The next day, the day of the fête, all the Château, from early in the
morning, was in a violent tumult. Maurice, the Marquis Assistant, and
Jean Perliez were busy to the point of distraction; fortunately for
Maurice, who had been unable to sleep and had called Jean at six to
share the secret which had not been confided to him. He could not
think of telling Genevieve, and Jean should be able to help keep
watch.
"You try," he directed, "to watch Montagnac; I shall not leave the
diplomat."
The Duke came in search of Maurice to ask for Esperance. He looked a
little pale but showed much interest in the fête.
"Our dear Duchess must be rewarded for all the excitement we have
caused her house."
"There is no reason to suppose," said Maurice, "that all the
excitement will cease after the fête!"
The Duke would not show that he had understood. Maurice went to smoke
a cigarette in the garden and was hardly surprised to see the doctor,
who had been attached to the service of the Duchess for twenty years,
and attended all the guests in the Château, talking animatedly with
the diplomat. The doctor raised his arms in a horrified gesture,
letting them fall again tragically. He gave every evidence of a
violent struggle with himself. The diplomat remained calm, determined,
and even authoritative. The poor doctor finally yielded. The diplomat
shook his hand and left him.
The doctor with an expression of great distress, walking feebly,
passed by Maurice, who would have stopped him.
"No, no. What? It is impossible.... You are not ill.... Leave me, dear
sir.... I ... I must..."
He stammered unintelligible phrases, hastening his steps. Maurice
re-entered the hall. He met the musician Xavier Flamand, who said,
"I just saw the Count Styvens go out."
"At this hour?" exclaimed Montagnac, looking at the Duke.
"He has gone to meet his mother at the station. She arrives at eight
o'clock. It is only seven, he will arrive half an hour too soon."
"He is a dutiful son," said Montagnac. "I am surprised that he has not
taken his fiancée."
Maurice raised his head. "Then the Marquis knows nothing!" he said to
himself.
He reflected, "How dense I am growing. Evidently neither the Duke nor
Albert has told anyone the motive of their quarrel."
Jean came up and cut short his monologue.
"I think that the two other seconds are Count Alfred Montagnac, the
Marquis's brother, and Captain Frederic Chevalier. Here they come
now."
Indeed the three seconds had just come up to the Marquis, who asked
Maurice to excuse him. "I will be back in a few moments, dear M.
Renaud."
The Duke dropped down by Maurice.
"I believe the fête will be a great success, but I wonder if you long
to have it over as heartily as I do."
"I regret," replied Maurice, "that our hostess ever thought of it, and
that we ever had anything to do with it."
"Would you also regret having me for your cousin?"
"No, you know very well that I would not, but...."
"But?"
"I know...."
"You know?"
"Yes, I know."
"Who has told you?"
The Duke's face grew stern.
"No one, I give you my word, but I have guessed; it was not very
difficult...."
"Then, my dear Maurice, I must ask you to remain absolutely silent.
None of our seconds know the real reason of our meeting. None of them
will ever know. This duel will be to the death, by the wish of Count
Styvens, who has found himself justifiably offended."
"Where will you meet?"
"At the Inn of the 'Three Roads.'"
"When?"
"To-morrow, immediately after the fête. The Inn has been closed since
this morning so as to receive no one except ourselves and our
witnesses. Now, my dear Maurice, since you know, I want to ask you a
favour. Here are some papers that I wrote last night. I am afraid my
servant is on intimate terms with Mme. de Morgueil's English maid, and
I dare not leave them in my room. I put them in your care. If luck is
against me you will give these to the proper persons. If Count Albert
is unfortunate, you will give me back the envelope. I'll see you
later!"
He pressed the young man's hand in a close grasp.
The Duke de Castel-Montjoie, the Dowager's only son, had been chosen
by the seconds as umpire. De Morlay and Styvens approved the choice.
