Micou; it is copper. There must be at least one hundred and fifty pounds; my dog has as much as he can draw."
"Go and bring the stuff; we will weigh it."
"You must help me, Micou; I have a lame arm."
"What is the matter with your arm?"
"Nothing—a bruise."
"You must make some iron red hot, put it into some water, and bathe your arm in this almost boiling water; it is a dealer-in-old-iron's remedy, but it is excellent."
"Thank you, Daddy Micou."
"Come, let us bring in the metal: I will help you, lazybones!"
The copper was then brought in from a little cart drawn by an enormous dog, and placed in the shop.
"That barrow is a good idea," said Micou, adjusting the scales.
"Yes; when I have anything to bring, I put my dog and cart into my boat, and I harness him when I land. A jarvey might blab: my dog can't."
"All well at home?" demanded the receiver, weighing the copper: "your mother and sister are in good health?"
"Yes, Micou."
"The children also?"
"The children also."
"And your nephew Andre, where is he?"
"Don't speak of it! he was in luck yesterday. Barbillon and the Big Cripple took him away; he only came back this morning; he is already gone on an errand to the post-office, Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau."
"And your brother Martial, is still savage?"
"I do not know anything about him."
"You don't know anything about him?"
"No," said Nicholas, affecting an indifferent manner; "for two days we have not seen him; perhaps he has returned to his old trade of a poacher—unless his boat, which was very old, has sunk in the river, and he with—"
"That don't give you much concern, good-for-nothing, for you can't feel it much!"
"It is true, one has his own ideas. How many pounds of copper are there?"
"You made a good guess—one hundred and forty-eight pounds, my boy."
"And you will owe me—"
"Exactly thirty francs."
"Thirty francs, when copper is a franc a pound? Thirty francs!"
"We will say thirty-five, and don't turn up your nose, or I will send you to the devil—you, copper, dog and cart."
"But, Micou you cheat me too much! there's no sense in it."
"Prove to me this copper belongs to you, and I will give you fifteen sous a pound for it."
"Always the same song. You are all alike; get out, you nest of thieves! Can one gouge a friend in such style? But this is not all. If I take your merchandise in exchange, you should give me good measure at least!"
"Just so! What do you want? chains or hooks for your boat?"
"No; I want four or five iron plates, very strong, such as would answer to line window-shutters with."
"I have just what you want—the third of an inch thick; a pistol ball could not go through."
"Just the thing!"
"What size?"
"In all, seven or eight feet square."
"Good! what else do you want?"
"Three iron bars, three to four feet long, and two inches square."
"I tore down the other day some grating from a window; that will suit you like a glove. What next?"
"Two strong hinges and a latch; to fix and shut at will, a wicket two feet square."
"A trap, you mean to say?"
"No; a wicket."
"I cannot comprehend what you can want with it?"
"That is possible, but I can."
"Very well, you have only to choose; there are the hinges. What else do you need?"
"That's all."
"It is not much."
"Get my goods ready at once, Daddy Micou, I will take them as I pass;
I have some more errands to do."
"With your cart? I say, I saw a bale of goods in the bottom; is it something more that you have taken from everybody's cupboard, little glutton?"
"As you say, Daddy Micou: but you don't eat this; don't make me wait for my iron, for I must be back to the island by twelve o'clock."
"Don't be uneasy, it is eight o'clock; if you are not going far, in an hour you can return, all will be ready, Will you take a drop?"
"To be sure; you can well afford to pay it!"
Daddy Micou took out of an old chest a bottle of brandy, a cracked glass, a cup without a handle, and poured out the liquor.
"Your health, old 'un!"
"Yours, my boy, and the ladies' at home!"
"Thank you; and your lodgings come on well?"
"So, so. I have always some lodgers for whom I fear the visits of the grabs; but they pay more in consequence."
"Why?"
"How stupid you are! Sometimes I lodge as I buy; to such I no more ask for their passports than I ask you for an invoice."
"Understood! but to those you let as dear as you buy of me cheap."
"Must take care of one's self. I have a cousin who keeps a fine hotel in the Rue Saint Honore, while his wife is a mantua-maker, who employs as many as twenty assistants, either at her shop, or at their own homes."
"Say now, old obstinacy, there must be some pretty ones there?"
"I guess so! there are two or three that I have seen sometimes bringing in their work. Crimini! ain't they nice! One little puss, who works at home, always laughing, called Rigolette. Oh, my lark! what a pity I ain't twenty!"
"Come, come, papa, put yourself out, or I'll cry fire!"
"But she is virtuous, my boy; she is virtuous."
"Get out! and you say that your cousin—"
"Keeps a very good house, and, as she is of the same number as little
Rigolette—"
"Virtuous?"
