“You ought not to give way to such exaggerated delicacy, M. Champcey.
All weapons are fair when we are called upon to defend our lives and our
honor against rascals; and that is where we are. If we do not hasten to
strike Sarah Brandon, she will anticipate us; and then”--
He had been leaning against the mantlepiece, close to Mrs. Bertolle, who
sat there silent and immovable; and now he raised his head, and, looking
attentively at Henrietta and Daniel by turns, he added,--
“Perhaps you are both not exactly conscious of the position in which you
stand. Having been reunited to-night, after such terrible trials, and
having, both of you, escaped, almost by a miracle, from death, you feel,
no doubt, as if all trouble was at an end, and the future was yours. I
must undeceive you. You are precisely where you were the day before M.
Champcey left France. You cannot any more now than at that time marry
without Count Ville-Handry’s consent. Will he give it? You know very
well that the Countess Sarah will not let him. Will you defy prejudices,
and proudly avow your love? Ah, have a care! If you sin against social
conventionalities, you risk your whole happiness of life. Will you hide
yourself, on the other hand? However careful you may be, the world will
find you out; and fools and hypocrites will overwhelm you with slander.
And Miss Henrietta has been too much calumniated already.”
To soar in the azure air, and suddenly to fall back into the mud on
earth; to indulge in the sweetest of dreams, and all at once to be
recalled to stern reality,--this is what Daniel and Henrietta endured at
that moment. The calm, collected voice of the old dealer sounded cruel
to them. Still he was but a sincere friend, who did his painful duty in
awakening them from such deceptive illusions.
“Now,” he went on, “mind that I take everything at the best; and even
suppose the case, that Count Ville-Handry leaves his daughter free
to choose: would that be enough? Evidently not; for the moment Sarah
Brandon hears that Miss Henrietta has not committed suicide, but
is, instead, at the Hotel du Louvre, within easy reach of M. Daniel
Champcey, she will prevail on her husband to shut his daughter up in a
convent. For another year, Miss Henrietta is yet under paternal control;
that is, in this case, at the mercy of a revengeful step-mother, who
looks upon her as a successful rival.”
At this idea, that Henrietta might be once more taken from him, Daniel
felt his blood chill off in his veins; and he exclaimed,--
“Ah, and I never dreamed of any of these things! I was mad! Joy had
blinded my eyes completely.”
But the old gentleman beckoned to him to say nothing, and with an almost
imperious gesture went on,--
“Oh, wait! I have not yet shown you the most urgent danger: Count
Ville-Handry, who, when you knew him, had, I know not how many millions,
is completely ruined. Of all he once owned, of his lands, forests,
castles, deeds, and bonds, there is nothing left. His last cent, his
last rod of land, has been taken from him. You left him living like a
prince in his forefathers’ palace: you will find him vegetating in
the fourth story of a lodging-house. You know, that, being poor, he is
deemed guilty. The day is drawing near when Sarah Brandon will get rid
of him, as she has gotten rid of Kergrist, of Malgat the poor
cashier, and others. The means are at hand. Already the name of
Count Ville-Handry is seriously compromised. The company which he has
established is breaking to pieces; and the papers hold him up to public
contempt. If he cannot pay to-day, he will be to-morrow accused of
fraudulent bankruptcy. Now, I ask you, is the count a man who will
survive such a disgrace?”
For some time Henrietta had been unable to suppress her sobs; under this
terrible threat she broke out in loud weeping.
“Ah, sir!” she said, “you have misled me. You assured me that my
father’s life was in no danger.”
“And I promise you still, it is not in danger. Would I be here, if I did
not think that Sarah was not quite ready yet?”
Daniel, also, had suffered terribly during this discussion; and he now
said passionately,--
“Would it not be a crime for us to think, to wait, and to calculate,
when such great dangers are impending? Come, sir, let us go”--
“Where?”
“Ah, how do I know? Into court, to the count, to a lawyer who can advise
us. There must be something that can be done.”
The old dealer did not stir.
“Poor, honest young man!” he said with an accent of bitter irony. “And
what could we tell the lawyer? That Sarah Brandon has made an old man,
the Count Ville-Handry, fall madly in love with her? That is no crime.
That she has made him marry her? That was her right. That the count
has launched forth in speculations? She opposed it. That he understood
nothing of business? She could not help that. That he has been duped,
cheated, and finally ruined in two short years? Apparently she is as
much ruined as he is. That, in order to delay the catastrophe, he has
resorted to illegal means? She is sorry for it. That he will not survive
the taint on his ancient name? What can she do? Sarah, who was able to
clear herself the day after Malgat’s disappearance, will not be at a
loss now to establish her innocence.”
“But the count, sir, the count! Can we not go to him?”
“Count Ville-Handry would say to you--But you shall hear to-morrow what
he will tell you.”
Daniel began to feel utterly dismayed.
“What can be done, then?” he asked.
“We must wait till we have sufficient evidence in hand to crush at one
blow Sarah Brandon, Thorn, and Mrs. Brian.”
“Well; but how shall we get such evidence?”
The old gentleman cast a look of intelligence at his sister, smiled, and
said with a strange accent in his voice,--
“I have collected some. As to the rest”--
“Well?”
“Well, my dear M. Champcey, I am no longer troubled about getting more,
since I have found out that the Countess Sarah is in love with you.”
Now Daniel began to understand the part Papa Ravinet expected him to
play. Still he did not object; he bowed his head under the clear eye of
Henrietta, and said in a low voice,--
“I will do what you wish me to do, sir.”
The old gentleman uttered a low cry of delight, as if he had been
relieved of an overwhelming anxiety.
“Then,” he said, “we will begin the campaign tomorrow morning. But we
must know exactly who the enemies are whom we have to meet. Listen,
therefore!”