A CABLE TO DACCA
M. Vulfran was waiting for her. She had no time to think over what
Talouel had threatened. She went on with her translation, hoping that
her emotion would die down and leave her in a state better able to come
to a decision as to what she should do. She continued to write:
"So much time has elapsed since the marriage of your son, M. Edmond
Paindavoine, that I have had some difficulty in getting together the
facts. It was our own Father Leclerc who performed this marriage.
"The lady who became your son's wife was endowed with the finest womanly
qualities. She was upright, kind, charming; added to these qualities,
she was gifted with remarkable personal charms. The time is past when
all the knowledge the Hindu woman possessed consisted in the art of
being graceful and the science of etiquette of their social world. Today
the Hindu woman's mind is cultivated to a remarkable degree. Your son's
wife was a highly educated girl. Her father and mother were of the
Brahmin faith, but Father Leclerc had the joy of converting them to our
own religion. Unfortunately, when a Hindu is converted to our religion
he loses his caste, his rank, his standing in social life. This was the
case with the family whose daughter married your son. By becoming
Christians, they became to a certain extent outcasts.
"So you will quite understand that being cast off by the all-powerful
Hindu world, this charming girl, who was now a Christian, should turn
and take her place in European society. Her father went into partnership
with a well-known French exporter, and the firm was known as Doressany
(Hindu) & Bercher (French).
"It was in the home of Madame Bercher that your son met Marie Doressany
and fell in love with her. Everybody spoke in the highest praise of this
young lady. I did not know her, for I came to Dacca after she left. Why
there should have been any obstacle to this union I cannot say. That is
a matter I must not discuss. Although there were, however, objections,
the marriage took place and in our own Chapel. The Reverend Father
Leclerc bestowed the nuptial blessing upon the marriage of your son and
Marie Doressany. This marriage was recorded in our registers, and a copy
of it can be sent to you if you wish.
"For four years your son Edmond lived at the home of his wife's parents.
There a little girl was born to the young couple. Everyone who remembers
them speaks of them, as a model couple, and like all young people, they
took part in the social pleasures of their world.
"For some time the firm of Doressany & Bercher prospered, then hard
times came, and after several bad seasons the firm was ruined. M. and
Mme. Doressany died at some months' interval, and Monsieur Bercher with
his family returned to France. Your son then traveled to Dalhousie as
collector of plants and antiquities for various English houses. He took
with him his young wife and his little girl, who was about three years
old.
"He did not return to Dacca, but I learn from one of his friends to whom
he has written several times, and from Father Leclerc, who wrote
regularly to Mme. Paindavoine, that they had a villa at Dehra. They
selected this spot to live in as it was the center of his voyages; he
traveled between the Thiberian frontier and the Himalayas.
"I do not know Dehra, but we have a mission in this town, and if you
think it might help in our researches I shall be pleased to send you a
letter for one of the Fathers whose help might be useful in this
matter...."
At last the letter was finished. The moment she had translated the last
word, without even waiting to write the polite ending, she gathered up
her sheets and went quickly to M. Vulfran's office. She found him
walking back and forth the length of the room, counting his steps as
much to avoid bumping against the wall as to curb his impatience.
"You have been very slow," he said.
"The letter was long and difficult," she replied.
"And you were interrupted, were you not? I heard the door of your office
open and close twice."
Since he put the question to her, she thought that she ought to reply
truthfully. It would solve the problem that had caused her so much
anxiety.
"Monsieur Theodore and Monsieur Talouel came into the office," she said.
"Ah!..."
He seemed as though he wanted to say more, but refrained.
"Give me the letter first," he said, "and we'll see to the other matter
after. Sit down beside me and read slowly. Don't raise your voice."
She read. Her voice was somewhat weak.
As she read the blind man murmured to himself from time to time: "Model
couple" ... "social pleasures" ... "English houses" ... "which?" ...
"One of his friends" ... "Which friend?"
When she had finished there was a silence. Finally M. Vulfran spoke:
"Can you translate into English as well as you translate English into
French?" he asked.
"I can do it if the phrases are not too difficult," she replied.
"A cable?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Well, sit down at that little table and write."
He dictated in French:
"Father Fields' Mission, Dacca:
"Thanks for letter. Please send by cable, reply prepaid,
twenty words ... name of friend who received last news,
date of letter. Send also name of the Reverend Father
at Dehra. Inform him that I shall write him immediately.
Paindavoine."
* * * * *
"Translate that into English and make it shorter rather than longer, if
possible. At one franc sixty centimes a word, we must not waste words.
Write very clearly."
The translation was quickly made.
"How many words?" he asked.
"In English ... thirty-seven."
He made the calculation for the message and for the return answer.
"Now," he said to Perrine, giving her the money, "take it yourself to
the telegraph office, hand it in and see that no mistakes are made by
the receiver."
As she crossed the veranda she saw Talouel, who, with his hands thrust
in his pockets, was strolling about as though on the lookout for all
that passed in the yards as well as in the offices.
"Where are you going?" he demanded.
"To the cable office with a message," replied Perrine. She held the
paper in one hand and the money in the other. He took the paper from
her, snatching it so roughly that if she had not let it go he would have
torn it. He hastily opened it. His face flushed with anger when he saw
that the message was written in English.
"You know that you've got to talk with me later on, eh?" he said.
"Yes, sir."
She did not see M. Vulfran again before three o'clock, when he rang for
her to go out. She had wondered who would replace William, and she was
very surprised when M. Vulfran told her to take her seat beside him,
after having sent away the coachman who had brought old Coco around.
