Half an hour later I joined Kondjé-Gul again at her house. She had sent
Fanny out of the room, and was waiting for me. When she saw me, she
threw her arm round my neck, and the long pent-up tears seemed to start
from her eyes like a fountain.
"Good heavens!" I exclaimed, "what is it, then?"
And taking her on my knees like a child, I held her in my arms; but she
soon recovered her energy.
"Listen, dear," she said in a firm voice, "you must forgive me for what
I have just done: you must forgive me for having concealed my thoughts
and my troubles from you, even at the risk of distressing you."
"I forgive you, everything," I answered immediately, "go on, tell me
quickly."
"Well, then! For a whole week I have been deceiving you," she continued,
"by telling you that I had no troubles, and that I did not know the
cause of that sadness which I could not conceal from you. I was afraid
of making you angry with my mother, by confessing to you that it was she
who was tormenting me."
"Your mother!" I exclaimed: "and what had she to say to you, then?"
"You shall hear all," she said, with animation, "for I must justify
myself for having kept a secret from you. I daresay you remember," she
continued, "that a fortnight ago she spoke to me about your marriage,
telling me that you were going to leave me."
"Yes, yes, I understand," I said. "What then?"
"My mother had made me promise to keep this revelation a secret, because
it was necessary, so she said, that Count Kiusko should not suspect that
we loved each other. She said that he had expressly attributed my
refusal to become his wife to some hope which I doubtless entertained of
marrying you."
"Well, go on; tell me what has occurred since."
"You know the state of trouble you found me in that night. I could not
hold back my tears, and you commanded me to tell you all. At last you
reassured me with so much warmth of feeling, that after that I did not
believe anyone but you. Quite happy at the thought of sacrificing myself
to your will, and to your peace of mind, I left off thinking about my
alarms, and regretted them as an insult to our love; I repeated to my
mother all your kind promises, and thought that I had set her mind at
rest. Imagine my astonishment at hearing her, a few days afterwards,
return to the subject: she had seen the count again, who had declared
that your uncle would disinherit you if you did not carry out his
wishes."
"And did you believe all that?"
"No," she replied promptly, "for you had not told me so! But then my
mother, seeing that I would only believe you, changed her tactics: she
spoke about Count Kiusko, his wealth, and his love for me."
"She did that, did she?"
"Oh, forgive her!" she continued; "she gets anxious both on my account
and her own. She is alarmed about the future, and fancies she sees me
deserted by you! Well, it was simply a cruel struggle for me, in which
my heart could not betray you. I suffered through it, and that's all!
But three days ago, I don't know what can have passed during your aunt's
party, my mother, on our way home, said to me in a decided manner that
she had resolved 'to live no longer among the infidels,' and intended
'to return to the land of the Faithful, in order to expiate the great
wrong she had committed by living here.'
"I was dismayed at this resolution of hers. As she based it upon our
faith, I could not oppose her, for that would have been a sacrilege, but
I could at least invoke her affection for me, and entreat her not to
leave. Then, while I was on my knees before her, and was kissing her and
crying, she startled me by saying: 'You shall not leave me; for, when I
go, I shall take you away with me'!"
"Why, she must be crazy!" I exclaimed.
"Well, dear," added Kondjé-Gul, "you can easily understand what a
thunderbolt this was to me! I felt it so painfully that I nearly swooned
away. My mother was alarmed and called for Fanny. The next day, I
attempted to prevail upon her to change her mind, declaring that it
would kill me to be separated from you. I thought I had mollified her,
for she kissed me and said that all she cared about was my happiness.
But this evening, while we were in the carriage on our way to
Suzannah's, she spoke again to me about Count Kiusko. I have a
presentiment that the greatest enemy to our love and happiness is that
man; and that he it is who has been influencing my mother, hoping, no
doubt, that when separated from you I should no longer be able to resist
her wishes.
"Well, you know the rest, I had gone into the boudoir while you were
dancing, when the count came and sat down by my side.--'Is it true that
you are going away?' he said to me, after a minute or so. 'Who could
make you believe such a thing?' I replied coldly. 'Why, something your
mother told me which seemed to imply it.' I remained silent--he did not
venture to follow up the subject, and said nothing more for a few
minutes. I kept my eyes on a book which I was looking through, for I
felt that his eyes were fixed upon me. 'Perhaps you will regret André a
little,' he continued, 'but what can you do? He is not free,--and
besides, do you suppose he would have loved you?'
