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THE CONDEMNED DOOE
THE
CONDEMNED DOOE
(POETE CLOSE)
OR
BY
FOETUNE DU BOISGOBEY
Author of **The Blue Veil," "Cry op Blood," &c., &c.
Author's Copyright Edition
LONDON
JOHN AND EOBEET MAXWELL
MILTON HOUSE, 35, ST. BRIDE STEEET, LUDGATE CIRCUS,
AND
14 AND 15, SHOE LAITE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
[All rights reserved,]
By the Most Emrnent French and
Continental Novelists.
This volume is a representative 'number of a
new choice Series of Striking, Alluring, and Enter-
taining Masterpieces of Fiction .by the foremost
foreign romancers. Special arrangements ensure
thoroughly fluent translations, which read like Eng-
lish-wrought originals themselves, whilst preserving
all the pristine vivacity, fervid colour, full-spirited
wit, and torrid yet refined passion. INIany of the
books will be adorned with authentic portraits and
autographs, and all will be clearly printed and offered
at a popular price.
^s^^
CONTENTS
\SB1
VOL. I
I. Awaiting Her Chosen ... 7
II. The Shadow of Death Falls Across
Guilty Joys 13
III. Keeping Guard Over the Death Trap 19
IV. Lady Flavia Signs Her Husband's
Death Warrant ... 27
v. Slain in the Hour of His Vengeance 32
VI. Another Barrier Between the Lovers 38
VII. Lady Flavia's Troublesome Avenger 44
VIII. The Nest is Empty, and the Bird
Flown 47
IX. What Unknown Enemy has Done This? 52
X. Lady Flavia Goes A-visiting 56
XI. The Servant Who Dared to Love His
Lady ... 61
XII. The Footsteps of The Avenger ... 68
xiii. The Hand of Justice Grasps a Victim 73
XIV. The Sister's Revelation 79
XV. His Heroism a Sham, Like His Love 86
XVI. A Dirge of Death from Beyond the
Sea 90
xvii. The Sting from the Grave 96
xviii. " When you see the Dog, the Master
is not Far Off" 105
015
vi Contents
CHAP. PAGE
XIX. Dropping a Torch in a Keg of Powder 113
XX. Out of the Tomb into the Sunlight 121
XXI. A Terrible Sweetheart 127
xxiL Her most Dangerous Rival 132
XXIII. The Magnet City continues to Draw 139
XXIV. Who Sounded the Lure.^ 144
VOLUME II
XXV. An Awkward Encounter
XXVI. Seeking the Man of Mystery...
xxvii. Little Yvon's Vow of Secrecy
xxvin. The Second on the Quest
XXIX. The Old Tower Yields up a Clue .
XXX. The Spies in the Stronghold...
xxxL The Doctor's Obstinate Patient
xxxii. The Dead Shot at Work Again
XXXIII. The Revulsion from Love to Hatred .
XXXIV. The Sisters' Conflict ...
XXXV. Between Two Fires
xxxvL The Special Trial
XXXVII. The little Pin on which the Trial
Turned
xxxviii. Denounced as the Assassin
xxxix. the Lovers prepare for Flight
XL. A Bed of Thorns
xli. The Uninvited Second ...
xlil The Last Embrace
Epilogue
151
160
166
172
178
186
195
204
210
216
233
245
257
266
275
282
295
305
314
THE CONDEMNED DOOR
Or, The Secret of Trigavou Castle
VOLUME ONE
CHAPTEK I
AWAITING HER CHOSEN
One November evening, last year, the Baroness of Houlbecq
was brooding all alone in her delightful snuggery in the
first story of the left wing of Trigavou Castle, her country
seat in Brittany. Her husband. General Baron Houlbecq,
had gone away hunting at dawn, in woods thirty miles
distant.
The night was black and the wind blew like blasts of
thunder, coming in booming gusts which burst heavy rain
clouds at varied intervals. The showers lashed the window
panes and made the huge old trees groan again. Altogether
it was a time when the nor'-wester hinted that good folk
ought to keep close to their own fireside.
The Baroness Flavia was in a reverie before the old-
fashioned fire-place, where large oak logs blazed, having
tossed aside a book upon a Chinese lacquered table.
