Whatever the Duke himself might feel, I returned home gloomy from my
share in the affair. I sincerely believed, indeed, that I had done
nothing but my duty in informing him of the injury that the Count de
Mesnil had striven to do him, and of the insult that had been offered
to his wife. He, on his part, too, I firmly believe, imagined that he
had done nothing but that which he was bound to do as a soldier and a
man of honour; but still there was something in the whole affair--the
solitary encounter--the grave prepared--the burial in unhallowed
ground, which added to the event all those dark and awful associations
that deprived us of the power of classing it with those common
encounters, with which he and I were both too familiar to remember
them with any great pain when they were over.
A little less than an hour had been consumed in the whole affair, at
least on the part of the Duke, for I had been absent for a much longer
space of time in leading away the horse of the deceased cavalier.
However, as our household was not the most matutinal in the world, few
of the servants were up, even when I returned; and I doubt not that no
one in the whole family but myself had the slightest suspicion that
the Duke had for a moment quitted his own dwelling. Thinking it right
to make a report of what I had done after I had left him, I now went
at once to the library, where I found him, in his robe de chambre,
seated at a table, on which neither books nor papers were opened
before him, but there lay the fatal locket which he had taken from the
person of the Count de Mesnil, and his eyes were fixed steadfastly
upon the lock of dark hair that it contained. He instantly took it up
when I entered, and of course I ventured to make no observation,
though I saw from his haggard look and frowning brow that he was once
more adding the torments of suspicion to the pangs which the fatal
business of that morning had left behind. He listened attentively to
all I had to say, and though he gave a slight shudder when I mentioned
the wild way in which the horse had dashed off towards Mesnel Moray,
he made no farther comment, but waived me to leave him, saying he
would speak with me more another time.
No injunction to secrecy had been laid upon me, but the Duke seemed to
consider it perfectly unnecessary to enjoin me not to reveal the
transactions of which I had been a witness, and in some of which I had
borne a part. As may be well conceived, I never dreamt of such a thing
as babbling, and the matter lay buried as deep and as securely in my
heart as it did in his own. Nobody noticed that I had been out earlier
than usual, and consequently I was subjected to no questions; and the
only single observation referring to the business which I ever heard
in the family, was when the head groom asked the Duke's permission to
take his favourite horse to the farrier at Rennes, arguing that the
animal was ill, from having found him that morning as heated as if he
had come from a gallop.
The household of the Prés Vallée were, indeed, amongst the last to
hear the rumours and inquiries which soon began to spread concerning
the Count de Mesnil. That some accident had happened to him became
evident to his servants and retainers within a short time after his
death had taken place; for although no one had remarked, with any
particular attention, the fact of his having gone out at such an early
hour unaccompanied, supposing him to be engaged in some love intrigue
which did not court witnesses, yet when, in about two hours after, his
horse, masterless and foaming, darted into the court-yard of the
castle, it could no longer be doubted that the adventure of the
morning had terminated ill for the Count. On examining the trappings
and accoutrements of the horse, it was discovered that not only the
girths but the saddle itself was drenched with water, and of course
conjecture was led upon a new and a false train concerning the event
that had occurred. Some, indeed, contended, that the Count had been
killed by robbers or assassins; but the greater part of his followers
believed that, in attempting to swim the river, he had been washed out
of the saddle and drowned. Information, however, was sent immediately
to Rennes; all his relations had notice of what had taken place, and
immediate search and investigation were instituted to discover his
body, and to ascertain the circumstances of his fate. A new light,
however, was thrown upon the business when the papers of the
unfortunate young nobleman were opened by the proper person. It was
then found, by two documents which he had written on the night
previous to the morning of his death, that he had anticipated such an
event, and had made every disposition of his property accordingly. He
referred not, however, in the slightest degree, to the sort of danger
which he apprehended; the cartel of Monsieur de Villardin, which had
probably been couched in terms of bitter reproach, had been destroyed
likewise; and, consequently, imagination had as wide a range as ever.
Still some declared that he had purposely drowned himself, and
certainly the state in which his horse had returned justified the
searches which were made for his body in the river; but others more
wildly contended--as he had taken a road which might, perhaps, have
led him to the forest--that he had been murdered by the robbers who
had so lately attacked and slain one of the royal couriers, with the
three soldiers by whom he had been attended. New perquisitions were
made in the forest. The whole country round about was searched without
effect. Rumours, astonishment, exaggeration, and a thousand falsehoods
and absurdities filled up the next six weeks, and then the whole
gradually faded away, till the nine days' wonder was at an end, and
the death of the young Count de Mesnil became a story to frighten
children.