"As you drove him so well yesterday, there is no reason why you should
not drive him well today," said M. Vulfran. "Besides, I want to talk to
you, and it is better for us to be alone like this."
It was not until they had left behind the village, where their
appearance excited the same curiosity as the evening before, and were
going at a gentle trot along the lanes, that M. Vulfran began to talk.
Perrine would like to have put off this moment; she was very nervous.
"You told me that M. Theodore and Talouel came into your office?" said
the blind man.
"Yes, sir."
"What did they want?"
She hesitated. Her little face wore a very worried look.
"Why do you hesitate?" asked the blind man. "Don't you think that you
ought to tell me everything?"
"Yes, indeed," said Perrine, fervently. Was this not the best way to
solve her difficulties? She told what had happened when Theodore had
come into the office.
"Was that all?" asked M. Vulfran, when she stopped.
"Yes, sir; that was all."
"And Talouel?"
Again she told exactly what had occurred, only omitting to tell him that
Talouel had said that a sudden announcement of news, good or bad, might
prove fatal to him. She then told him what had passed regarding the
cable; and also that Talouel said he was going to talk with her after
work that same day.
As she talked she had let old Coco go at her own will, and the old
horse, taking advantage of her freedom, shambled along calmly from one
side of the road to the other, sniffing the odor of the warm hay that
the breeze wafted to his nostrils.
When Perrine stopped talking her grandfather remained silent for some
time. Knowing that he could not see her, she fixed her eyes on his face
and she read in his expression as much sadness as annoyance.
"No harm shall come to you," he said at last. "I shall not mention what
you have told me, and if anyone wants to take revenge on you for
opposing their attempts I shall be near to protect you. I thought
something like this would happen, but it will not occur a second time.
In the future you will sit at the little table that is in my office. I
hardly think that they'll try to question you before me. But as they
might try to do so after you leave off work, over at Mother Francoise's
where you eat, I shall take you to my home to live with me. You will
have a room in the chateau, and you will eat at my table. As I am
expecting to have some correspondence with persons in India, and I
shall receive letters in English and cables, you alone will know about
them. I must take every precaution, for they will do their utmost to
make you talk. I shall be able to protect you if you are by my side;
besides, this will be my reply to those who try to force you to speak,
as well as a warning if they still try to tempt you. Then, also, it will
be a reward for you."
Perrine, who had been trembling with anxiety when M. Vulfran commenced
to speak, was now so overcome with joy that she could find no words with
which to reply.
"I had faith in you, child," continued the old man, "from the moment I
knew what struggle you had made against poverty. When one is as brave as
you, one is honest. You have proved to me that I have not made a
mistake, and that I can be proud of you. It is as though I have known
you for years. I am a very lonely and unhappy man. What is my wealth to
me? It is a heavy burden if you have not the health to enjoy it. And yet
there are those who envy me. There are seven thousand men and women who
depend upon me for a living. If I failed there would be misery and
hunger and perhaps death for many. I must keep up for them. I must
uphold the honor of this house which I have built up, little by little.
It is my joy, my pride ... and yet ... I am blind!"
The last words were said with such bitterness that Perrine's eyes filled
with tears. The blind man continued: "You ought to know from village
talk and from the letter that you translated that I have a son. My son
and I disagreed. We parted; there were many reasons for us doing so. He
then married against my wishes and our separation was complete. But with
all this my affection for him has not changed. I love him after all
these years of absence as though he were still the little boy I brought
up, and when I think of him, which is day and night, it is the little
boy that I see with my sightless eyes. My son preferred that woman to
his own father. Instead of coming back to me he preferred to live with
her because I would not, or could not, receive her. I hoped that he
would give in, but he thought probably that I in time would give in. We
have both the same characters. I have had no news from him. After my
illness, of which I am sure he knew, for I have every reason to believe
that he has been kept informed of all that happens here, I thought that
he would come back to me, but he has not returned. That wretched woman
evidently holds him back. She is not content with having taken him from
me, she keeps him ... the wretch...."
The blind man stopped. Perrine, who had been hanging on his words, had
scarcely breathed, but at the last words she spoke.
"The letter from Father Fields said that she was a lady, honorable and
upright. He does not speak of her as a wretch."
"What the letter says cannot go against facts," said the blind man,
obstinately. "The main fact which has made me hate her is that she keeps
my son from me. A creature of her kind should efface herself and let him
return and take up again the life which is his. It is through her that
we are parted. I have tried to find him, but I cannot. He must come back
and take his place. You may not understand all I tell you, my child, but
when I die my whole fortune must go to my son. He is my heir. When I die
who will take my place if he is not here? Can you understand what I am
saying, little girl?" said the old man, almost entreatingly.
"I think so, sir," said Perrine gently.
"But there, I don't wish you to understand entirely. There are those
around me who ought to help me. There are certain ones who do not want
my boy to return; it is to their interest that he should not come back,
so they try to think that he is dead. My boy dead! Could he be? Could
God strike me such a terrible blow? They try to believe it, but I will
not. No, I will not! It can't be! Oh, what should I do if my boy was
dead!"
Perrine's eyes were no longer fixed on the blind man's face; she had
turned her face from him as though he could see her own.
"I talk to you frankly, little girl," continued the old man, "because I
need your help. They are going to try and tempt you again to spy for
them. I have warned you; that is all that I can do."
They could now see the factory chimneys of Fercheux. Still a few more
rods and they came to the village. Perrine, who was trembling, could
only find words to say in a broken voice: "Monsieur Vulfran, you may
trust me. I will serve you faithfully with all my heart."