Her situation required profound reflection, for it seemed
about turning to tragedy, the blackest and most guilty
perhaps.
Trigavou Castle was a large, rambling structure, half a
8 The Condemned Door
hundred years old, tacked on a tower, remnant of a glorious
stronghold, besieged thrice by the English ; this tower had
been maintained by the last proprietor of the old line under
the terms of sale, to bear witness to the antiquity of his race.
This heir had been ruined by unlucky speculations, so that
all he had left to his only son, Alain of Trigavou, was less
than a thousand francs a-year.
After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, land and house
were bought by General Houlbecq, who spent the mid-half
year here with the wife he espoused after leaving the army.
He led a hearty life shooting, hunting and feasting all the
neighbouring squires. There was no ball-giving, as he
received none but men, though my lady did not show that
time hung heavy^^on her hands. With perfect cordiality she
presided at these " stag-parties,'' where the cream of society
presented itself in shooting-coats and wading-boots. She so
gratified the farmers that they overlooked the " town lady,"
as they called her, putting on airs of elegance, and were lost
in admiration of her straightforwardness in greeting.
Lady Flavia was a town lady, indeed, and a high born
dame to boot, for her father was the Marquis of Bourbriac,
but he had died like the last of the Trigavous, leaving his
two daughters never a penny piece. The sisters were
alike only in that respect, for Flavia was a very handsome,
tall brunette, resembling her mother, a Cuban whom the
marquis had married out of love ; whilst Yiviana, with the
pet name of Vivette, was a blonde, sweet and gentle, with
no such fiery eyes, brilliant colour or quick wit as Flavia.
Their aunt, who had brought up the orphans, set Vivette
down as a " silly," but she was wrong, for Vivette had sound
sense, keen wisdom and true goodness. She did not dazzle,
but bewitched.
Flavia's marriage lifted the Bourbriacs out of genteel
poverty. She was twenty-five when General Houlbecq
(second baron, his father having been ennobled when colonel
tinder Napoleon I.) was violently smitten at a ball given by
Marshal MacMahon at the Elysee Palace. The general was
Awaiting her Chosen 9
over fifty, though he did not look his age, and passed for a
handsome soldier. Corpulence had not spoilt his burly figure ;
his face was martial, and that never displeases women ; and
out of his twenty thousand dollars of income he endowered
the Bourbriac beauty with munificent pin-money.
In three weeks married and installed in the baron's man-
sion, Friedland Avenue, Paris, the new couple went for the
summer to Trigavou House, and by 1885 they had kept up
this course without any accident.
Flavia remained childless, so there was nobody else in
the house save Yivette, who would not wed, though her
brother-in-law was ready to " pay expenses and to boot."
The baron and his wife dwelt in perfect accord, though
unlike in tastes and temper. She liked fashion, he hated it.
She was coquettish ; he simple, wild, even rather rough, like the
older type of soldiers. But still no serious rupture had oc-
curred. In Paris, my lady was never maligned, and down in
the country her behaviour was irreproachable. The gossips
hinted that the devil's own always carried on their games
under the mask : but there were no grounds for such slurs,
as the guests were not of the kind to captivate a beauty who
had turned the cold shoulder on notorious lady-killers.
Besides, the general played the sentinel well. He had aged
>:3onsiderably under marriage, the usual penalty on late
comers to the Temple of Hymen ; it drives them grey to
watch a treasure they cannot enjoy.
As their years accumulate, their jealousy augments.
He tried to hide it, but his wife knew what was in the air,
and guided herself accordingly. Hence she deprived herself
of the only company likely to tease her lord and master,
Alain of Trigavou.
All he had preserved of his birthright was a farmer's
house, where he spent most of the year. He was a capti-
vating fellow, and the lovely Flavia had met him in town
houses of high degree wherein his good old name passed him
in spite of the slender purse. When the Houlbecqs came
down for the summer, Alain would call, and the general
10 The Condemned Door
would return his visit in twenty-four hours, and there ceased
their relations, though the Hunaudaie Farm was not a long
walk from Trigavou. Not being a sportsman, Alain never
met the baron and his hard-riding crew in the woods, and so
lived on in complete loneliness, till many wondered whence
he derived the courage to be the hermit up to Christmas in
the bleakest northern country.