The great hall had been invaded by a score of servants who arranged
the chairs, placed the palms, and hung silver chains to separate the
musicians from the audience. The curtain of the little stage was
lowered, but a murmur could be heard through the pretty drop painted
by Maurice. Among the servants set to finish the costumes was the
Duke's sly goddaughter. Every time the Duke passed she gazed at him
and her lips trembled. She who was usually so pert and smiling worked
with set lips.
"Ha, ha!" said one of the maids, "you must be in love, eh, Jeanette?"
"Let me alone, stupid, to do my work," said the young girl with tears
in her eyes.
She had been waked the night before by the noise of opening doors, she
had got up and seen her godfather talking to her father. The Duke
said, "You must close your Inn early as possible, you must refuse
everybody, except the Doctor from the Château, Count Styvens and four
gentlemen with the Duke of Castel-Montjoie. I shall probably get here
first."
"Ah! my God," the Innkeeper had murmured, "the Duke is going to fight,
I know that.... If only nothing happens to you, sir."
"I need not say that I count on your discretion as on your devotion.
Have your best bedroom ready to receive one or the other of the
adversaries and put yourself at the absolute command of the Duke de
Castel-Montjoie. _Au revoir_. Try not to let your daughter know
anything about this, and say nothing to her; but I know that even if
she discovered she would not give us away. _Au revoir_!"
As soon as the door closed Jeanette ran to her father, bare-footed,
her hair flying, just as she had jumped out of bed.
"Great Heavens!" said the Innkeeper, "you were listening."
"Yes, I was listening, I heard; I will prepare the room, but it shall
be for the other!"
"Do you know who the other is?"
"No," she said quickly.
"Do you know why they are fighting?"
"How should I know?" she demanded.
She did know, however. However she sat mute under the gibes of the
other servants.
Albert had returned with his mother, who seemed gayer, happier than
usual. Esperance went at once to speak to her and was enthusiastically
congratulated on her superb bearing.
The Countess kissed Esperance whose eyes were filling with tears, and
she kissed the Countess's hands with so much emotion that the lady
raised the blonde head, saying tenderly, "No, no, you must not cry! We
must love each other joyfully. I have never seen my son so happy, I
should be jealous if I loved him less. See, dear, I want to give you
these jewels myself; I believe that they are going to suit you very
well."
She clasped a magnificent collar of pearls around the young girl's
neck. Esperance could not refuse them. She thanked the lovely lady
affectionately.
"My father will tell me what to do," she thought.
Lunch was an hour earlier as the fête was to begin at half-past two.
"Heavens," said Mme. Styvens with perturbation, "I shall never be
ready."
Esperance left her, happy to escape from her torturing thoughts.
"Deceit, deceit to this good woman!" Albert was waiting to lead her
back. He admired his mother's gift, and spoke to her gently.
"It is just the tint of your skin," he said, "that gives these pearls
their beautiful lustre. They ought not to flatter themselves that it
is they who embellish you!"
All this was added anguish for the girl, his mother's kindness,
Albert's gay confidence, and this fête which was, soon to begin, this
fête where she must show herself publicly with him whom she loved so
that she would die for him, with him who loved her more than life! She
repulsed with horror the ideas that came crowding into her brain. If
the Château should burn. If she should fall down the staircase and
break a leg; if Albert should be taken ill and die within the hour....
If ... if ... and a million visions raced through her brain as she went
back to the Tower of Saint Genevieve. But never once did the Duke
appear as a victim of any of these misfortunes which her brain was
conjecturing up so busily.
Lunch was a bit disorganized. The Duke avoided looking at Esperance.
The sight of that child who loved him filled him with such emotion
that he was afraid of betraying himself. The Countess de Morgueil,
annoyed at seeing the two men she had sought to embroil talking
together in the most courteous fashion, started to sharpen her claws
once more.
"What a beautiful collar, Mlle. Darbois; this is the first time that
you have worn it, isn't it? Count, I compliment you!"