"Exactly."
"Over!"
"She will not have lodgers without passports or papers; but if any present themselves, knowing I am not very particular, she sends them to me."
"And they pay in consequence?"
"Always."
"But are they all friends of the family, those who have no papers?"
"No. Ah, now, speaking of that, my cousin sent me, a few days ago, a customer. May the devil burn me, if I can understand it! Come, another turn?"
"Agreed; the liquor is good. Your health, Micou!"
"Yours, lad! I say, then, that the other day my cousin sent me a customer whom I cannot make out. Just imagine a mother and her daughter, who had a very seedy look, it is true; they carried their luggage in a handkerchief. Well, although they must, of course, be nobody, since they had no papers, and they lodge by the fortnight; since they have been here they do not stir out; no one comes to see them, my pal—no one! and yet, if they were not so thin and so pale, they'd be two fine women, the little one above all. She is not more than fifteen at least; she is as white as a white rabbit, with large black eyes—large as that! What eyes! what eyes!"
"You'll get on fire again; I'll call the engines! What do these women do for a living?"
"I tell you I comprehend nothing about it; they must be virtuous, and yet no papers; without counting that they receive letters without address, their name must be bad to write."
"How is that?"
"They sent, this morning, my nephew Andre to the office of the letters to be called for, to reclaim a letter addressed to Madame X. Z. The letter was to come from Normandy, from a place called Aubiers. They wrote that on a piece of paper, so that Andre might get the letter. You see they can be no great things, women who take the name of X and a Z."
"They will never pay you."
"It is not for an old ape like me to learn to make faces. They have taken a room without a fireplace, for which I make them pay twenty francs a fortnight, and in advance. They are, perhaps, sick; for two days they have not come down. It certainly is not from indigestion; for I do not think they have cooked anything since they have been here."
"If you had only such lodgers as they, Micou—"
"That comes and goes. If I lodge people without passports, I lodge great folks also; I have at this moment two traveling clerks, a post-office carrier, the leader of the orchestra of the Cafe des Aveugles, and an independent lady, all very genteel people. They save the reputation of the house, if the police wish to examine too closely; they are not lodgers by night, not they; they are lodgers in the full light of the sun."
"Whenever it shines in your passage, Daddy—"
"Joker, one more turn."
"And the last, for I must take my hook. By-the-bye, does Robin, the big lame man, lodge here yet?"
"Upstairs, next door to the mother and daughter. He has consumed all his prison money, and I believe he has none left."
"I say, look out; he's broke his ticket-of-leave."
"I know it well; but I can't get rid of him. I believe he is after something. Little Tortillard, the son of Bras-Rouge, came here the other night with Barbillon, to look for him. I am afraid he will do some harm to my good lodgers that damnable Robin. As soon as his term is up, I shall put him out, telling him his room is engaged by an embassador, or by the husband of Madame de Saint Ildefonso?"
"The lady?"
"I should think so! Three rooms and a cabinet on the front, nearly furnished, without counting a garret for her female servant, eighty francs a month, and paid in advance by her uncle, to whom she gives one of her rooms as a stopping-place when he comes from the country. After all, I believe his country house is the Rue Vivienne, Rue Saint Honore, or in the environs of those places."
"Understood! she is an independent lady, because the old one pays her rent."
"Hush, here is her maid."
A woman rather advanced in life, wearing a white apron of doubtful purity, entered the shop. "What can I do for you, Madame Charles?"
"Daddy Micou, your nephew is not here?"
"He has gone on an errand to the post-office; he will soon return."
"M. Badinot wishes he would take this letter to its address; there is no answer, but it is very urgent."
"In a quarter of an hour it shall be on the way."
"Let him hurry."
"Be easy." The maid retired.
"That's the servant of one of your lodgers, Micou?"
"Madame Saint Ildefonso's. But M. Badinot is her uncle; he came yesterday from the country, "answered Micou. "But see, now, what fine acquaintances they have! I told you they were people of style; he writes to a viscount."
"No!"
"Well, look: 'To his Lordship the Viscount of Saint Remy, Rue de Chaillot. Haste, haste! (Private).' I hope that when one lodges people who have uncles who write to viscounts, one can very well overlook a poor devil in the fourth story who has no passport!"
"I think so. Well, good-bye for the present, Micou; I am going to fasten my dog and cart to your door; I will carry what I have to carry myself. Have my goods and money ready on my return."
"All shall be ready. But, I say, before you go I must tell you, since you have been here, I have watched you."
"Well?"
"I don't know, but you seem to have something the matter with you."
"I?"
"Yes."
"You are a fool. I am hungry."