Probably the general never had this question strike him.
Flavia alone might have answered it, and if her mate had
been less out of doors, he might have guessed a letter or two
of the key- word. But, though he never thought of it, every-
thing comes to a solution in this inquisitive world.
Flavia was listening in her boudoir, but not to the branches
tearing one another in the gale ; it seemed as if she were
expecting somebody, and yet her husband was not to return
till after the morrow. It was St. Hubert's Day, the patron
saint of the chase, and sportsmen will have the day to them-
selves. They drink deep to their patron wherever they are
in the woods or hunting lodges, and willingly forget all about
their lonely spouses at home. Lady Houlbecq knew such
habits thoroughly and reckoned for some fifty hours of soli-
tude, for the baron on this annual solemnity took along his
man coachman and one of the two gamekeepers. The other
one would be the sole guard for the women, and these were
all abed early by her ladyship's orders, a command from
which the promulgator excused herself, of course.
The old Saxony china clock denoted midnight, and yet my
lady had no inclination for repose. She had dined with her
sister, who, not being well at the storm coming on, had sought
her couch betimes.
Softened by a shade the lamp-light feebly illumined the
room, hung with old tapestry left with the pictures at the
sale ; in one wall it marked a doorway to the old tower,
which nobody entered or thought of entering. With her head
leaned back Lady Flavia was looking at the woven figures
without seeing them, when a smart tap at the casement made
her start up with one leap towards the window, which she
Awaiting her Chosen 11
opened briskly. A man in a hooded waterproof ulster
climbed over the crossbar and stepped down into the room.
" At last you're with me ! " ejaculated Flavia, clasping him
in her arms. " I had ceased to hope for you to-night."
" I am only a little behindhand, that's all ! The Hunaudaie
is not next door, and this beastly weather has made ditches of
the roads."
" I know that, but I got impatient awaiting you. Besides,
I have a bad feeling on me this night — a kind of evil fore-
boding. Throw off that coat, and let me have a look at you,
Alain, my darling."
" There's plenty of time for love, my darling. Let's get the
window closed first."
CHAPTER II
THE SHADOW OF DEATH FALLS ACROSS GUILTY JOYS
The closing of the window was a wise precaution, for the
draught had all but put the lamp out, but the revived fire
sent out enough beams from the chimney-place to enable
Flavia to contemplate her lover's features when he had un-
cloaked himself. He was a downright handsome fellow, tall,
fair, perhaps a little pale, slender yet strong, with large blue
eyes, and long silken moustache, which ended in a curl, like
hooks to catch female hearts. At all events, Lady Houlbecq's
was caught thereby. For Alain of Trigavou, hers was one of
those stormy passions which drive a woman of thirty odd
into all manner of extravagances. He loved her in a less
exalted way, though he did not hesitate to risk his life by
scaling the castle wall — when the husband was away. The
coolness he opposed to the woman's transports only whetted
her amorous fever.
" How splendid you are ! " murmured she, hanging round
his neck to admire and caress him.
He extricated himself gently, and drew her towards the
fireside with the rather unromantic intention to dry and warm
himself. She let him lead her, but forced him to take the
armchair she had vacated, and she knelt before him, clasping
her hands and looking him in the eyes.
" Two whole nights to ourselves," she exclaimed in ecstasy.
" For you'll come again to-morrow, won't you ? "
" Two, if he does not return in the morning," answered
Alain, smiling. " But if this rain keeps on it will put a stop
to hunting."
The Shadow of Death Falls Across Guilty Joys 13
" He'll not come home, I tell you. If there's no hunting
he'll lay by over at Lanvollon, feasting with his hard-drinking
mates. They can drink right on for forty- eight hours ! "
"Your oracle is less reliable than the barometer, which
points to storm. But if he comes I shall have timely warning?
as I have a spy below — my old farmer of the Hunaudaie*
He hates him, and he chnms in with the servants here and
there. Deuce take me if I long to have your Bluebeard
catch me Iiere."
" You are too prudent," said the lady of the castle with a
gloomy brow. " Anybody would think you were afraid of
him."