During the six weeks, however, that the fruitless investigations
continued, gloom and darkness reigned over our dwelling. Deep and
painful were evidently the feelings of the Duke de Villardin in regard
to this event; and a thousand times, I am sure, did he regret that he
had not pursued the usual mode of arranging such encounters, which
would, at least, have spared him every accessary circumstance that now
tormented him from day to day. As a friend of the dead nobleman, he
was frequently consulted upon his affairs, and even in regard to the
search for his body; and every one thought that they were speaking
upon a subject which must interest him, when they detailed to his ears
any of the numerous absurdities that were current in the country
concerning the death of the Count. All this was very terrible; but,
besides all this, there were feelings in the heart of Monsieur de
Villardin which aggravated the regrets consequent upon the deed which
he had committed. He had known the young Count de Mesnil as a boy. He
had known and loved his parents. He had seen him grow up their hope
and joy. He had himself anticipated great things from his early
promise, and yet his had been the hand thus early to lay him low in a
bloody and an unknown grave.
Though sometimes he spoke to me upon the subject when we were
perfectly alone, it was more from various little points in his conduct
than from his own words that I discovered these feelings. So far from
ever going near the spot where the death of the Count de Mesnil had
taken place, he never even, when he could avoid it, rode in that
direction, as if the very wind which blew from the grave wafted fresh
reproaches to his heart. Even in riding to Rennes, the road to which
city passed within half a mile of the spot, if he could possibly
devise any excuse for so doing, he would take the most circuitous
path, to avoid even coming in its neighbourhood.
Nevertheless, whenever he spoke with me upon the subject, he justified
all that he had done, and declared, that were it to do over again, he
would act exactly in the same manner. I saw, too, that unhappily,
there was another feeling in his bosom, which, while it rendered him
more miserable than it is possible to describe, confirmed him in this
impression--I mean the suspicions which had been freshly excited in
regard to his wife, which, as the effect produced upon his mind by my
report of her conversation with Monsieur de Mesnil died away, seemed
to become stronger and stronger every hour. It was long, indeed,
before he again spoke to me on the subject; but twice I saw him with
the locket in his hand, and at other times his eye would rest on the
dark tresses of Madame de Villardin, while I could see plainly that he
was torturing his own heart by comparing them in shade and colour with
the ringlet which that locket contained. A doubt also more dreadful
still, seemed to have taken possession of his mind; at least I argued
so from the following circumstance.
From the various painful feelings connected with the Prés Vallée, he
had determined to change his residence for a time to the château of
Dumont; and he told me that he should despatch me thither before the
rest of the family. The day previous to my departure he sent for me to
speak with him in the saloon, in regard to various matters which were
to be done before his arrival at Dumont. The Duchess and his little
girl were both present; and, after he had concluded his directions,
Madame de Villardin told me that if I would wait a few minutes she
would bring me a billet for her old nurse, who inhabited the castle to
which I was going. I was standing near a window behind the Duke, and
when his wife rose, and proceeded towards her own room to write the
note she had promised,--displaying, as she did so, that alteration in
her figure which denoted her situation,--I saw the eye of her husband
fix upon her with an intensity that seemed scarcely sane. Happily she
did not perceive it, but walked slowly out of the room; and, as soon
as she was gone, Monsieur de Villardin, who seemed to have forgot that
there was any one else present, caught his little girl in his arms,
and kissed her repeatedly, murmuring,--"Thou at least art mine own."
He started when he remembered that I was there, and a quick flush came
over his cheek; but the expression of deep grief, which, I feel sure,
must have been upon my countenance, appeared instantly to calm him,
and, laying his hand affectionately upon my shoulder, he said,--"Thou
art a good youth. When thou hast got this note, go into the park and
wait me there; I wish to speak with thee for some time."
As there is never any telling to what acts of madness or weakness,
folly or meanness, a suspicious nature will not reduce a man, I was
almost afraid that Monsieur de Villardin was desirous of examining the
contents of his wife's note; and I felt not a little uneasy under the
apprehension of his proposing to me to give it up to him. But in this
I did him injustice; and when, after receiving the billet, I had gone
out into the park, and he had joined me, he at once turned the
conversation to matters entirely in the past. "From everything," he
said, "that I have seen and heard, I am inclined, my boy, to put the
fullest faith in all you say; and of this fact you cannot doubt, since
upon your word alone I have risked my own life and taken that of
another. There are, nevertheless, some circumstances of an
extraordinary nature, which make me desirous that you should repeat,
once more, the conversation which you overheard between Madame de
Villardin and the unhappy young man who lies out yonder;" and he
pointed with his hand in the direction of the spot where the Count de
Mesnil was buried. "Tell me, then, exactly the whole truth," he added,
"and fear not that anything you may say will agitate or affect me."
I willingly obeyed, for I well knew that impressions of good being
never so lasting as impressions of evil, require reiteration; and,
without varying a word, as far as my memory would serve me, I
recapitulated exactly all that had passed between the Duchess and the
Count de Mesnil, adding, at the same time, that the tone of scorn and
contempt in which she spoke to him was more forcible than even her
words.
"In riding past the house that day," demanded the Duke, "which side
did you take?"
"The opposite side to the small saloon, my lord," I replied, very well
understanding to what his question tended; "and as I came over the
turf, and from among the trees--which, if you remember the way I took,
you will see I must have done--it is perfectly impossible that any one
in that side of the house could either have heard or have observed my
return."
"But, could they not hear you enter the library?" demanded the Duke.