"Hungry! it is possible, but I should say that you wish to appear lively, but at the bottom there is something that bites and pinches you—conscience, as they say; and to trouble you it must bite hard, for you are no prude."
"I tell you, you are crazy, Micou," said Nicholas, shuddering in spite of himself.
"One would say that you tremble."
"My arm pains me."
"Then don't forget my recipe: it will cure you."
"Thank you, Father Micou. Good-bye," said Nicholas, taking his departure.
The receiver, after having concealed the copper, busied himself in collecting the different articles for Nicholas, when a new personage entered the shop. He was a man of about fifty, with a knowing face, heavy gray whiskers, and gold spectacles; he was dressed with some care; the large sleeves of his brown paletot, with velvet cuffs, displayed his straw-colored gloves; his boots undoubtedly the evening previous had been brilliantly polished.
Such was M. Badinot, the uncle of Madame de Saint Ildefonso, whose social position was the pride and security of Micou the Fence.
Badinot, formerly a lawyer, but struck off the rolls, and now a chevalier d'industrie, and agent of equivocal affairs, served as a spy for the Baron de Graün (Rudolph's friend), and gave the diplomatist a great deal of information concerning several characters of this narration.
"Madame Charles has just given you a letter?" said Badinot to the receiver.
"Yes, sir; my nephew will soon return; in a moment he will be off again."
"No, give me the letter; I have changed my mind; I will go myself to the Viscount de Saint Remy," said Badinot, emphasizing purposely the aristocratic address.
"Here is the letter, sir; have you no other commission?"
"No, friend Micou," said Badinot, with a patronizing air; "but I have reproaches to make to you."
"To me, sir?"
"Very grave reproaches."
"How, sir?"
"Certainly Madame de Saint Ildefonso pays very dear for your first floor. My niece is one of those lodgers to whom one should pay the greatest respect; she came with confidence to this house, disliking the noise of the large streets; she hoped she would be here as in the country."
"And she is; just like a village. You ought to find it so, sir, who live in the country—it is just like a real village here."
"A village? Very fine—always the most infernal noise."
"Yet it is impossible to find a more quiet house. Over madame, there is the leader of the orchestra of the Cafe des Aveugles and a traveling clerk; over them another clerk; over him again, there is—"
"It is not of these persons I complain; they are very quiet; my niece finds no inconvenience from them; but in the fourth story there is a lame man, whom Madame de Saint Ildefonso met yesterday drunk on the staircase; he uttered horrible, savage cries; she almost fainted, she was so much alarmed. If you think with such occupants your house resembles a village—"
"I swear to you, sir, that I only wait an opportunity to put this lame man out of doors; he has paid me his term in advance, otherwise he would have been already shown how to get out."
"You should not have taken him for a lodger."
"But I hope madame has no other cause of complaint? There is a postman, who is the very cream of honest people! and over him, alongside of the lame man, a woman and her daughter, who keep as close as mice."
"I repeat, Madame de Saint Iledefonso only complains of the lame man; he is the nightmare of the whole house, that knave! and I warn you, if you keep him, he will cause all the respectable people to leave."
"I will send him off, be assured—I do not hold to him."
"And you will do well, for they will not remain."
"Which would not answer my purpose. So, sir, you may regard the lame man as off, for he only has four days to remain here."
"That is too many; however, it is your business. At the very first insult my niece leaves the house."
"Be assured."
"All this is for your interest; profit by it, for I only speak once," said Badinot, in a patronizing manner, as he left the shop.
Is it not needless for us to say that this woman and girl who lived so solitary, were victims of the cupidity of the notary? We will conduct the reader into the miserable room they occupied.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE VICTIMS OF AN ABUSE OF TRUST.
Let the reader imagine a closet situated on the fourth story of the house. A pale, gloomy light hardly penetrated this narrow apartment, through a little window of cracked, dirty glass, with a single shutter; a yellowish, dilapidated paper covered the walls; from the broken ceiling hung long spider-webs. The floor, broken in several places, showed the beams and laths of the room below. A deal table, a chair, an old trunk without a lock, and a flock bed with coarse sheets and an old woolen covering—such was the furniture. On the chair was seated the Baroness de Fermont. In the bed reposed Claire de Fermont (such were the names of the two victims of Jacques Ferrand).
Possessing but one narrow bed, the mother and daughter slept by turns, dividing thus the hours of the night. The mother had too much anguish, too many inquietudes, to get much repose; but the daughter found some moments of rest and forgetfulness.
She was now asleep. Nothing could be more touching, more sorrowful, than the sight of this misery, imposed by the cupidity of the notary on two women, until then accustomed to the sweet enjoyments of a life of ease, and surrounded in their native town with that consideration which an honorable and honored family always inspire.