" So I am — for your dear sake, my pet. He is one of those
men who would shoot you off-hand if he barely suspected
you."
" He'll hav^e no doubts. He was jealous, but I lived that
out in seven years, while he studied me and eyed me cease-
lessly. Now, he believes he fully understands me, and he is
convinced that all danger is over. He theorizes upon women
as upon the horse. He fancies that at my age I ought to be
calm, and that, had I intended to deceive him, I would have
tried it long ago. Oh, what it has cost me to sacrifice my
youth to this unloved trooper, whom I execrate now as much
as I adore you I But at least I can profit by the leisure left
me which I have won so hard. I can see you, and talk lov-
ingly with you — though none too often, alas ! And when
you cannot steal in, I can never meet you anywhere ! I am
jealous, too, and fancy oft-times that you are not always
alone "
" Down here 1 " cried the last of the Trigavous, gaily.
*' Rather hard to find a flame in this cheerless quarter ! You
know well that I am quite a hermit, and you ought to be
kind to me."
" Don't you believe I am grateful for your giving up society
in these long months of exile from the capital ! I can never
love you enough to repay all you do for me. But I feel
that a day will cbme for your wearying of a life more
14 The Condemned Door
cruel to bear than the woes of lovers parted by insur-
mountable hindrances. Even I question if I shall have the
bravery to stand such alternatives of mad delight and black
despair."
" But we are doomed to it, for I see no way to end it."
" What prevents our flight together ? "
Alain made a wry face which left no doubt as to his opinion
of the consequences of such a step.
" My dear Flavia, give up so absurd a notion," he said
gravely. *^Were I to consent in your ruin that way, you
would not be slow to bitterly regret my spoiling your
existence.
"Why don't you own that you regret the burden of a
woman 1 Oh, you never loved me as I do you ! "
" I love you quite as much, but not in the same way."
" Ay, you reason ; you take the opinion of dolts and the
commonplace, and not to run counter to it, I must continue
this seldom seeing you, and drag lifelong this crushing
shameful chain."
" Not all your life, darling. This mate of yours will surely
pass away before you, and then you are a widow."
" You'll make me your wife 1 " interrupted the baroness,
looking at her lover straight in the whites of the eyes.
'^ Why should I not ?" answered Trigavou, evasively. " At
the same time, I do not see so much gain in that — or much
desirable in the part of a Benedict. I am not used to it, you
see."
" Our gain will be in our freedom — our happiness — our
wealth "
" I don't dispute the freedom or the bliss, but wealth is a
very different matter. I am not wealthy, or you either."
" Stop ! I have read my husband's will at the solicitor's,
leaving me all his fortune, save an unimportant legacy to my
sister."
" I was not aware of that," muttered the other.
It was a little strange that Vivette should not be remem-
bered handsomely. The two sisters did not lead the same
Th Shadow of Death Falls Across Guilty Joys 15
country life. The elder took no concern in the household,
whilst the other, rising with the lark, attended to all the
minutiae of the grand establishment. The general relied on
her even overseeing the stable, for she knew all about horses,
and liked them. Moreover he had instituted her his almoner,
and she did all the visiting of the poor, distributing coin,
food, and the clothing of her own making. When the local
doctor could not come she looked to the sick, and had set up
a dispensary in the castle. Vivette had a talent for charit-
able work, and was so pleased to exercise it that she never
demurred at trudging through muddy roads to the wretched
hovels, whilst her sister mooned away her leisure.
Trigavou's silence after her confidence surprised my lady
not a little.
" However, it little troubles me who gets the money," said
he finally, with a happy-go-lucky air. " I am not after your
fortune, and since I possess your afi'ection nothing in the
future worries me. Let us enjoy the fleeting hour and talk
of other things than delusions. My Flavia is in a deucedly
logical humour to-night, quite novel to me. You have
hardly more than kissed me, and any outsider would fancy
you were seeking a quarrel with me."
