“Excuse me, monsieur--it must be a vile rascal named Coralth.”
It was a bellow rather than a cry of rage that escaped M. Fortunat’s
lips. To a man of his experience, only a glimmer of light was required
to reveal the whole situation. “Ah! I understand!--I see!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, you are right, Victor; it’s he--Coralth--Valorsay’s tool! Coralth
was the traitor who, in obedience to Valorsay’s orders, ruined the
man who loved Mademoiselle Marguerite. The deed was done at Madame
d’Argeles’s house. So Coralth knows her, and knows her secret. It’s he
who has outwitted me.” He reflected for a moment, and then, in a very
different tone, he said: “I shall never see a penny of the count’s
millions, and my forty thousand francs are gone forever; but, as Heaven
hears me, I will have some satisfaction for my money. Ah!--so Coralth
and Valorsay combine to ruin me! Very well!--since this is the case,
I shall espouse the cause of Mademoiselle Marguerite and of the
unfortunate man they’ve ruined. Ah, my cherubs, you don’t know Fortunat
yet! Now well see if the innocent don’t get the best of you, and if they
don’t unmask you. I shall do my best, since you have forced me to do
it--and gratis too!”
Chupin was radiant; his vengeance was assured. “And I, monsieur,” said
he, “will give you some information about this Coralth. First of all,
the scoundrel’s married and his wife keeps a tobacco-shop somewhere near
the Route d’Asnieres. I’ll find her for you--see if I don’t.”
The sudden stopping of the vehicle which had reached the Place de la
Bourse, cut his words short. M. Fortunat ordered him to pay the
driver, while he himself rushed upstairs, eager to arrange his plan of
campaign--to use his own expression. In his absence a commissionaire had
brought a letter for him which Madame Dodelin now produced. He broke the
seal, and read to his intense surprise: “Monsieur--I am the ward of
the late Count de Chalusse. I must speak to you. Will you grant me an
interview on Wednesday next, at a quarter-past three o’clock? Yours
respectfully,
“MARGUERITE.”