‘The custody of this vast sum has been my ruin. In order to use it
to advantage I was obliged to invent all sorts of fables to account
for its being in my possession. People insisted on treating me as a
rich woman, they forced loans upon me; I considered it permissible
to borrow money on the security of this fortune of which I was
merely the guardian; I managed my own affairs badly--in short I
am insolvent, and shall shortly be obliged to go into hiding. My
creditors have asked the Courts for an order to open the safe which
contains the millions, and unless they are removed in time I shall
have incurred the vengeance of those whose cause I have betrayed.’
She shuddered. Thérèse Humbert, the strong-minded, imperturbable
woman who had witnessed suicides committed on her account, trembled
as she referred to this vengeance, which was so much more terrible to
her than any penalties in the power of the French Courts to impose.
‘In a word, Monsieur V----,’ she resumed, throwing off her momentary
weakness, ‘you must relieve me of the custody of this treasure.’
I sat as if mesmerised while I received this staggering proposal,
which the extraordinary personage beside me made in the
matter-of-fact tone of one who is asking another to undertake the
posting of a letter.
This woman, whom I had never seen before, who was beginning to be
publicly branded as an adventuress, and who had just confessed
herself to be a bankrupt, if not something which the law would call
by a harsher name--this woman calmly informed me that she proposed
handing over to me a sum equal to the revenue of a kingdom, to be
held, as far as I could see, for an unknown length of time, for an
unknown owner, and for an unknown purpose.
If it had been any other person in the world who had made me such a
proposition, I am certain that I should have laughed at it as a hoax,
or, at least, demanded the most circumstantial details and assurances
before going further. What was there about this Thérèse Humbert, with
her figure of a bourgeois, her expressionless face, and cold grey
eye, which compelled me to take her seriously--which made me, against
my judgment, submit to become her instrument? In the power of the
human will there are mysteries which philosophy has not yet fathomed.
It is true that at this time Madame Humbert still retained the
confidence of a very large section of society. There had, as yet,
been no hint of any criminal proceedings against her. Even if there
had been, moreover, she had so clearly separated her position as
trustee of the millions from her private dealings, that she had
convinced me that I could carry out her instructions with regard
to the fund, without being guilty of any dishonesty towards the
creditors who were proceeding against her.
Be that as it may, I consented to consider the matter.
My companion at once set herself to extract from me a definite
undertaking.
‘There is no time to lose,’ she insisted. ‘Although I am exhausting
every legal form, in order to postpone the decision, my advocate has
warned me that I must not expect it to be delayed much longer. I
shall not be easy till the millions are safely in your hands.’
‘And when I have received them, what then?’ I asked. ‘Will it not be
known that the sum is in my possession, and shall I not be exposed to
proceedings in my turn?’
‘That is what we have got to avoid,’ was the answer. ‘It will be
necessary for you to take the money with the greatest secrecy.
Fortunately, this is not an affair of bankers. The notes and bills
are lying ready in the safe in my house, and do not require to be
endorsed. You will not be asked for a receipt even.’
I was more and more overcome by the sublime daring of this woman’s
ideas.
‘Then you simply wish me to take the fund from you and hold it at
your disposal?’
‘At the disposal of those to whom it belongs,’ Thérèse corrected me.
‘When the time comes to reclaim these millions I may be out of reach.
That will not matter to you. All you will have to do is to keep the
treasure in some safe hiding-place, and deliver it up to the first
person who comes to you and pronounces in your ear three words.’
She bent her lips towards me and whispered three words of such
notable significance that I was left in little doubt as to the
purpose for which the mysterious hoard was being kept in readiness.
Although the light thus obtained served to relieve my mind of the
fear that I was mixing in any vulgar swindle, yet at the same time it
showed me that there were grave risks to be run, and that I might
easily find myself in the meshes of the criminal law.
I again asked for time to consider. Madame Humbert’s sole reply was
an offer of terms so liberal that it would have been quarrelling with
my profession to refuse. She smiled with grim satisfaction as she
read in my face that I gave in.
‘Then that is settled, monsieur,’ she remarked, preparing to rise. ‘I
will only add that the sooner you get to work the better it will be
for everybody.’
‘When do you propose to hand the millions over to me?’ was my natural
question.
‘I do not propose to hand them over to you at all,’ she responded
coolly. ‘You will take the money out of the safe in your own fashion,
and without consulting me.’