The Baroness de Fermont was about thirty-six years of age; her countenance at once expresses mildness and excellence; her features, formerly of remarkable beauty, are now sadly changed; her black hair, divided on her forehead and confined behind her head, already shows some tresses of silver. Clothed in a dress of mourning, tattered in several places, the Baroness de Fermont, with her hand supporting her head, leaned against the wretched bed of her child, and regarded her with inexpressible anguish.
Claire was only sixteen; her complexion had lost its dazzling purity; her beautiful dark eyelashes reached to her hollow cheeks. Once humid and rosy, but now dry and pale, her lips, half-opened, displayed the enamel of her teeth; the rude contact of the bedclothes had given a red appearance in several places to the delicate neck, arms, and shoulders of the young girl. From time to time a slight shudder passed over her, as if she had some painful dream. For a long period the Baroness de Fermont had not wept; she looked on her daughter with a dry and inflamed eye, consumed by a slow fever, which was undermining her. Each day she found herself weaker; but fearing to alarm Claire, and not willing, we may say, to alarm herself, she struggled with all her strength against the first symptoms of her sickness. Through motives of similar generosity, the daughter endeavored to conceal her sufferings. These two unhappy creatures, afflicted with the same griefs, were yet to be afflicted with the same disease.
In misfortunes there are often moments when the future prospect is so frightful, that the most energetic minds dare not look it in the face, but shut their eyes, and endeavor to deceive themselves by mad illusions. Such was the position of the Fermonts. To express the tortures of this woman, during the long hours when she was thus contemplating her sleeping child, thinking of the past, the present, and the future, would be to describe what, in the holy and sacred griefs of a mother, there is the most poignant, the most desperate, the most insane; enchanting recollections, sinister fears, terrible foresights, bitter regrets, extreme dejectedness, ejaculations of powerless rage against the author of so much misery, vain supplications, violent prayers, and, finally, frightful doubts of the all-powerful justice of Him who remains inexorable to this cry, dragged from the bottom of the maternal heart—to this sacred cry, of which the echo ought to reach Heaven, "Pity for my child!"
"How cold she is now!" said the poor mother, touching lightly the icy hand and arm of her daughter. "She is very cold; one hour ago she was burning; it is fever; happily, she does not know she has it. How cold she is! this covering is so thin! I would put my old shawl on the bed; but if I take it from the door, where I have hung it, some of those drunken men will come and look through the cracks, as they did yesterday. What a horrible house! If I had known what kind of place it was before I paid in advance, we should not have stayed here; but I did not know—when one has no papers—could I think that I should ever have need of a passport? When I left Angers in my own carriage, could I have thought—but this infamous—because the notary has pleased to rob me, I am reduced to the most frightful extremity, and against him I can do nothing. Oh, the notary, he does not know the frightful consequences of his robbery!
"Alas! yes, I never dare tell my child my fears—not to grieve her; but I suffer; I have fever; I can hardly sustain myself; I feel within me the germs of a malady—dangerous, perhaps—my bosom is on fire; my heart throbs. Oh, if I should fall sick—if I should die! No, no! I will not—I cannot die—leave Claire—alone, abandoned in Paris—can it be possible? No! I am not sick, after all—what do I feel? A little heat, a heaviness about the head, caused, no doubt, from my uneasiness—from cold—oh, it is nothing serious!
"Come, come, no more of such weakness. It is by cherishing such ideas, it is in listening thus, that one falls really sick. And I have the time, truly! Must I not occupy myself in finding some work for Claire and myself, since this man, who gave us engravings to color—"
Then, after a pause, she added, with indignation, "Oh! this is abominable, to offer this work at the price of Claire's—to take from us this miserable means of existence, because I would not allow my child to go and work at his rooms! Perhaps we may find work elsewhere; but when one knows nobody, it is so difficult! When one is so miserably lodged they inspire no confidence; and yet, the small sum that remains once gone, what shall we do? what will become of us?
"If the laws leave this crime unpunished, I will not—for, if fate pushes me to the end—if I do not find the means to emerge from the atrocious position in which this wretch has placed me and my child, I do not know what I shall do—I shall be capable of killing him—I— this man—then they can do what they will with me. Yes—but my child? my child?
"To leave her alone, abandoned—ah! no, I do not wish to die! for this, I cannot kill this man. What would become of her? She, at sixteen—she is young, and pure as an angel; but she is handsome—but misery, hunger, abandonment—what may they not cause? and then—and then—into what abyss may she not fall?
"Oh! it is frightful—poverty! frightful enough for any one; but perhaps more so for those who have always lived in opulence. I cannot beg—I must absolutely see my child starve before I can beg! What a coward—yet—"
Two or three violent knocks at the door made her tremble, and awoke her daughter with a start.