" I ? " exclaimed the false wife, drawing the speaker to her
till their lips met. " You do not understand me, and you
never will ! I would never difi'er from you if I were not so
fond. You are my all in this world, and I must have you
mine, body and soul, as I am your own ! Were I to lose you,
I should not outlive you ; and whenever I think how you
risk your dear life to see me — "
" Pooh, risk, nothing !" replied Trigavou, smiling. " Even
granting your husband came back suddenly, it would not be
the suddenness of a bombshell. We should hear him coming
in time for me to climb down into the grounds by the same
road that brought me here."
" A road where one false step would precipitate you to your
death ! We are twenty feet above the ground here."
" I daresay, but the ivy ladder is strong and the natural
16 The Condemned Door
rungs are as familiar as the steps of my town chambers. Why,
I made them myself, child that you are, when I was a boy,
rook hunting in the old tower top. I know every nook and
cranny in the tower, which Duguesclin defended of yore, and
there's no danger of my falling there."
" There is a danger somewhere, then, you own 1 "
" But nothing much ! Still, at my last coming, I was a bit
behind-hand, and just as I was getting over the wall, or,
rather, through the breach — you know — dawn was peeping.
I darted rapidly home, but behind a hedge, a hundred
paces off, I espied one of your keepers, a strapping chap, who
always looks hard at me whenever we meet on the road.
What was he after 1 Some vermin, or me? Had he seen me
scramble over the wall 1 But you may be sure, I never
lingered to ask him. I cut across the fields and he did not
follow me. But it's an awkward incident, and it makes me
uneasy about the consequences."
" Why did you never tell me before % That keeper is Pierre
Calorguen — my husband's shadow ; he was in his regiment
and would let himself be chopped to mincemeat for him. We
are ruined if he recognised you."
" Buined is a strong word. We need only take more care.
At the very worst, we will have to meet at the decayed
summer-house at the far end of the grounds. You can give
me the key of that little gate in the wall. It will not be so
comfortable as j^our rooms, but that man will not be so 'cute
as to hunt us up there. Anyway, I little fear he will acquaint
his master — the general is one of those who would ill-receive
such a complaint from a servant."
" You do not know what Calorguen is ; I have not told
you everything. In the first place, he is in love with me — "
" Nonsense ! You do not mean to say that he has offered
you his humble suit ? "
" No ; but I read it in his eyes — speaking eyes, his !
Women understand that dumb language, and I am sure I am
mot wrong. The fellow loves me."
^' The deuce ! The tangle is more complicated now. This
' The Shadow of Death Falls Across Guilty Joys 17
sort of scamp is likely to drop tlie baron an anonymous letter.
I must be on my guard, and in fact, I shall "
" Hist ! " interrupted her ladyship, laying a finger on the
speaker's lips.
" What ? " asked he, preparing to spring up.
" Something I hear — like carriage wheels ; and I fancy I
heard the gate closed."
A bell rang, and its clang was brought clear and distinct
by the rising wind.
'^'Tis my husband ! " exclaimed the baroness.
" There is still time to get away clean by the window,"
observed Trigavou, without showing too much emotion,
" No ! Calorguen will shoot you ! I am sure he has
betrayed you. Knowing where you cross the wall, he'll way-
lay you there. He will maintain that he thought he was
shooting a burglar."
" And if I linger the general will kill me ! However, I
would rather wait for him, for — if his wrath is vented upon
you, I'll use my revolver."
The pair were both afoot now, facing the danger.
" Come," she suddenly ejaculated, pushing him towards
the hangings, " we are safe ! This covers the inlet to a hiding
place in the old tower."
" So it does, and well I know it ! When I was a naughty
boy, my father used to black-hole me in it. Capital suggestion
yours — especially as I know besides "
" Come, come, I tell you ! "
The tapestry was not nailed up and down, and hence the
lady could draw it aside from covering a worm-eaten door.
This panel had no lock, only a rusty latch which was easily
lifted. A current of damp air came out upon her cheek and
made her recoil as if from a charnel-house. But her lover
stepped in boldly enough and gave her a farewell kiss,
saying—
" Mind, have no fear, my precious ! Just forget where I
am and brazen it out with the jealous Turk, I promise yovt
we shall soon fee together again."
18 The Condemned Boor
He disappeared into the gloom. The panel closed behind
him, and the faithless spouse, letting the curtains fall, stood
forth a little and listened.
