Châteaugrand called out, "Gentlemen, are you ready?" Then he clapped his
hands "One, two, three."
Two shots went off at the same moment, and Louis de Franchi fell. His
opponent was unhurt. I rushed to Louis and raised him up. Blood came to
his lips. It was useless to send for a surgeon.
Château-Renard had withdrawn, but his seconds hastened to express their
horror at the fatal ending of the combat.
Châteaugrand added that he hoped M. de Franchi bore no malice against
his opponent.
"No, no, I forgive him!" said Louis. "But tell him to leave Paris. He
must go."
The dying man spoke with difficulty. He reminded me of my promise, and
asked me, as he fell back, to look at my watch.
It was exactly ten minutes past nine, and Louis was dead.
We carried the body back to the house, and Giordano made the required
statement to the District Commissioner of Police. Then the house was
sealed by the police, and Louis de Franchi was laid to rest in
Père-La-chaise. But M. de Château-Renard could not be persuaded to leave
Paris, though MM. de Boissy and de Châteaugrand both did their best to
induce him to go.
_IV.--Lucien Takes Vengeance_
One night, five days after the funeral, I was working late at my
writing-table, when my servant entered, and told me in a frightened tone
that M. de Franchi wanted to speak to me.
"Who?" I said, in astonishment.
"M. de Franchi, sir, your friend--the gentleman who has been here once
or twice to see you."
"You must be out of your senses, Victor! Don't you know that he died
five days ago?"
"Yes, sir; and that's why I am so upset. I heard a ring at the bell, and
when I opened the door, he walked in, asked if you were at home, and
told me to tell you that M. de Franchi desired to speak with you."
"Are you out of your mind, my good man? I suppose the hall is badly lit,
and you were half-asleep and heard the name wrong. Go back and ask the
name again."
"No, sir, I will swear that I'm not mistaken. I'm sure I heard and saw
perfectly."
"Very well, then, show him in."
Victor went back to the door, trembling all the time, and said, "Please
step in, sir."
My hasty sensation of terror was quickly dispelled. It was Lucien who
was apologising to me for disturbing me at such an hour.
"The fact is," he said, "I only arrived ten minutes ago, and you will
understand how impossible it was not to come and see you at once."
I at once thought of the letter I had sent. In five days it could not
have reached Sullacro.
"Good heaven!" I cried. "Nothing is known to you?"
"Everything is known," he said quietly.
Lucien mentioned that on going to his brother's house, the people were
so panic-stricken that they refused the door to him.
"Tell me," I said, when we were alone. "You must have been on your way
here when you heard the fatal news?"
"On the contrary, I was at Sullacro. Have you for-forgotten what I told
you about the apparitions in my family?"
"Has your brother appeared to you?" I cried.
"Yes. He told me he had been killed in a duel by M. de Château-Renard. I
saw my brother in his room the day he was killed," Lucien went on, "and
that night in a dream I saw the place where the duel was fought, and
heard the name of M. de Château-Renard. And I have come to Paris to kill
the man who killed my brother. My brother had never touched a pistol in
his life, and it was as easy to kill him as to kill a tame stag. My
mother knows why I have come. She is a true Corsican, and she kissed me
on the forehead and said 'Go!'"
The next morning Lucien wrote to Giordano and sent a challenge to
Château-Renard. Then he went with me to Vincennes, and, though he had
never been there in his life before, Lucien walked straight to the spot
where his brother had fallen. He turned round, walked twenty paces, and
said, "This is where the villain stood, and to-morrow he will lie here."
Lucien predicted with absolute confidence the death of Château-Renard.
The challenge was accepted, the same seconds acted, and on the morrow we
assembled in the fatal glade. Château-Renard was obviously uneasy. The
signal was given, both men fired, and, sure enough, Château-Renard fell,
shot through the temple as Lucien had foretold.
Then, for the first time since Louis' death, Lucien burst into tears. He
dropped his pistol and threw himself into my arms. "My brother, my dear
brother!" he cried.
* * * * *