"Mme. Styvens has just given it to me." The Duke understood the
embarrassment the child felt--not yet eighteen, and forced to
extricate herself from nets set by such expert hands as best she
could.
At half-past two the great hall was crowded by women vying with each
other in their beauty. It was a magnificent sight! Xavier Flamand went
to his stand to conduct the orchestra.
He was heartily applauded and the spectacle commenced. More than two
thousand people had come together for the fête. The hall could only
accommodate eight hundred. Other chairs had been placed on the
terrace. The tableaux began. The society assembled, appreciated a form
of art which is pleasing and not fatiguing, which charms without
disturbing.
The tableau of Andromeda was frantically applauded. The men could not
admire enough the suppleness of Esperance's lovely body, the whiteness
of her bare feet with their pink arches, the gold of her hair floating
like a nimbus around the head of Andromeda, waved by the breeze as the
stage turned. The women admired the Duke, so very beautiful in his
gold and silver armour.
"How splendid the Duke is," remarked the Countess to Albert. "No one
could have a prouder bearing. If I were in your place, my son, I
should be jealous."
"Perhaps I am," said the Count, smiling.
The "Judgment of Paris" had the same success. Everyone waited for
"Europa," and many were really disappointed. A hundred reasons were
given for its withdrawal, and none of them the true one.
The philosopher and his wife were sitting with Genevieve behind the
Styvens. Sometimes the Countess would turn around to compliment
François, and the unfortunate man, so frank, whose whole life had
never known deceit, suffered cruelly. There was an intermission to set
the stage for the concert. The guests pressed around the Styvens's to
express their admiration for Esperance, in the most dithyrambic, the
most superlative terms. The concert began. Albert had to go upon the
stage to play the Liszt duet with Esperance. He begged François
Darbois to take his place beside his mother.
When the curtain went up after the quartette of "Rigoletto," Esperance
and Albert were seated on the long piano stool. Loud applause greeted
them. The Duke was talking to Maurice in the wings and seemed a little
nervous. He envied Albert at that moment for his superiority as a
musician. When they finished, a great tumult demanded an encore, but
Esperance had come to the end of her strength.
As the public continued to applaud, Maurice and the Duke came forward
to see why they did not raise the curtain. Esperance looked at the
Duke.
"Oh! no, please do not raise the curtain; my heart is beating so
fast."
Albert and the Duke supported her gently and she leaned upon them, her
pretty head bending towards the Duke.
"I feel confused."
And she closed her eyes, afraid of giving herself away. Once more in
the air and she began to feel better. She breathed the little flask of
ether that the Doctor held under her nose.
"This poor heart is always making scenes. Ah! dear Count, you will
have to set that in order."
The Duke had moved away. Annoyed by the insistence of the public, he
told Jean Perliez to announce that Mlle. Darbois needed a little rest,
and presented her compliments to the audience and excused herself from
replying to the encoring. This was a real disappointment. There had
been such enthusiasm for the two fiancés, an enthusiasm well-earned by
the inspired execution of "Orpheus," that the attitude of this elite
audience was a little indifferent to the artists who concluded the
concert. The hall was half empty and several artists were too offended
to appear.
Esperance went to her room with her mother and Genevieve, begging the
Count to return to his mother.
"Your mother will be anxious, and my father can not reassure her,
because he does not himself know the symptoms of this slight illness.
Tell them that I will rest for a quarter of an hour and then join you
at my flower booth."
When she was left alone with Genevieve she drew her friend to her.
"My dear little sister, I cannot tell you the joy that pervades every
part of my being. In an hour it will be over! My father will talk with
Albert and I shall be free! free!"
"Poor boy," sighed Genevieve.
"Oh! yes, I am ungrateful to his great devotion, but I should be false
to myself and to you, Genevieve, if I told you that the idea of his
despair greatly troubles me. I know that every one about me regrets
the breaking off of this marriage, and still I don't care. You all
admire the Duke, but you blame him a little. I know that, but that is
all submerged and forgotten in my great love. When I reason as I do
now, I recognize at once the horrible storm I am causing, and yet I
cannot feel sad. I find all sorts of excuses for myself, and cast back
all the responsibility on Fate."
