“No, certainly not! We ought not to believe such stories. And yet, I
wonder if there is not some new trick in that. Unless, indeed--But no,
that would be almost too lucky for us! Unless Sarah should really love
M. Champcey!”
And, as if he was afraid of having given rise to hopes which he founded
upon this contingency, he added at once,--
“But let us return to facts. When Sarah was sure of you, she turned
her attention to your father. While they were murdering you slowly, she
abused the inexperience of Count Ville-Handry to lead him into a path
at the end of which he could not but leave his honor behind him. Notice,
pray, that the articles which you read are dated on the very day on
which you would probably have died. That is a clear evidence of her
crime. Thinking that she had gotten rid of you, she evidently said to
herself, ‘And now for the father.’”
Henrietta grew red in her face, as if a jet of fire had blazed up in it.
She exclaimed,--
“Great God! The proofs are coming out; the crime will be disclosed.
I have no doubt the assassins told each other that Count Ville-Handry
would never survive such a foul stain on his honor. And they dared all,
sure as they were that that honorable man would carry the secret of
their wickedness and of their unheard-of robbery with him to the grave.”
Papa Ravinet leisurely wiped the perspiration from his brow. Then he
replied in a hoarse voice,--
“Yes, that was probably, that was assuredly, the way Sarah Brandon
reasoned within herself.”
But Henrietta, full of admirable energy, had roused herself; and, with
flushed cheeks and burning eyes, she said to him,--
“What! you knew all this? You knew that they were assassinating my
father, and you did not warn him? Ah, that was cruel cautiousness!”
And quick like lightning she dashed forward, and would have rushed out,
if the old lady had not promptly stepped in front of the door, saying,--
“Henrietta, poor child! where are you going?”
“To save my father, madam, who, perhaps at this very moment is
struggling in the last agonies of death, as I was struggling in like
manner only two nights ago.”
Quite beside herself, she had clasped the knob of the door in her hands,
and tried with all the strength she still possessed to move the old lady
out of the way. But Papa Ravinet seized her by the arm, and said to her
solemnly,--
“Madam, I swear to you by all you hold sacred, and my sister will swear
to you in like manner, that your father’s life is in no kind of danger.”
She gave up the struggle; but her face bore the expression of the most
harassing anxiety. The old man continued,--
“Do you wish to defeat our triumph? Would you like to give warning to
our enemies, to put _them_ on their guard, and to deprive us of all
hopes of revenge?”
Henrietta almost mechanically passed her hand to and fro across her
brow, as if she hoped she could thus restore peace to her mind.
“And mind,” continued the old man with a persuasive voice, “mind that
such imprudence would save our enemies, but would not save your father.
Pray consider and answer me. Do you really think that your arguments
would be stronger than Sarah Brandon’s? You cannot so far underrate
the diabolical cunning of your enemy. Why, she has no doubt taken all
possible measures to keep your father’s faith in her unshaken, and to
let him die as he has lived, completely deceived by her, and murmuring
with his last breath words of supreme love for her who kills him.”
These arguments were so overwhelming, that Henrietta let go the door-
knob, and slowly went back to her seat by the fire. And yet she was far
from being reassured.
“If I were to appeal to the police,” she suddenly proposed.
The old lady had come and taken a seat by Henrietta’s side. She took her
hands in her own now, and said, gently,--
“Poor child! Do you not see that the whole power of this abominable
creature lies in the fact that she employs means which are not within
the reach of human justice. Believe me, my child, it is best for you to
rely blindly on my brother.”