"At this question, the cruel irony of which wounded me to the quick, I
was possessed by some mad impulse, I raised my head and replied to him
in such a scornful tone that he rose up in confusion. Just then you came
in. I wished to overwhelm him with my contempt so as to destroy all
further hopes he might cherish. You know what I said--"
"And quite right, too! For it was necessary to put a stop to his
nonsense. I will attend to it."
"But what if my mother wants to separate us?"
"Your mother, indeed!" I exclaimed; "your mother who sold you, abandoned
you to the life of a slave, do you think she can come and claim the
rights which she has thrown away?"
"Can you defend me against her, then?"
"Yes, dear, I will defend you," I exclaimed in a passion, "and now set
your mind at ease. There is a miserable plot at the bottom of all this,
which I intend demolishing. When I leave you I am going to Count Kiusko,
and I assure you that he sha'n't trouble you any more: after that I
shall see your mother."
"Good heavens!" said Kondjé-Gul, "are you going to fight him?"
"No, no," I answered with a laugh, in order to remove her fears; "but
you must understand that it is necessary for me to have an explanation
with him."
In the morning I returned home and arranged all my affairs ready for any
eventuality; then when all was in order I went after two of my friends,
and asked them to hold themselves ready to act as my seconds in an
affair which I might be compelled by grave circumstances to settle that
very day. Having obtained their promise to do so, I proceeded to
Kiusko's in the Rue de l'Elysée.
When I arrived at his house, I saw from the windows being open that he
was up. A footman, who knew me, was standing under the peristyle. He
told me that he did not think his master would see anyone then. I gave
him my card and instructed him to send it up at once to the count. In a
minute or two after he returned and asked me to come up to his master's
private room: he showed me into a little smoking-room adjoining the
bedroom, to which the count's intimate friends only are admitted. I had
hardly entered it when Daniel appeared; he was dressed in a Moldavian
costume which he uses as a dressing-gown.
"Hullo, here's our dear friend André!" he said when he saw me, in such
an indifferent tone that I could detect in it the intentional
affectation of a calmness to which his pale countenance gave the lie.
Still he did not hold out his hand to me, nor did I proffer mine; he sat
down, indicating to me an arm-chair on the other side of the fire-place.
"What good fortune has brought you here so early this morning?" he
continued, taking a few puffs at his cigar.
"Why, I should have thought you expected to see me," I replied, looking
him straight in the face.
He returned my look with a smile.
"I expected you, without expecting you, as they say."
By the peculiar tone in which he uttered these words, I could see that
he was determined to make me take the initiative in the matter upon
which I had come.
"Very well!" I said, wishing to show him that I guessed his mind. "I
will explain myself."
"I am all attention, my dear fellow," he answered.
"I have come to speak to you," I continued drily, "about Mademoiselle
Kondjé-Gul Murrah, and about what passed yesterday between her and you."
"Ah, yes! I understand: you are referring to the somewhat severe lecture
which I drew upon myself, and to the confidential communication she made
me."
"Precisely so," I added; "you could not sum up the two points better
than you have done: a lecture, and a confidence. Now as one outcome of
the second point is that I am responsible for all Mademoiselle Murrah's
acts, I have come to place myself at your command respecting the lecture
she thought fit to give you."
"What nonsense, my dear fellow!" he exclaimed, puffing a cloud of smoke
into the air. "After all I only had what I deserved, for I can only
blame my own presumption. Besides the very anger of such a charming
young lady is a favour to the man who incurs it, so that my only regret
is that I offended her. I should therefore really laugh at myself to
think that I could hold you responsible for this little incident: nay, I
will go so far as to say that, strictly speaking, I should owe you an
apology for what you might be justified in complaining of as an act of
disloyalty between friends, but for the fact that I can plead as my
excuse the complete ignorance in which you left me of certain mysterious
relations. You must know very well that a simple word from you, my
relative, my _friend_, would have made me stop short on the brink of the
precipice."
I appreciated the reproachful irony concealed in this last sentence; but
I had gone too far to trouble myself about remorses of conscience
regarding him.
"So then," I replied, "you have nothing to say, no satisfaction to
demand of me in respect to this lecture?"
"None whatever, my dear fellow!" he answered, in the same easy tone
which he had preserved all along. "And I may add that there could be
nothing more ridiculous than a quarrel between two friends like you and
me upon such a matter!"
"Let's think no more about it then!" I continued, imitating his
composure. "Since you take it so good-naturedly, I sha'n't press it.
But, having settled this first point, it remains now for us to discuss
what you have termed the _confidence_."
At this he could not repress a slight gesture. His dark eye flashed up,
but for a moment only: he was soon quite calm again.
"Ah, yes!" he said carelessly; "now we've come to the second point."
"This is the point of importance for me," I added; "and I am going to
ask you, on my side, what you propose to do after this revelation?"