"Mamma, what is that?" cried Claire, sitting up in bed; then, throwing her arms around her mother's neck, who, very much alarmed, pressed her child to her bosom, "Mamma, what is it?" repeated Claire.
"I do not know, my child; but do not be afraid, it is nothing: some one knocked; it is, perhaps, the letter we expect."
At this moment the worm-eaten door shook again, under repeated blows with the fist.
"Who is there?" said Madame de Fermont in a trembling voice.
A coarse, rough voice answered, "Are you deaf, neighbors?"
"What do you want? I do not know you," said Madame de Fermont, trying to conceal the agitation of her voice.
"I am Robin, your neighbor; give me some fire to light my pipe: come, make haste!"
"It is that lame man, who is always drunk," said the mother to her child.
"Are you going to give me any fire! or I'll break all open, in the name of thunder?"
"Sir, I have no fire."
"You must have some matches, then; everybody has them; do you open— come?"
"Sir, go away."
"You won't open?—one, two—"
"I beg you to go away, or I will call."
"Once—twice—three times—no, you won't! Then I'll break all down, then."
And the wretch gave such a furious kick against the door, he burst it in, the miserable lock breaking at the first assault. The two women screamed with alarm. Madame de Fermont, notwithstanding her weakness, threw herself before the rough, and barred his entrance.
"This is outrageous: you shall not come in," cried the unhappy mother;
"I shall cry for help."
"For what—for what?" answered he: "mustn't we be neighborly? If you had opened, I should not have broken in."
Then, with the stupid obstinacy of drunkenness, he added staggering, "I wish to come in; I will come in, and I will not go out until I light my pipe."
"I have neither fire nor matches. In the name of heaven, sir, retire."
"It's not true; you say that so I sha'n't see the little one in bed. Yesterday you stopped up all the holes in the door. She is pretty; I want to see her. Take care of yourself; I'll scratch your face if you don't let me come in. I tell you that I will see the little one in bed, and I will light my pipe, or I'll smash everything, and you along with it!"
"Help! help!" cried Madame de Fermont, who felt the door giving way under the violent push of the lame man.
Intimidated by the cries, the man stepped backward and shook his fist at Madame de Fermont, saying, "You shall pay me for this; I will return to-night—I'll catch hold of your tongue, and you cannot cry."
And the Big Cripple, as they called him at Ravageurs' Island, descended the stairs, uttering horrible oaths. Madame de Fermont, fearing that he might return, and seeing the lock broken, drew the table against the door to barricade it. Claire had been so alarmed at this horrible scene that she had fallen on her cot almost without emotion, with a violent attack of the nerves. Madame de Fermont, forgetting her own alarm, ran to her daughter, pressed her in her arms, made her drink a little water, and, with the most tender caresses, succeeded in calming her.
"Be composed, my poor child—the bad man has gone away." Then the wretched mother cried, with a touching accent, "Yet it is this notary who is the cause of all our troubles. Compose yourself, my child," resumed she, tenderly embracing her daughter; "this wretch is gone."
"Oh, mamma, if he should come back again? You see you have called for help, and no one has come. Oh! I entreat you; let us leave this house. I shall die here with fear."
"How you tremble! you have a fever!"
"No, no," said the young girl, to pacify her mother; "it is nothing; it is fright; it will pass over; and you, how are you? Give me your hands. How burning hot they are! Ah! you are suffering; you wish to conceal it from me."
"Do not think so: I am better than ever; it is the emotion which this man has caused me which makes me thus. I slept on the chair very soundly; I only awoke when you did."
"Yet, mamma, your poor eyes are very red, much inflamed!"
"Ah! well, my child, on a chair sleep is not so refreshing, you know!"
"Really, do you not suffer?"
"No, no, I assure you; and you?"
"Nor I; only I tremble still from fear. I entreat you, mamma, let us leave this house."
"And where shall we go to? You know with how much trouble we found this wretched place; and, besides, we have paid two weeks in advance; they will not return us our money; and we have so little left—so little, that we should manage as closely as possible."
"Perhaps some day M. de Saint Remy will answer your letter."
"I no longer hope it; it is so long since I have written."
"He might not have received your letter: why do you not write him again? From hence to Angers is not so far; we shall soon have an answer."
"My poor child, you know how much this has cost me already."
"What do you risk? he is so good, notwithstanding his roughness. Was he not one of my father's old friends, and, besides, he is our relation."
"But he is poor himself; his fortune is very small. Perhaps he does not reply, to avoid the mortification of being obliged to refuse us."