She was silent an instant.
"Do you think it will take vengeance?"
Mlle. Frahender came in.
"What will take vengeance?"
"Fate."
"My dear child, what is called Fate is simply the law of God."
"Then if God is just he will not avenge himself, for what has happened
is not my fault."
The old lady looked at the young girl very tenderly.
"My dear child, do not get into the habit of throwing the
responsibility of your actions upon others. Certainly we are not
responsible for events, but we can almost always choose the way to
meet them. Only, some flatter their passions and refuse to assert
themselves against them! This weakness opens the door to all other
concessions, and then it becomes difficult to make a loyal examination
of our conscience."
"Is that my case?" asked the young girl with some anxiety.
"Perhaps," replied Mlle. Frahender, frankly.
"Oh! little lady, be kinder to me, I am so happy that I cannot believe
such happiness comes from troubled waters.... And I swear to you that
my heart is loyal."
The old lady kissed her charge, but her smile was sad. Esperance was
now ready to go to her flower stall. A pretty dress, toned like a
pigeon's breast, a round neck with a tulle collar, a wide girdle
fastened with a bunch of primroses, a flapping hat of Italian straw
tied with two narrow ribbons under her chin, created a delightful
effect and a ravishing frame for her lovely face. When she passed
lightly on her way to her booth, she caused quite a sensation. The
Duke, Count Albert, Maurice and Jean Perliez were waiting for her. A
crowd followed in her wake.
The Duke and Count had the same longing to see her, to be with her up
to the last moment! They understood each other at that instant, and
each outdid the other in courtesy. Albert was the first customer,
passing a thousand francs for a primrose from her belt. The Duke made
the same bargain. The girl's fingers trembled as she handed him the
flower. Albert felt a choking feeling in his throat. The crowd pressed
round. A German offered ten thousand francs for a flower which the
young girl had put to her lips. At last Albert could work off some of
his emotion. He repulsed the German.
"There is nothing more for sale, sir. I have just bought everything
for fifty thousand francs."
The German would have protested, but he was pushed back by the crowd
and landed at a distance.
"That was well done!"
"I did not know that he could be so impulsive."
"He was quite right."
"The poor people of the Duchess will become landholders!"
And the crowd scattered, making many comments on the way. Albert was
soon surrounded, as everybody wanted to shake hands with him. The Duke
had stepped back behind the booth. Esperance came out with Genevieve
and Mlle. Frahender. He stopped beside her a moment.
"I love you."
"Oh, thank you."
"Forever, I hope!"
Then, as he saw that the Count was still surrounded and that Esperance
would not be able to make her way to him, he offered her his arm.
"Let me take you to Count Styvens, who cannot extricate himself!"
With the help of Jean and Maurice, he dispersed the guests and led
Esperance to her fiancée. At that moment anyone who had suspected the
Duke of intentions to flirt with the plighted girl, must have
abandoned their idea; and the motive of the duel, which was to bring
one of these two perfect gentlemen to his death, became more and more
obscure.
Count Styvens saw the girl coming to him on the Duke's arm, and he did
not suffer from the sight; his suffering for the last two days had
been too extreme to feel upset by any increase. He took Esperance to
the door of the Tower.
"You were lovelier than ever before."
He kissed her fingers devotedly. The young girl felt a tiny tear fall
like a terrible weight on her hand. He lifted his head quickly, looked
fixedly at Esperance with a look of such goodness and faith, that she
felt suddenly guilty and bent her head. The Count shook hands
cordially with the philosopher.
"Do not forget," the elder man said to him, "that I want to have a
little talk with you; it is more than a wish, it is a duty."
"I also have a serious duty to attend to," replied the young Count.
"Excuse me if I have to keep you waiting."