“What! She has written to you?”
“Yes; it is that accursed letter, more than any thing else, that brings
me here. Here it is, just read it; and, if you can understand it, you
are more fortunate than I am.”
At one glance M. de Brevan had read the five lines which Miss Brandon
had written; and, turning deadly pale, he said,--
“This is incomprehensible. A note, and such an indiscreet note, from her
who never writes!”
He looked upon Daniel as if he wished to penetrate his innermost
thoughts, and then asked him, weighing his words with the utmost care,--
“If she should really love you, what would you say?”
Daniel looked disgusted. He replied,--“It is hardly generous in you to
make sport of me, Maxime. I may be a fool; but I am not an idiot, to be
conceited to that degree.”
“That is no answer to my question,” said Brevan; “and I repeat my
question. What would you say?”
“I would say that I execrate her!”
“Oh! if you hate her so bitterly, you are very near loving her.”
“I despise her; and without esteem”--
“That is an old story. That is no impediment.”
“Finally, you know how dearly, how ardently, I love Miss Ville-Handry.”
“Of course; but that is not the same thing.”
M. de Brevan had at last finished his careful toilet. He put on a
dressing-gown; and, carrying Daniel with him into the small room which
he used as a dressing-room, he asked,--
“And what have you said in reply to that note?”
“Nothing.”
M. de Brevan had thrown himself into a comfortable chair, and assumed
the careful air of a physician who has been consulted. He nodded, and
said,--
“You have done well, and for the future I advise you to pursue the same
plan. Don’t say a word. Can you do any thing to prevent Miss Brandon
from carrying out her purposes? No! Let her go on, then.”
“But”--
“Let me finish. It is not only your own interest to act thus, but also
Miss Henrietta’s interest. The day on which they part you, you will be
inconsolable; but you will also be free to act. She, on the other hand,
will be forced to live under the same roof with Miss Brandon; and you do
not know what a stepmother can do to torture the child of her husband!”
Daniel trembled. He had already thought of that; and the idea had made
him shudder. Brevan continued,--
“For the present, the most important thing is to find out how your
flight has been explained. We may be able to draw our conclusions from
what has been said on the subject.”
“I’ll go at once and try to find out,” said Daniel.
And, after having affectionately shaken hands with Maxime, he hurried
down to his carriage and drove as fast as he could to Count Ville-
Handry’s palace. The count was at home and alone, walking up and down
in the most excited manner. And certainly he had enough to excite and
preoccupy him just now. It was nearly noon; and he had not yet been in
the hands of his valet. When he saw Daniel, he paused for a moment, and,
crossing his arms on his breast, he said, in a terrible tone,--
“Ah! here you are, M. Champcey. Well, you are doing nice things!”
“I, count? How so?”
“How so? Who else has overwhelmed poor Miss Sarah with insults at the
very time when she was trying to explain every thing to you? Who
else, ashamed of his scandalous conduct, has run away, never daring to
reappear at her house?”