A Very Clever Scheme.
I must confess at once that I might easily have displayed more acumen, and
that there would have been nothing wonderful in my discerning or guessing
the truth about Marie Delhasse's movements. Yet the truth never occurred
to me, never so much as suggested itself in the shape of a possible
explanation. I cannot quite tell why; perhaps it conflicted too strongly
with the idea of her which possessed me; perhaps it was characteristic of
a temperament so different from my own that I could not anticipate it. At
any rate, be the reason what it may, I did not seriously doubt that Marie
Delhasse had cut the cords which bound her by a hasty flight from
Avranches; and my conviction was deepened by my knowledge that an evening
train left for Paris just about half an hour after Marie, having played
her trick on her mother and on the Duke of Saint-Maclou, had walked out of
the hotel, no man and no woman hindering her.
Under these circumstances, my work--imposed and voluntary alike--was done;
and the cheering influence of the dinner to which I sat down so awoke my
mind to fresh agility that I found the task of disembarrassing myself of
that old man of the sea--the Cardinal's Necklace--no longer so hopeless as
it had appeared in the hungry disconsolate hour before my meal. Nay, I saw
my way to performing, incidentally, a final service to Marie by creating
in the mind of the duke such chagrin and anger as would, I hoped,
disincline him from any pursuit of her. If I could, by one stroke, restore
him his diamonds and convince him, not of Marie's virtue, but of her
faithlessness, I trusted to be humbly instrumental in freeing her from his
importunity, and of restoring the jewels to the duchess--nay, of restoring
to her also the undisturbed possession of her home and of the society of
her husband. At this latter prospect I told myself that I ought to feel
very satisfied, and rather to my surprise found myself feeling not very
dissatisfied; for most unquestionably the duchess had treated me
villainously and had entirely failed to appreciate me. My face still went
hot to think of the glance she had given Marie Delhasse's maladroit
ambassador.
After these reflections and a bottle of Burgundy (I will not apportion the
credit) I rose from the table humming a tune and started to go upstairs,
conning my scheme in a contented mind. As I passed through the hall the
porter handed me a note, saying that a boy had left it and that there was
no answer. I opened and read it; it was very short and it ran thus:
I wish never to see you again. ELSA.
Now "Elsa" (and I believe that I have not mentioned the fact before--an
evidence, if any were needed, of my discretion) was the Christian name of
the Duchess of Saint-Maclou. Picking up her dropped handkerchief as we
rambled through the woods, I had seen the word delicately embroidered
thereon, and I had not forgotten this chance information. But why--let
those learned in the ways of women answer if they can--why, first, did she
write at all? Why, secondly, did she tell me what had been entirely
obvious from her demeanor? Why, thirdly, did she choose to affix to the
document which put an end to our friendship a name which that friendship
had never progressed far enough to justify me in employing? To none of
these pertinent queries could I give a satisfactory reply. Yet, somehow,
that "Elsa" standing alone, shorn of all aristocratic trappings, had a
strange attraction for me, and carried with it a pleasure that the
uncomplimentary tenor of the rest of the document did not entirely
obliterate. "Elsa" wished never to see me again: that was bad; but it was
"Elsa" who was so wicked as to wish that: that was good. And by a curious
freak of the mind it occurred to me as a hardship that I had not received
so much as a note of one line from--"Marie."
"Nonsense!" said I aloud and peevishly; and I thrust the letter into my
pocket, cheek by jowl with the Cardinal's Necklace. And being thus vividly
reminded of the presence of that undesired treasure, I became clearly
resolved that I must not be arrested for theft merely because the Duchess
of Saint-Maclou chose (from hurry, or carelessness, or what motive you
will) to sign a disagreeable and unnecessary communication with her
Christian name and nothing more, nor because Mlle. Delhasse chose to
vanish without a word of civil farewell. Let them go their ways--I did not
know which of them annoyed me more. Notwithstanding the letter,
notwithstanding the disappearance, my scheme must be carried out. And
then--for home! But the conclusion came glum and displeasing.
The scheme was very simple. I intended to spend the hours of the night in
an excursion to the duke's house. I knew that old Jean slept in a detached
cottage about half a mile from the _château_. Here I should find the old
man. I would hand to him the necklace in its box, without telling him what
the contents of the box were. Jean would carry the parcel to his master,
and deliver with it a message to the effect that a gentleman who had left
Avranches that afternoon had sent the parcel by a messenger to the duke,
inasmuch as he had reason to believe that the article contained therein
was the property of the duke and that the duke would probably be glad to
have it restored to him. The significant reticence of this message was
meant to inform the duke that Marie Delhasse was not so solitary in her
flight but that she could find a cavalier to do her errands for her, and
one who would not acquiesce in the retention of the diamonds. I imagined,
with a great deal of pleasure, what the duke's feelings would be in face
of the communication. Thus, then, the diamonds were to be restored, the
duke disgusted, and I myself freed from all my troubles. I have often
thought since that the scheme was really very ingenious, and showed a
talent for intrigue which has been notably wanting in the rest of my
humble career.