"I must compliment you, my dear fellow, for upon my word it's a most
wonderful romance. Do you really mean to say that this beautiful young
lady whom we have all been admiring from a distance, fascinated by her
charms, and who like a young queen has been starring it in the most
aristocratic drawing-rooms of your society, exciting enthusiastic praise
wherever she goes,--that she is your slave?--You must admit that no
mortal man could help envying you!"
"Do your compliments," I continued, "imply an engagement, on your part,
to abandon importunities, which you now recognise to be useless?"
"Oh, indeed!" he exclaimed, with a laugh; "so you're going to ask me now
to make _my_ confession?"
Exasperated by this imperturbable composure of his, which I could not
break down, I again looked him straight in the face, and asked--
"Do you mean to say you refuse to understand me?"
"No, my good sir!" he answered, resuming his peculiar smile, "I
understand you perfectly well; you want to pick a quarrel with me, or to
force me to demand satisfaction from you for a matter to which I do not
attach as much importance as you do. Between ourselves, a duel would be
an act of folly."
"Do you understand, at any rate," I retorted, "that I forbid your ever
presenting yourself before Mademoiselle Kondjé-Gul Murrah again?"
"Fie! my dear fellow! What do you take me for? After such an astonishing
confession on her part, I should prove myself deficient in the most
ordinary discretion, if I did not henceforth spare her my presence; so
you may set your mind at ease on that point."
"Do you also imply by this evasive answer that you will abandon certain
plots with her mother, which I might describe in terms that would not
please you?"
"_Corbleu!_ I should be too heavily handicapped in such a game, you must
admit. Nor do I think that the good lady would be of much service to me,
from what I know of her. Moreover," he added, "you have made me your
confidences, as a friend, and, late though they arrive, I shall feel
bound by them henceforth, if only on the ground of the mutual
consideration, which, in grave circumstances, relations owe to each
other."
The idea, then, occurred to me of provoking him in another way; but I
clearly realised that, as he was playing such a perfidious part, it
would be dangerous for me to commit this imprudence.
"Come, my dear Daniel," I said, as I rose from my chair, "at any rate, I
can see that you have a very good-natured disposition."
"Of course I have," he replied; "and yet there are people who accuse me
of evil designs."
The most formidable perils are those which you feel darkly conscious of,
without being able to discern either the enemy or the snare. This
interview with Kiusko left almost an impression of terror on my mind.
Knowing him to be as brave as I did, I felt convinced that his
insensibility to my insults could only be due to the calculated calm of
an implacable will, which was pursuing its object, whether of love, of
vengeance, or of hatred, with all the energy of desperation.
Notwithstanding the humiliations he had undergone, I made sure that he
had by no means given up the game. He meant to have Kondjé-Gul, even if
he had to capture her forcibly, and to carry her off as his prey. When I
considered his sinister calm, which seemed to be abiding its
opportunity, I wondered whether we were not already threatened by some
secret machinations on his part.
Still I was not the man to be overcome by childish panics; so I soon got
over this transitory feeling of alarm. I knew that after all we were so
unequally matched, that I need not seriously fear his success. However
determined Kiusko might be not to abandon the cowardly _rôle_ he had
assumed, I felt sure that an open affront at the club would compel him
to fight.
Feeling reassured by this consideration, I decided to be guided in my
action by the result of the interview which I was going to have with
Kondjé-Gul's mother. It was necessary for me to commence by putting a
stop to the foolish proceedings of this woman, who was perhaps acting
unintentionally as Kiusko's accomplice in schemes the object of which
she could not foresee. It was eleven o'clock, an hour at which I knew I
should find her alone, while Kondjé-Gul was taking her lessons: I went
accordingly to Téral House.
When I arrived a carriage was coming in and drawing up under the
portico. I saw Madame Murrah get out of it. She could not avoid showing
some annoyance on observing me. Rather surprised at her taking such an
early drive, I asked her to go into the drawing-room. She went there
before me, and, seeing me take an arm-chair, she sat down on the divan
in her usual indolent manner, and waited to hear what I had to say.
The scene which I am now going to relate to you, my dear Louis, was
certainly, according to our ideas, a remarkable one. I tell it you just
as it happened; but you must not forget that, for the Circassian woman,
there was nothing in it which was out of conformity with her principles
and the ideas of her race.
"I have come to talk with you," I said, "upon a serious subject, the
importance of which perhaps you do not comprehend; for, without
intending it, you are causing Kondjé-Gul a great deal of trouble."
"How am I causing my daughter trouble?" she answered, as if she had been
trying to understand.