"But if he has not received your letter, mamma?"
"And if he has received it, my child; of two things choose one: either he is in such a situation that he cannot come to our aid, or he feels no interest for us; then why expose ourselves to a refusal or a humiliation?"
"Come, courage, mamma, we have one hope left. Perhaps this morning will bring us a happy answer."
"From Lord d'Orbigny?"
"Without doubt. This letter, of which you formerly made a draught, was so simple, so touching—exposed so naturally our misfortunes, that he will have pity on us. Really, I do not know what tells me you are wrong to despair of assistance."
"He has so little reason to interest himself about us: he had, it is true, formerly known your father, and I had often heard my brother speak of Lord d'Orbigny as of a man with whom he had been on friendly terms before he left Paris with his young wife."
"It is just on that account that I have hopes; he has a young wife, she will be compassionate; and, besides, in the country one can do so much good. He will take you, I suppose, for housekeeper; I will take care of the linen. Since Lord d'Orbigny is very rich, in a large house there is always employment."
"Yes; but we have so little right to his interest. We are so unfortunate."
"That is frequently a title in the eyes of charitable people. Let us hope that Lord d'Orbigny and his wife are so."
"Well, in case we need expect nothing from him, I will overcome my false shame, and will write to the Duchess de Lucenay—this lady of whom M. de Saint Remy spoke so often, whose generosity and good heart he so often praised. Yes, the daughter of the Prince de Noirmont. He knew her when she was very small, and he treated her almost as his child, for he was intimately connected with the prince. Madame de Lucenay must have many-acquaintances; she could, perhaps, find us a place."
"Doubtless, mamma, but I understand your reserve; you do not know her at all, while my poor father and uncle knew Lord d'Orbigny a little."
"Finally, in the case that Madame d'Orbigny can do nothing for us, I will have recourse to a last resource."
"What is it, mamma?"
"It is a very weak one—a very foolish hope, perhaps; but why not try it? the son of M. de Saint Remy is—-"
"M. de Saint Remy has a son!" cried Claire, with astonishment.
"Yes, my child, he has a son."
"He never spoke of him—he never came to Angers."
"True, for reasons you cannot know. M. de Saint Remy, having left
Paris fifteen years ago, has not seen his son since."
"Fifteen years without seeing his father! can it be possible?"
"Alas! yes, you see. I tell you that the son of M. de Saint Remy, being well known in the fashionable world, and very rich—"
"Very rich! and his father is poor?"
"All the fortune of M. de Saint Remy, the son, came from his mother."
"But no matter; how can he leave his father—"
"His father would accept nothing from him."
"Why is that?"
"This is once more a question to which I cannot reply, my dear child; but I heard my poor brother say that the generosity of this young man was generally praised. Young and generous, he ought to be good. Thus, learning from me that my husband was the intimate friend of his father, perhaps he might interest himself in procuring us some work or employment; he has so many brilliant and numerous relations, that this would be easy."
"And then we could find out from him, perhaps, if M. de Saint Remy, his father, should have left Angers before you wrote to him; that would explain his silence."
"I believe that M. de Saint Remy, my child, has no intercourse with his father. In fine, it is only to try."
"Unless M. d'Orbigny should answer you in a favorable manner; and I repeat it, I do not know why, but, in spite of myself, I have hope."
"But already many days have elapsed, my child, since I have written, and nothing—nothing yet. A letter put in the office before four o'clock in the afternoon, arrives the next morning at Aubiere; five days have now passed since we might have received an answer."
"Perhaps he is thinking, before he writes, in what way he can be useful to us."
"God hear you, my child!"
"It appears very plain to me, mamma, if he could do nothing for us, he would have informed you at once."
"Unless he will do nothing at all."
"Ah, mamma, can it be possible? not deign to answer us, and leave us to hope four days, eight days perhaps—for when one is unfortunate they hope always."
"Alas! my child, there is sometimes so much indifference for the woes which one does not know!"
"But your letter."
"My letter cannot give him an idea of our troubles, of our sufferings of each moment. Can my letter picture to him our unfortunate life, our humiliations of every description, our existence in this frightful house, the alarm we have experienced even just now? Can my letter describe to him the horrible future which awaits us, if—but stop, my child, do not let us speak of this. Mon Dieu! you tremble—you are cold."
"No, mamma; pay no attention to it; but tell me, suppose everything fails, that the little money which remains in that trunk is spent, can it be possible that in a rich place like Paris we should both die of hunger and misery, for want of work, and because a bad man has taken what you had?"
"Hush, poor child."
"But, mamma, could It be?"
"Alas!"
"But God, who knows all, who can do all, how could He abandon us, He whom we have not offended?"
