The Deputy of Arcis [139]
not addressed to us is always a serious thing to do," remarked the peer of France. "This bears my wife's address, but--in point of fact--it was never sent to her; in short, it is most embarrassing."
"But if by reading it some misfortune might be averted?"
"Yes, yes; that is just what keeps me in doubt."
Here Madame de l'Estorade cut the matter short by entering the room. Lucas had told her of the unexpected arrival of Philippe.
"Is anything the matter?" she asked with anxious curiosity.
The apprehensions Sallenauve had expressed the night before as to Marie-Gaston's condition returned to her mind. As soon as Philippe had repeated the explanations he had already given to her husband, she broke the seals of the letter.
Whatever may have been the contents of that disquieting epistle, nothing was reflected on Madame de l'Estorade's face.
"You say that your master left Ville d'Avray in company with an English gentleman," she said to Philippe. "Did he seem to go unwillingly, as if yielding to violence?"
"No, far from that, madame; he seemed to be rather cheerful."
"Well, there is nothing that need make us uneasy. This letter was written some days ago, and, in spite of its three black seals, it has no reference to anything that has happened since."
Philippe bowed and went away. As soon as husband and wife were alone together, Monsieur de l'Estorade said, stretching out his hand for the letter,--
"What did he write about?"
"No, don't read it," said the countess, not giving him the letter.
"Why not?"
"It would pain you. It is enough for me to have had the shock; I could scarcely control myself before that old servant."
"Does it refer to suicide?"
Madame de l'Estorade nodded her head in affirmation.
"A real, immediate intention?"
"The letter is dated yesterday morning; and apparently, if it had not been for the providential arrival of that Englishman, the poor fellow would have taken advantage of Monsieur de Sallenauve's absence last night to kill himself."
"The Englishman must have suspected his intention, and carried him off to divert him from it. If that is so, he won't let him out of his sight."
"And we may also count on Monsieur Sallenauve, who has probably joined them by this time."
"Then I don't see that there is anything so terrible in the letter"; and again he offered to take it.
"No," said Madame de l'Estorade, drawing back, "if I ask you not to read it. Why give yourself painful emotions? The letter not only expresses the intention of suicide, but it shows that our poor friend is completely out of his mind."
At this instant piercing screams from Rene, her youngest child, put Madame de l'Estorade into one of those material agitations which she less than any other woman was able to control.
"My God!" she cried, as she rushed from the study, "what has happened?"
Less ready to be alarmed, Monsieur de l'Estorade contented himself by going to the door and asking a servant what was the matter.
"Oh, nothing, Monsieur le comte," replied the man. "Monsieur Rene in shutting a drawer pinched his finger; that is all."
The peer of France thought it unnecessary to convey himself to the scene of action; he knew, by experience in like cases, that he must let his wife's exaggerated maternal solicitude have free course, on pain of being sharply snubbed himself. As he returned to his desk, he noticed lying on the ground the famous letter, which Madame de l'Estorade had evidently dropped in her hasty flight. Opportunity and a certain fatality which appears to preside over the conduct of all human affairs, impelled Monsieur de l'Estorade, who thought little of the shock his wife had dreaded for him, to satisfy his curiosity by reading the letter.
Marie-Gaston wrote as follows:--
Madame,--This letter will seem to you less amusing than those I addressed to you from Arcis-sur-Aube. But I trust you will not be alarmed by the decision which I now announce. I am going to rejoin my wife, from whom I have been too long separated; and this evening, shortly
"But if by reading it some misfortune might be averted?"
"Yes, yes; that is just what keeps me in doubt."
Here Madame de l'Estorade cut the matter short by entering the room. Lucas had told her of the unexpected arrival of Philippe.
"Is anything the matter?" she asked with anxious curiosity.
The apprehensions Sallenauve had expressed the night before as to Marie-Gaston's condition returned to her mind. As soon as Philippe had repeated the explanations he had already given to her husband, she broke the seals of the letter.
Whatever may have been the contents of that disquieting epistle, nothing was reflected on Madame de l'Estorade's face.
"You say that your master left Ville d'Avray in company with an English gentleman," she said to Philippe. "Did he seem to go unwillingly, as if yielding to violence?"
"No, far from that, madame; he seemed to be rather cheerful."
"Well, there is nothing that need make us uneasy. This letter was written some days ago, and, in spite of its three black seals, it has no reference to anything that has happened since."
Philippe bowed and went away. As soon as husband and wife were alone together, Monsieur de l'Estorade said, stretching out his hand for the letter,--
"What did he write about?"
"No, don't read it," said the countess, not giving him the letter.
"Why not?"
"It would pain you. It is enough for me to have had the shock; I could scarcely control myself before that old servant."
"Does it refer to suicide?"
Madame de l'Estorade nodded her head in affirmation.
"A real, immediate intention?"
"The letter is dated yesterday morning; and apparently, if it had not been for the providential arrival of that Englishman, the poor fellow would have taken advantage of Monsieur de Sallenauve's absence last night to kill himself."
"The Englishman must have suspected his intention, and carried him off to divert him from it. If that is so, he won't let him out of his sight."
"And we may also count on Monsieur Sallenauve, who has probably joined them by this time."
"Then I don't see that there is anything so terrible in the letter"; and again he offered to take it.
"No," said Madame de l'Estorade, drawing back, "if I ask you not to read it. Why give yourself painful emotions? The letter not only expresses the intention of suicide, but it shows that our poor friend is completely out of his mind."
At this instant piercing screams from Rene, her youngest child, put Madame de l'Estorade into one of those material agitations which she less than any other woman was able to control.
"My God!" she cried, as she rushed from the study, "what has happened?"
Less ready to be alarmed, Monsieur de l'Estorade contented himself by going to the door and asking a servant what was the matter.
"Oh, nothing, Monsieur le comte," replied the man. "Monsieur Rene in shutting a drawer pinched his finger; that is all."
The peer of France thought it unnecessary to convey himself to the scene of action; he knew, by experience in like cases, that he must let his wife's exaggerated maternal solicitude have free course, on pain of being sharply snubbed himself. As he returned to his desk, he noticed lying on the ground the famous letter, which Madame de l'Estorade had evidently dropped in her hasty flight. Opportunity and a certain fatality which appears to preside over the conduct of all human affairs, impelled Monsieur de l'Estorade, who thought little of the shock his wife had dreaded for him, to satisfy his curiosity by reading the letter.
Marie-Gaston wrote as follows:--
Madame,--This letter will seem to you less amusing than those I addressed to you from Arcis-sur-Aube. But I trust you will not be alarmed by the decision which I now announce. I am going to rejoin my wife, from whom I have been too long separated; and this evening, shortly