“Take care, O my darling friend! to resort to this dangerous expedient
which we ought to reserve for the last extremity. Is what you have to
tell me really so important as you say? I can hardly believe it; and yet
I send you the key. Tell Clarissa the precise hour at which you will be
here.”
Alas! the poor girl had no idea of the terrible news that was in store
for her.
“Request Miss Henrietta,” said Daniel to the maid, “to expect me at
seven o’clock.”
Sure now of seeing Henrietta, Daniel slipped the key in his pocket, and
hurried away. He had only a short afternoon to himself, and there were
still a thousand things to get, and countless preparations to make.
At his notary’s, where he went first, he found the papers ready; all
the formalities had been fulfilled. But, at the moment when the deed was
placed before him, the worthy lawyer said in a prophetic voice,--
“M. Champcey, take care, reflect! I call that tempting a man pretty
strongly when you hand over to him fifty thousand dollars the day before
you start on a long and dangerous expedition.”
“Ah! What matters my fortune, if I only see my Henrietta again?”
The notary looked discouraged.
“Ah! if there is a woman in the affair, I have nothing more to say.”
It was as well. The next moment Daniel had forgotten him and his sombre
presentiments.
Seated in M. de Brevan’s little sitting-room, he was handing over his
deeds and papers to his faithful confidant, explaining to him how he
might make the most of the different parcels of land which he owned; how
certain woods might be sold together; how, on the other hand, a large
farm, now held by one tenant, might be advantageously divided into small
lots, and sold at auction.
M. de Brevan did not look so pale now. He had recovered his self-
possession, and laid aside his usual reserve in order to show himself
all eagerness for his friend.
He declared that he would see to it that his friend Daniel should not
be robbed. He intended, therefore, to go himself to Anjou to call upon
those who were likely to purchase, and to be present at the sale. In his
opinion, it would be wiser to sell piecemeal, without hurry. If money
was needed, why, one could always get it at the bank.
Daniel was deeply touched by the devotion of his friend, whose intense
selfishness he had noticed but too often. Nor was this all. Capable of
the greatest sacrifices where Daniel’s interests were at stake, M.
de Brevan had formed a grand resolution. He proposed to overcome his
aversion to Miss Brandon, and to seek, immediately after her marriage,
an introduction at Count Ville-Handry’s palace, for the purpose of
going there constantly. He might have to play a disagreeable part, he
admitted; but he would thus be enabled to see Miss Henrietta frequently;
he would hear every thing that happened, and be at hand whenever she
should need advice or assistance.
“Dear Maxime,” repeated Daniel, “dear, excellent friend, how can I ever
thank you for all you are doing for me!”
As the day before, they dined together at one of the restaurants on the
boulevard; and after dinner M. de Brevan insisted upon accompanying
his friend back to Count Ville-Handry’s house. As they reached it long
before the appointed hour, they walked up and down on the sidewalk which
runs along the wall of the immense park belonging to the palace. It was
a cold but perfectly clear night. There was not a cloud in the sky, no
mist nor haze; and the moon was shining so brightly, that one could have
read by its light.
In the meantime seven o’clock struck at a neighboring convent.
“Come, courage, my friend!” said M. de Brevan.
And, pressing his hand once more cordially, he walked off rapidly in the
direction of the Invalides.
Daniel had not answered a word. Terribly excited, he had drawn near the
small door, examining anxiously all the surroundings. The street was
deserted. But he trembled so violently, that for a moment he thought
he would never be able to turn the key in the rusty lock. At last he
succeeded in opening it, and he slipped into the garden.
No one there. He was the first on the spot.
Looking for some dark place under the tall trees, he hid himself there,
and waited. It seemed to him a century. He had counted sixty by the
beating of his pulse ever so many times, and was beginning to be very
anxious, when at last he heard some dry branches crackling under rapid
footsteps. A shadow passed between the trees. He went forward, and
Henrietta was standing before him.
“What is it now, great God!” she said anxiously. “Clarissa said you
looked so pale and undone, that I have been terribly frightened.”
Daniel had come to the conclusion that the plain truth would be less
cruel than the most skilful precautions.
“I have been ordered on active service,” he replied, “and I must be on
board ship the day after tomorrow.”
And then, without concealing any thing, he told her all he had suffered
since the day before. Miss Ville-Handry felt as if she had been stunned
by a crushing blow. She was leaning against a tree. Did she even hear
Daniel? Yes; for, suddenly rousing herself, she said,--
“You will not obey! It is impossible for you to obey!”
“Henrietta, my honor is at stake.”
“Ah, what does it matter?”