"I entreat you, my child, do not have such gloomy ideas; I would rather see you hope, even against hope. Come, rouse me up with your dear illusions; but I am but too apt to be discouraged, you know well."
"Yes, yes; let us hope; it is better. The nephew of the porter will soon return from the post-office with a letter. One more errand to pay from your little treasure, and through my fault. If I had not been so feeble to-day and yesterday, we could have gone ourselves, as we did before, but you would not leave me alone here to go yourself."
"Could I, my child? Judge then, just now this wretch who broke in the door, if you had been alone."
"Oh! mamma, hush; only to think of it makes me shudder."
At this moment some one knocked sharply at the door.
"Heavens, it is he," cried Madame de Fermont, and she pushed with all her strength the table against the door. Her fears, however, ceased when she heard the voice of Micou.
"Madame, my nephew, Andre, has come from the post-office. It is a letter with an X and a Z for address; it comes from a distance. There are eight sous postage and the commission—it is twenty sous."
"Mamma, a letter from the country; we are saved; it is from M. de Saint Remy or M. d'Orbigny. Poor mother, you shall suffer no more, no longer be uneasy about me; you shall be happy. God is just—God is good!" cried the young girl, and a ray of hope lighted up her sweet and charming face.
"Oh! sir, thank you; give—give me quickly," said Madame de Fermont, pushing back the table and half opening the door.
"It is twenty sous, madame," said the fence, showing the letter so impatiently desired.
"I am going to pay you, sir."
"Oh! madame, there is no hurry. I am going to the roof; in ten minutes I will descend, and take the money as I pass." Micou handed the letter to Madame de Fermont, and disappeared.
"The letter is from Normandy. On the stamp is Aubiers; it is from M. d'Orbigny!" cried Madame de Fermont examining the address.
"Well, mamma, was I right?"
"Oh, how my heart beats! Our good or bad fortune is, however, here," said Madame de Ferment, in a faltering voice, showing the letter.
Twice her trembling hand approached the seal to break it. She had not the courage. Can one hope to paint the terrible anguish suffered by those who, like Madame de Fermont, await from a letter hope or despair?
The burning and feverish emotion of a player whose last pieces of gold are staked on a single card, and who, breathless, the eye inflamed, awaits the decisive throw which saves or ruins him forever: this emotion, so violent, would hardly give an idea of the terrible anguish of which we speak. In an instant the soul is lifted up with the most radiant hopes, or plunged into the blackest despair. The unfortunate being passes in turn through the most contrary emotions; ineffable feelings of happiness and gratitude toward the generous heart which had pity on his sorrows—a sad and bitter resentment against the selfish or indifferent.
"What weakness!" said Madame de Fermont, with a sad smile, seating herself on the bed of her daughter: "once more, my poor Claire, our fate is there. I burn to know it, and I dare not. If it is a refusal, alas! it will be always soon enough."
"And if it should be a promise of succor? say, mamma; if this poor little letter contains good and consoling words, which will assure us as to the future, in promising us a modest employ in the house of M. d'Orbigny, each minute we lose, is it not a moment of happiness lost?"
"Yes, my child; but if, on the contrary—"
"No, mamma; you are mistaken, I am sure of it—when I told you that M. d'Orbigny would not have waited, so long to answer your letter, except to give you a favorable answer. Let me look at the letter, mamma; I am sure to guess, only from the writing, if the news is good or bad. Hold, I am sure of it now," said Claire, taking the letter; "you have only to look at the bold, good, and strong hand, to see that the writer must be accustomed to give to those who suffer."
"I entreat you, Claire, no more of these foolish hopes, or I can never open the letter."
"My God! good little mamma, without opening it I can tell you what it contains; listen: 'Madame, your condition and that of your daughter is so worthy of interest, that I beg you will have the goodness to come immediately to me, in case you would like to take charge of my house.'"
"My child, once more I entreat you—no insane hopes; the reverse will be frightful. Come, courage," said Madame de Fermont, taking the letter from her daughter, and preparing to break the seal.
"Courage for you—very well!" said Claire, smiling, and carried away by a feeling of confidence so natural at her age. "As for me, I have no need of it: I am so sure of what I advance. Stop, do you wish me to open the letter? shall I read it? give it me, timid mamma."
"Yes—I would rather—here. But no, no; it is better that I should." Madame de Fermont broke the seal with indescribable emotion. Her daughter, also, in spite of her apparent confidence, could hardly breathe.
"Read it aloud, mamma," said she.
"The letter is not long; it is from the Countess d'Orbigny," said
Madame de Fermont looking at the signature.
"So much the better; it is good. Do you see, mamma, this excellent young lady has been pleased to answer you herself."
