THE DESERTED HOUSE.
When Cagliostro arrived at the deserted house in the Rue St. Claude,
with which our readers are already acquainted, it was getting dark, and
but few people were to be seen in the streets.
Cagliostro drew a key from his pocket, and applied it to the lock; but
the door was swollen with the damp, and stiff with age, and it required
all his strength to open it. The courtyard was overgrown with moss, the
steps crumbling away; all looked desolate and deserted. He entered the
hall, and lighted a lamp which he had brought with him. He felt a
strange agitation as he approached the door which he had so often
entered to visit Lorenza. A slight noise made his heart beat quickly;
he turned, and saw an adder gliding down the staircase; it disappeared
in a hole near the bottom.
He entered the room; it was empty, but in the grate still lay some
ashes, the remains of the furniture which had adorned it, and which he
had burned there. Among it several pieces of gold and silver still
sparkled. As he turned, he saw something glittering on the floor; he
picked it up. It was one of those silver arrows with which the Italian
women were in the habit of confining their hair. He pressed it to his
lips, and a tear stood in his eyes as he murmured, “Lorenza!” It was
but for a moment; then he opened the window and threw it out, saying to
himself, “Adieu! this last souvenir, which would soften me. This house
is about to be profaned—another woman will ascend the staircase, and
perhaps even into this room, where Lorenza’s last sigh still vibrates;
but to serve my end the sacrifice shall be made. I must, however, have
some alterations made.”
He then wrote on his tablets the following words: “To M. Lenoir, my
architect,—Clean out the court and vestibule, restore the coach-house
and stable, and demolish the interior of the pavilion. To be done in
eight days.”
“Now, let us see,” said he to himself, “if we can perfectly distinguish
the window of the countess. It is infallible,” said he, after looking
out; “the women must see each other.”
The next day fifty workmen had invaded the house and commenced the
projected alterations, which were completed within the given time. Some
of the passers-by saw a large rat hung up by the tail.