"Pardon me, madame," he said, rising."I was not aware that the future and the reputation of Monsieur de Sallenauve had become indifferent to you.Only a moment ago, in your antechamber, when your servant hesitated to take in my name, Mademoiselle, your daughter, as soon as she heard I was the friend of Monsieur de Sallenauve, took my part warmly; and I had the stupidity to suppose that such friendliness was the tone of the family."After this remark, which gave Madame de l'Estorade the full change for her coin, Jacques Bricheteau bowed ceremoniously and was about to leave the room, when a sudden contradiction of the countess's comedy of indifference appeared in the person of Nais, who rushed in exclaiming triumphantly,--"Mamma, a letter from Monsieur de Sallenauve!"The countess turned crimson.
"What do you mean by running in here like a crazy girl?" she said sternly; "and how do you know that this letter is from the person you mention?""Oh!" replied Nais, twisting the knife in the wound, "when he wrote you those letters from Arcis-sur-Aube, I saw his handwriting.""You are a silly, inquisitive little girl," said her mother, driven by these aggravating circumstances quite outside of her usual habits of indulgence."Go to your room." Then she added to Jacques Bricheteau, who lingered after the arrival of the letter,--"Permit me, monsieur."
"It is for me, madame, to ask permission to remain until you have read that letter.If by chance Monsieur de Sallenauve gives you any particulars about his journey, you will, perhaps, allow me to profit by them.""Monsieur de Sallenauve," said the countess, after reading the letter, "requests me to inform my husband that he has gone to Hanwell, county of Middlesex, England.You can address him there, monsieur, to the care of Doctor Ellis."Jacques Bricheteau made a second ceremonious bow and left the room.
"Nais has just given you a taste of her quality," said Madame de Camps; "but you deserved it,--you really treated that poor man too harshly.""I could not help it," replied Madame de l'Estorade; "the day began wrong, and all the rest follows suit.""Well, about the letter?"
"It is dreadful; read it yourself."
Madame,--I was able to overtake Lord Lewin, the Englishman of whom I spoke to you, a few miles out of Paris.Providence sent him to Ville d'Avray to save us from an awful misfortune.Possessing an immense fortune, he is, like so many of his countrymen, a victim to spleen, and it is only his natural force of character which has saved him from the worst results of that malady.His indifference to life and the perfect coolness with which he spoke of suicide won him Marie-Gaston's friendship in Florence.Lord Lewin, having studied the subject of violent emotions, is very intimate with Doctor Ellis, a noted alienist, and it not infrequently happens that he spends two or three weeks with him at Hanwell, Middlesex Co., one of the best-managed lunatic asylums in England,--Doctor Ellis being in charge of it.
When he arrived at Ville d'Avray, Lord Lewin saw at once that Marie-Gaston had all the symptoms of incipient mania.Invisible to other eyes, they were apparent to those of Lord Lewin.In speaking to me of our poor friend, he used the word chiffonait,--meaning that he picked up rubbish as he walked, bits of straw, scraps of paper, rusty nails, and put them carefully into his pocket.That, he informed me, is a marked symptom well known to those who study the first stages of insanity.Enticing him to the subject of their conversations in Florence, he obtained the fact that the poor fellow meditated suicide, and the reason for it.Every night, Gaston told him, his wife appeared to him, and he had now resolved to rejoin her, to use his own expression.Instead of opposing this idea, Lord Lewin took a tone of approval."But," he said, "men such as we ought not to die in a common way.I myself have always had the idea of going to South America, where, not far from Paraguay, there is one of the greatest cataracts in the world,--the Saut de Gayra.The mists rising from it can be seen at a distance of many miles.An enormous volume of water is suddenly forced through a narrow channel, and rushes with terrific force and the noise of a hundred thunder-claps into the gulf below.
There, indeed, one could find a noble death.""Let us go there," said Gaston.
"Yes," said Lord Lewin, "I am ready to go at once; we must sail from England; it will take a few weeks to get there."In this way, madame, he enticed our poor friend to England, where, as you will already have supposed, he has placed him in charge of Doctor Ellis, who, they say, has not his equal in Europe for the treatment of this particular form of mental aberration.
I joined them at Beauvais, and have followed them to Hanwell, taking care not to be seen by Marie-Gaston.Here I shall be detained until the doctor is able to give a decided opinion as to the probable results of our friend's condition.I greatly fear, however, that I cannot possibly return to Paris in time for the opening of the session.But I shall write to the president of the Chamber, and in case any questions regarding my absence should arise, may I ask Monsieur de l'Estorade to do me the favor of stating that, to his knowledge, I have been absolutely forced by sufficient reasons to absent myself? He will, of course, understand that I ought not to explain under any circumstances the nature of the affair which has taken me out of the country at this unlucky time; but I am certain it will be all-sufficient if a man of Monsieur de l'Estorade's position and character guarantees the necessity of my absence.
I beg you to accept, madame, etc., etc.
As Madame de Camps finished reading the letter, the sound of a carriage entering the courtyard was heard.