"We shall see."
"MADAME-M. le Comte d'Orbigny, very much indisposed for some time past, could not reply to you during my absence."
"You see, mamma, it was not his fault."
"Listen, listen."
"Having arrived this morning from Paris, I hasten to write to you, madame, after having conferred on the subject of your letter with M. d'Orbigny. He has but a faint recollection of the relation which you suppose to have existed between him and your brother. As to the name of your husband, madame, it is not unknown to M. d'Orbigny; but he cannot recollect under what circumstances he heard it mentioned. The pretended spoliation, of which so lightly you accuse M. Jacques Ferrand, whom we have the good fortune to have for a notary, is, in the eyes of M. d'Orbigny, a cruel calumny, of which, doubtless, you have not counted the bearing. My husband, as well as myself, madame, know and admire the well-known probity of the respectable and pious man you attack so blindly. This is to inform you, madame, that M. d'Orbigny, feeling, doubtless, for the unfortunate position in which you are placed, and of which it is not in his province to find out the real cause, finds it out of his power to assist you.
"Be pleased to receive, madame, with this expression of the regrets of
M. d'Orbigny the assurance of my most distinguished sentiments.
"COMTESSE D'ORSIGNY."
The mother and daughter looked at each other, incapable of uttering a word.
Micou knocked at the door and said, "Madame, can I come in for the postage and commission? It is twenty sous."
"Oh! it is right; such good news! well worth what we spend in two days for our living," said Madame de Fermont, with a bitter smile; and leaving the letter on the bed, she went toward an old trunk without a lock, stooped down, and opened it. "We are robbed!" cried the unhappy woman, with horror. "Nothing—no more;" added she, in a mournful tone. And powerless, she leaned on the trunk.
"What do you say, mamma? The bag of money?"
But Madame de Fermont arose quickly, went out of the chamber, and, addressing the receiver, she said, with a sparkling eye, and cheeks colored with indignation and alarm, "Sir, I had a bag of money in this trunk; some one has robbed me—yesterday, doubtless, for I went out for an hour with my daughter. This money must be found. Do you hear? You are responsible."
"Some one robbed you! It is not true; my house is honest," said the receiver, harshly and insolently. "You say that, so as not to pay me the twenty sous."
"I tell you that this money, all that I possessed in the world, some one has stolen; it must be found, or I'll make a complaint. Oh! I shall spare nothing, respect nothing—I notify you!"
"That would be very fine of you, who have no papers; go and make your complaint; go at once! I defy you." The unhappy woman was overcome. She could not go out and leave her daughter alone in bed, since the fright she had received in the morning, and, above all, after the threats addressed to her by the receiver. He continued, "It is a cheat; you had no more a bag of silver than a bag of gold; you don't want to pay me the postage, hey? Good! all the same; when you pass before my door, I will tear off your old black shawl from your shoulders; it is very threadbare, but it is worth at least twenty sous."
"Oh! sir," cried Madame de Fermont, bursting into tears, "have pity on us. This small sum was all we had—my daughter and I; that stolen, we have nothing left—nothing, do you understand? nothing-but to starve." "What would you have me to do? If it is true that you are robbed, and silver, too, it has been spent long since: the money—"
"Alas!"
"The lad who stole them would not have been simple enough to mark the money and keep it here, so that he might be caught—if it is some one in this house, which I do not believe—for, as I said only this morning to the uncle of the lady on the first floor, here is no place for plunder! if you are robbed, it is your misfortune. For should you make a hundred thousand complaints, you would not recover a sou—you would gain nothing by it, I tell you—believe me. Well," cried the receiver, seeing Madame de Fermont stagger, "what's the matter? You turn pale? Take care of your mother, she is sick," added he, advancing in time to save her from falling. The fictitious energy which had so long sustained her gave way under this new affliction.
"Mother, what is the matter?" cried Claire, still in bed.
The receiver, yet active and strong for his age, seized with a transitory feeling of pity, took Madame de Fermont in his arms, pushed open the door, and entered, saying, "Mademoiselle, pardon me for coming in while you are in bed, but I must bring in your mother; she has fainted; it can't last."
On seeing this man enter, Claire uttered a cry of alarm, and concealed herself as well as she could under the bedclothes. The receiver seated Madame de Fermont on the chair near the bed, and retired, leaving the door half-open, the Big Cripple having broken the lock.
One hour after this, the violent malady, which for so long a time had threatened Madame de Fermont, showed itself. Attacked by a violent fever and frightful delirium, the unfortunate woman was laid in the bed of her child, who, alone, alarmed and almost as ill as her mother, had neither money nor resources, and feared at any moment to see the ruffian enter who lived upon the same floor.