"By continually telling her that I am going to leave her in order to get
married,--by telling her that you wish to go away, and have even decided
to take her with you. She is of course alarmed by all these imaginary
anxieties."
"If it is so decreed by Allah!" she said quietly, "who shall prevent
it?"
I had been expecting denials and subterfuges. This fatalistic utterance,
without answering my reproaches, took me quite aback and made me
tremble.
"But," I replied in a severe tone, "Allah could not command you to bring
unhappiness to your daughter."
"As you are going to be married----"
"What matters my marriage?" I answered. "It cannot in any way affect
Kondjé-Gul's happiness! She knows that I love her, and that she will
always retain the first place in my affections."
Madame Murrah shook her head for a minute in an undecided manner. The
argument which I had employed was a most simple one.
At last she said: "Your wife will be an infidel; and, according to your
laws, she will be entitled to demand my daughter's dismissal."
Dumb-founded at hearing her raise such objections, when I had fancied
that I only needed to express my commands, I gazed at her in complete
astonishment.
"But my wife will never know Kondjé-Gul!" I exclaimed. "She will live in
her own home, and Kondjé-Gul will live here, so that nothing will be
changed so far as we are concerned."
Upon this reasoning of mine, which I thought would seem decisive to her,
the Circassian reflected for a moment as if embarrassed as to how she
should answer me. But suddenly, just when I thought she was convinced,
she said:
"All that you have said would be very true, if we were in Turkey; but
you know better than I do that in your country, your religion does not
permit you to have more than one wife."
"But," I exclaimed, more astounded than ever at her language, "do you
suppose, then, that Kondjé-Gul could ever doubt my honour or my
fidelity?"
"My daughter is a child, and believes everything," she continued. "But,
for my own part, I have consulted a lawyer, and have been informed that
according to your law she has become as free as a Frenchwoman, and has
lost all her rights as _cadine_ which she would have enjoyed in our
country. Moreover I am informed that you can abandon her without her
being able to claim any compensation from you."
I was struck dumb by this bold language and the expression with which it
was accompanied. This was no longer the apathetic Oriental woman whose
obedience I thought I commanded like a master. I had before me another
woman whose expression was thoughtful and decided--I understood it all.
"While informing you that your daughter is free," I said, changing my
own tone of voice, "this lawyer no doubt informed you also, that you
could marry her to Count Kiusko?"
"Oh, I knew that before!" she replied, smiling.
"So you have been deceiving me these two months past, by leaving me to
believe that you had answered him with a refusal?"
"It was certainly necessary to prevent you from telling him what he now
knows.--The silly girl told him everything yesterday."
"How do you know that?"
I saw her face redden.
"I know it. That's enough!" she replied defiantly.
Feeling certain that Kondjé-Gul had not told her anything of the
incident of the day before, I divined that she had just left Kiusko's,
where she had been, no doubt, during our interview.
"May I ask you, then, what you propose to do, now that Count Kiusko
knows everything?" I continued, controlling my anger.
"I shall do what my daughter's happiness impels me to do. You cannot
marry her without being obliged to give up your uncle's fortune. If
Count Kiusko should persist in wishing to make her his wife, knowing all
the circumstances that he now does, you can understand that I, as her
mother, could not but approve of a marriage which would assure her such
a rich future."
At this I could no longer restrain myself, but exclaimed:
"Oh, indeed! Do you imagine I shall let you dispose of her like that,
without defending her?"
"No, of course, I know all this.--And that's the very point upon which I
consulted a counsel; but, according to what he has advised me, I should
like to ask what authority you can claim over my daughter? What rights
can you set up against mine?"
"Well, I should like to remind you also that I can ruin your comfortable
expectations by killing Count Kiusko," I said, quite beside myself with
rage.
"If so it is written!" she rejoined in a calm voice.
Exasperated by her fatalistic imperturbability, I felt moved by some
furious and violent impulse. I got up from my chair to calm myself. I
could see that for two months past I had been duped by this woman, who
had been pursuing with avidity a vision of unexpected fortune, and that
nothing could now divert her from this pursuit. I felt myself caught in
their abominable toils.
Sitting motionless on her divan, with her hands folded over her knees,
she regarded me in silence.
"Well!" I said, coming close to her again, "I can see that your maternal
solicitude is all a question of money. For what sum will you sell me
your daughter a second time, and go back to live by yourself in the
East?"
She hesitated a moment, and then she said:
"I will tell you in a week's time."
By her deceitful looks I judged that she still placed some hope in
Kiusko, and that she probably wished to wait until she could make sure
about it, one way or the other--but from motives of discretion I held my
tongue, and took leave of her.
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