"Impossible, my lord," I answered; "for the first door was open, and
the second, as you know, makes no noise; besides, I saw the whole
immediately, and Madame la Duchesse was speaking before I entered. It
was only the end of what she said that I heard."
Monsieur de Villardin made no reply for some time, but pondered deeply
over my words, gnawing his lip, and knitting his brow. At length he
spoke, but it seemed more to himself than to me that he addressed his
words. "And yet, that he should possess a lock of her hair!" he said;
"it is impossible!--there must be some deceit."
"Oh, my lord, it is not her hair," I cried; "depend upon it, there is
some mistake."
"False boy!" he cried, turning angrily upon me, "it is her hair! There
is no mistake! Have I not proved it by every test? Either you have
been deceived or are deceiving. But, no! you are deceived, I believe.
Leave me--leave me, sir!"
It may easily be conceived that I obeyed willingly, for there is but
little use in reasoning with a madman, and such I looked upon Monsieur
de Villardin to be, in the matter of jealousy, at least. Returning to
the castle, I occupied myself as usual; but the Duke did not come back
for several hours, wandering about, as had been his custom lately,
busied with solitary reveries which but served to foster the gloom and
anxiety to which he was a prey.
The next morning, as I was to set out for Dumont before the breakfast
hour of the household, I descended about eight o'clock to the
apartments of good old Jerome Laborde, whose affection for me had not
decreased since I had rendered so many services to his nephew. I
calculated, therefore, on finding a substantial meal prepared for me
in his room; nor was I mistaken, for there it stood upon the table,
consisting of everything qualified to fortify the eager and craving
stomach of youth against the effects of a long journey.
"Thank you, thank you, good Jerome," I cried, at the sight; "thank you
both for my breakfast, and for rising be-times in the morning to give
it me, as I know you love not to be the first in the house to see the
sun."
"Alack! young gentleman," he answered, with a mournful shake of the
head, "although I have been up an hour, yet I am not by several the
first that saw the sun this morning. My lord has been up since six. So
has Gaspard de Belleville, and closeted with his master for an hour.
So, too, has been that pert slut Suzette, my mistress's maid, and she,
too, has been called to the conference. I fear all this bodes our poor
lady no good, though God knows what my lord can find to be jealous of
here, where she sees not a living soul but himself."
This intelligence did not serve as a very pleasant accompaniment to my
breakfast. I saw at once how affairs were going, and easily divined
that my lord, finding me so little disposed to pamper the jealousy,
which, though it tore his very heart, was still his favourite passion,
was inclined to take Gaspard into his confidence, very sure of finding
all sort of compliance on his part. To him I had been, as it were, a
blunt razor in the hands of a man who wished to cut his own throat;
but Gaspard de Belleville was very well inclined, I believed, to prove
the instrument of the wrong which his lord inflicted upon himself.
From this new arrangement, there was, of course, much to fear, as far
as my personal favour with the Duke went; but, even under that
mortification, it was no small consolation to me to think that Gaspard
could do little to injure the poor Duchess. However malevolent might
be his natural disposition, as far as I knew he had seen nothing which
he could distort to evil purposes, and I also believed him to be too
stupid to frame a story for himself, or to invent circumstances with
such a regard to probability as would deceive even Monsieur de
Villardin's willing credulity. What might proceed from the agency of
the maid, Suzette, I could not tell. She was, herself, a bold,
intriguing, saucy woman; suspected strongly by every one of not being
quite a Diana; but I believed that she really was attached to her
mistress, and trusted to that attachment to vindicate the Duchess from
all suspicion.
My fears, therefore, if I can call them fears, were chiefly confined
to myself; and, although I may safely say--now that it is all past and
over--that interested feelings had nothing to do with my
apprehensions, yet it was most painful to me to think I might be
supplanted in the affection and confidence of a nobleman, for whom,
with all his faults and his weakness, I entertained a sincere
affection.
"Well, Jerome," I said, after a moment's thought, "you are an old and
faithful follower of Monsieur de Villardin. You see, as we all see,
how miserable he is making himself about empty fancies and phantoms in
the air. Depend upon it, Gaspard is not likely to do him any good in
these respects. Now it is your duty, surely, to strain every effort to
counteract any evil that may be done."
"But how can I?--how can I, my dear young gentleman?" cried the old
man; "I dare not speak to my lord on such subjects, unless he speaks
to me."
"A few words well applied often do a great deal," replied I. "If the
Duke hears his lady cried up by all his oldest and best servants and
friends as what she really is--all that is good and virtuous--he will
soon learn to think so too; and you may find many an opportunity of
saying such words as, 'so good a lady as Madame!'--'so virtuous a lady
as the Duchess!'"
"Well, well; I will try, Seigneur Jean," replied the old man; "and
depend upon one thing--no one shall injure your interests with my lord
while old Jerome Laborde is in the house. No, no; I will take care of
them."
"Oh, I know I leave them in good hands," I replied; and ere we could
say more, the groom appeared to tell me that the horses were waiting.
After receiving an affectionate embrace from the good old major-domo,
I ran down into the court, and sprang upon my horse, without any
further leave-taking, as I was not supposed to know that Monsieur de
Villardin had yet risen.