The scheme once prosperously carried through, I should, of course, take my
departure at the earliest moment on the following day. I might, or I might
not, write a line of dignified remonstrance to the duchess, but I should
make no attempt to see her; and I should most certainly go. Moreover, it
would be a long while before I accepted any of her harum-scarum
invitations again.
"Elsa" indeed! Somehow I could not say it with quite the indignant scorn
which I desired should be manifest in my tone. I have never been able to
be indignant with the duchess; although I have laughed at her. Now I could
be, and was, indignant with Marie Delhasse; though, in truth, her
difficult position pleaded excuses for her treatment of me which the
duchess could not advance.
As the clock of the church struck ten I walked downstairs from my room,
wearing a light short overcoat tightly buttoned up. I informed the waiter
that I was likely to be late, secured the loan of a latchkey, and left my
good friend under the evident impression that I was about to range the
shores of the bay in love-lorn solitude. Then I took the footpath down the
hill and, swinging along at a round pace, was fairly started on my
journey. If the inference I drew from the next thing I saw were correct,
it was just as well for me to be out of the way for a little while. For,
when I was still about thirty yards from the main road, there dashed past
the end of the lane leading up the hill a carriage and pair, traveling at
full speed. I could not see who rode inside; but two men sat on the box,
and there was luggage on the top. I could not be sure in the dim light,
but I had a very strong impression that the carriage was the same as that
which had conveyed Mme. Delhasse out of my sight earlier in the evening.
If it were so, and if the presence of the luggage indicated that of its
owner, the good lady, arriving alone, must have met with the scantest
welcome from the duke. And she would return in a fury of anger and
suspicion. I was glad not to meet her; for if she were searching for
explanation, I fancied, from glances she had given me, that I was likely
to come in for a share of her attention. In fact, she might reasonably
have supposed that I was interested in her daughter; nor, indeed, would
she have been wrong so far.
Briskly I pursued my way, and in something over an hour I reached the turn
in the road and, setting my face inland, began to climb the hill. A mile
further on I came on a bypath, and not doubting from my memory of the
direction, that this must be a short cut to the house, I left the road and
struck along the narrow wooded track. But, although shorter than the road,
it was not very direct, and I found myself thinking it very creditable to
the topographical instinct of my friend and successor, Pierre, that he
should have discovered on a first visit, and without having been to the
house, that this was the best route to follow. With the knowledge of where
the house lay, however, it was not difficult to keep right, and another
forty minutes brought me, now creeping along very cautiously, alertly, and
with open ears, to the door of old Jean's little cottage. No doubt he was
fast asleep in his bed, and I feared the need of a good deal of noisy
knocking before he could be awakened from a peasant's heavy slumber.
My delight was therefore great when I discovered that--either because he
trusted his fellow-men, or because he possessed nothing in the least worth
stealing--he had left his door simply on the latch. I lifted the latch and
walked in. A dim lantern burned on a little table near the smoldering
log-fire. Yet the light was enough to tell me that my involuntary host was
not in the room. I passed across its short breadth to a door in the
opposite wall. The door yielded to a push; all was dark inside. I listened
for a sleeper's breathing, but heard nothing. I returned, took up the
lantern, and carried it with me into the inner room. I held it above my
head, and it enabled me to see the low pallet-bed in the corner. But Jean
was not lying in the bed--nay, it was clear that he had not lain on the
bed all that night. Yet his bedtime was half-past eight or nine, and it
was now hard on one o'clock. Jean was "making a night of it," that seemed
very clear. But what was the business or pleasure that engaged him? I
admit that I was extremely annoyed. My darling scheme, on which I had
prided myself so much, was tripped up by the trifling accident of Jean's
absence.
What in the world, I asked again, kept the old man from his bed? It
suddenly struck me that he might, by the duke's orders, have accompanied
Mme. Delhasse back to Avranches, in order to be able to report to his
master any news that came to light there. He might well have been the
second man on the box. This reflection removed my surprise at his absence,
but not my vexation. I did not know what to do! Should I wait? But he
might not be back till morning. Wearily, in high disgust, I recognized
that the great scheme had, for tonight at least, gone awry, and that I
must tramp back to Avranches, carrying my old man of the sea, the
Cardinal's Necklace. For Jean could not read, and it was useless to leave
the parcel with written directions.
I went into the outer room, and set the lantern in its place; I took a
pull at my flask, and smoked a pipe. Then, with a last sigh of vexation, I
grasped my stick in my hand, rose to my feet, and moved toward the door.
Ah! Hark! There was a footstep outside.
"Thank Heaven, here comes the old fool!" I murmured.
The step came on, and, as it came, I listened to it; and as I listened to
it, the sudden satisfaction that had filled me as suddenly died away; for,
if that were the step of old Jean, may I see no difference between the
footfalls of an elephant and of a ballet-dancer! And then, before I had
time to form any plan, or to do anything save stand staring in the middle
of the floor, the latch was lifted again, the door opened, and in
walked--the Duke of Saint-Maclou!