The stair without creaked under a heavy martial step she
knew but too well. There was not a spare moment to call up
a face for the occasion. But, in great conjugal crises, the
imminence of peril gives guilty women coolness and presence
of mind. Flavia dropped into the armchair which her lover
had occupied, took upon her lap the novel cast down when
Trigavou tapped at the window, placed her feet on the fender
and closed her eyes as if napping.
It Was high time, for the general stamped in without
knocking.
To the terrified wife's ear, her husband's step sounded like
the footfall of avenging fate !
CHAPTEE III
KEEPING GUARD OVER THE DEATH TRAP
The baroness had not thought of relighting the lamp ; the
fire had not been replenished for a time, and flickered feebly,
and the intruder had come up without a light. He stopped
on the threshold, surprised to see it so dark.
"Are you there, FJavia ?" he challenged, but not in a very
high voice.
She took heed not to answer, and would have been only too
delighted if sleep might have shielded her, but he saw better
now he was accustomed to the twilight. He came over to
the mantelshelf, took down a candlestick and applied a brand
from the hearth, and waved the candle so near her face that
she was forced to open her eyes.
" Eh, is that you, dear ? " she murmured, stretching like a
cat, or a woman aroused.
" Yes, I," returned the general crossly. " I was not
expected."
" Certainly not, since you sent word this morning that you
would spend a couple of days over at Commander Jagon's,
his coursing is so good."
^* I did intend to, but there's no hunting this weather. It
comes down in a torrent, and it promises to keep on to-morrow.
After dinner I had the dogcart out and drove home."
Still standing, the speaker turned his back on the fire,
and balefully eyed his wife, who made no move to rise.
This man of sixty was an upright and robust giant, like
an oak. From his short, thick moustache, curved round
the corner of his mouth, and his^stern eye under a heavy
20 The Condemned Door
brow, he resembled Bismarck. On this night, contrary to
his rule, he had not changed his out-door dress to visit
his wife in her boudoir. He wore boots up to his thighs,
a driving waterproof and a Canadian otter skin cap pointed
like a Prussian helmet. This rough costume did not soften
his aspect, and his wild charge in promised nothing pleasant.
The baroness reasoned that he would not have rung at the
gate so loudly if he had meant to take her by surprise, but
in spite of all her self- encouragement, she remained alarmed.
" I thought you would have retired. You are not usually
up so late," observed M. du Houlbecq.
" That's so, but I was reading and nodded off," faltered the
lady. " Better I should be at rest ; I am ready to drop of
weariness."
^' Still, you won't mind my taking the chill off at your fire.
Five leagues in an open cart in the freezing wind and rain —
I tell you, I am an icicle."
"Do as you like, dear, of course."
The general sat astride of a chair, and made up the fire
with the tongs. Ugly weapon ! His wife shuddered — not
with cold.
" Eeading, eh ? " he said, taking up the book fallen at the
foot of her chair. " Some love story, I'll be bound."
" A. novel by Balzac."
" I guessed so. You never did care for sensible writing."
" You do not want me to read the history of the late war,
do you ] " she retorted, forcing a smile.
"I would rather you made no jests at me. I am not the
stupid old war horse you take me for, and I have never im-
posed on you any military notions. But I do assert that
novels are the bane of women."
He had opened the volume and now gave the title a glance,
" * La Grand Breteche ; or, Sealed Up,' — what's sealed up ?
I dare say some secret which prevents an honourable man
Ijunishing his wanton mate."
" You are altogether out of it, my dear. It is the story of
a husband who takes a glut of vengeance," answered Lady
Keeping Guard over the Death Trap 21
Slie almost immediately repented having said so much and
so sharply, for Balzac's most tragic short story turned on a
situation quite akin to this, in which her guilt had precipitated
her lover. But she reassured herself with the reflection that
the general had not read it, and probably never would. In
fact he had forgotten all about it already.
" Are you quite by yourself here ? " he inquired carelessly,
as he toasted his boots.
" As you see," answered the lady, with an effort. " Yivette
usually sits up till ten or so, but she turned tired to-night and
went to her own apartments after dinner. So I am standing
in need of rest."
" Nobody prevents your taking it. You don't think your
husband in the way, do you ? I am not going to my own
room, where there will not be the ghost of a fire, and where
it will be as cold as the buried end of the North Pole. Don't
mind me, my love."
There was no answer. The baroness could no longer doubt
that she was suspected, and her terrified thoughts asked if he
meant to stand sentinel over this keyless door of the hiding
place where Alain Trigavou was ensconced. The silence of the
general, too, was more fearsome than his questions.
'* Did you take a stroll in the grounds 1 " he suddenly
inquired.
*' In the wet ? Certainly not. Why so strange a question ? "
" Only because the wet is tracked all over the carpet."
True enough, Trigavou's boots had left very visible muddy
marks of his nocturnal tramp in miry roads, and the drip
of his coat had spattered even to the armchair.
" It may have been Eose, my maid," stammered the hapless
lady.
" You had better give her a * carpeting ' to-morrow,"
returned the old soldier, ironically, "for spoiling a fine
Gobelins carpet."
Again fell that stern silence, which the confused wife did
not attempt to break. She felt that she was lost, and had not
enough courage to seek about for means to escape. It was as
22 The Condemned Door
much as she dared to do to raise her eyes for a peep at the
hard face of her inflexible partner, who was no doubt medita-
tating vengeance. What kind? She could not recall his
mention of the secret nook in the great tower^ but she could
not suppose he was unaware of it. If, then, he knew about
it, he must infallibly guess where the lover had taken refuge.
Yet, for the time being, he appeared to heed it not. After a
quarter hour's perfect stillness he rose abruptly, went straight
to the window by which Trigavou had come in, opened it and
bent out to have a look round below.
The bystander s idea was that he had set Calorguen to
watch at the base of the building and wanted to make sure he
was on duty. Houlbecq slammed the window to, and began
striding the room.
" Why are you not a-bed ? " he suddenly asked.
" Waiting for your departure."
*' Too long a wait, then. I don't feel like sleep, and you do
look upset. Pray do not mind me ; I shall sit up by you and
keep the fire going."
She saw that she had better yield, so she compromised by
lying down dressed under the canopy of the huge four-
poster in a recess over against the tapestry masking the
ingress to the hiding-place.
" I shall not disturb you, love," he went on, " with my
bivouac."
So saying, he settled down snugly in the armchair which
the baroness had vacated and made no stir. The other, as may
readily be imagined, was not disposed to sleep. She studied
the enigma in its full horror and painfully puzzled out how
it might end.
She did not doubt that her heroic Alain would perish of
cold and hunger rather than expose her by his revelation to
the fury of a most violent husband. She believed that her
husband must have acted as hie had if his intention had been
to drive her lover into that stone trap. Hence, his plan was
to blockade the prison till he was forced to come forth. But
she hoped that the siege could not be so vigorous that
Keeping Guard over the Death Trap 23
Trigavou's flight might not be in some brief interval
facilitated.
But the means ? She knew of none, but she was bound to
contrive one.
If her husband persisted in staying there till next day, at
least he would hardly prevent Vivette coming in, and two
sisters can do anything in concert against a man. The
general's decoying away, if only for ten minutes, would
suffice for the last of the Trigavous to slip round by seme
back stairs, or even mount on to the roof, knowing tht- w'^le
building as be did.
It was necessary to admit the guileless Vivette in Lo thti
secret of a wicked passion and tarnish her purity of soul ;
but the elder sister had no scruples now, and she only longed
to see the girl come in as usual to kiss her good-morning.
The whole night passed without the general's wife closing
an eye, and without his changing posture, save to renew the
fire. Day coming late in November, found him deep in the
arm-chair, much like a sentry in his watch-box.
The baroness had not lost sight of him, and she had never
ceased to listen, but no sound whatever from the tower had
struck her attentive ear, and the general had not once evv-n
looked at that side.
Coming on eight o'clock, he finally rose, approached the
bed, and with cold courtesy asked his beloved how she found
herself.
"Oh, very well," she rejoined, half encouraged. "Your
queer whim has made me go off all dressed. I do not bear
you any grudge, and shall even be obliged to you if you will
let me attend to my toilet."
" Most willingly, dear ! I want to attend to mine, too, and
I hasten to send your woman to you."
A gleam of joy brightened the baroness's eyes, and colour
came anew to cheeks pale with anxiety and want of sleep.
She thought herself a fool to have alarmed herself.
" He was only in one of his disagreeable tempers, but he
suspected nothing," she mused.
24 The Condemned Door
*'I£ I have been an annoyance to you I have been
punished," he went on. "I am quite stiff and dreadfully
chill with your draughty places. I must see to this, for you
will be laid up if we are not careful."
He was leaving the room when Yivette bounded in, fresh
as a spring morn, smiling, her eyes sparkling with youthful -
ness; She was so pretty and winsome that the general's
grimness melted.
" Good morning, little sister," he said. " You drop in
timely. Flavia is not over-well. I've been sitting up with
her all the night, and now you can take my place."
" 111 1 " repeated Vivette, surprised at her brother-in-law
being back from hunting.
"Oh, nothing," replied the baroness, sliding off upon her
feet.
"Oh, but you are dreadfully changed," proceeded
Vivette.
"Pure fatigue. I'll tell you all about it. But you are
keeping the general, who has orders to give."
"That will not take long. Look to her closely, little sister,
while I am away," returned Houlbecq, as he departed.
Vivette was going to her sister when she waived her aside,
rushed to the door and glued her ear to it, in order to hear
her lord and master descending the stairs more quickly than
usual.
" At last ! " she murmured, in relief. * Gone, but he will
return. All is lost if I do not hasten "
" What is the matter ? " cried the startled girl.
" Would you save my life ? Would you do it though you
had to run the same risk as I in aid of me ? "
" Save your life ? " echoed Vivette. " I would lay mine
down any time to spare you sorrow."
"I know that," replied Lady Houlbecq, hurriedly ; "but
it is not your life you endanger. Are you the woman to risk
your reputation for me ] "
" Kisk my reputation ? " repeated the puzzled girl.
"Yes. Hearken to me, but don't require any explana-
Keeping Guard over the Death Trap 25
tions ; I can give none. I pray you to shelter somebody in
your own room above "
"Somebody?"
" A man — there ! Yet, but only till nightfall, when he'll
get away. And I hope nobody will dream that he passed
the hours in your rooms, yet he might be found there "
" If so, I doubt that any one will blame me," answered
Yivette, proudly. " I am ready to guide the man there."
" That's superfluous, for he knows the way ; and, besides.
I need you here. All I ask of you is complete silence. Not
a word to anybody. ISlow, open the window and look out
over the gardens, without stirring — I shall call you in time
so that you may not even see the man who will owe his
life to you.
"I would rather know nothing," rejoined Vivette, running
to the window, out of which she leaned after pushing it open.
" All's well ! " ejaculated the baroness, flying to the
hangings over the panel.
Her plan was a simple one. She reckoned on Trigavou
having ample time to quit the Refugees' Hole and go up to
the next floor whilst the general was coming from the lowest
story. Briefly, she could bid her lover wait the dark for his
flight, and the rest she left to him. She was ah-eady touching
the tapestry when a gentle rapping came at the room door.
She stopped short. It was her maid Rose, who always came
at this hour. Ten years in her service, the woman w^as
devoted to her mistress. But she had not been trusted with
the intrigue, and the baroness could not suppose she came
with other intentions than to attire her. Still she cursed the
untimely arrival of the too zealous Abigail, and received her
harshly.
"I did not ring," she said, curtly, " and do not need you.
You can go."
This was spoken so loudly that Yivette was made to turn.
*'It was my lord sent me," stammered Rose, little used to
such treatment.
" You are to take orders only from me.'^
26 The Condemned Door
"Master said that my lady was ailing, or I would not have
come in so quickly ; besides, master is going to spend the day
here. I know he has ordered breakfast for two to be brought
here."
The baroness turned pale on hearing that she was going to
be closely guarded. It was scarcely possible to doubt that
the general had divined the black secret.
" Where is your master at present ? " she inquired.
" Talking to those plumbers who were mending the leaden
roof, in the courtyards."
"Good," thought the wife, "when he gets through, Alain
will be safe in my sister's rooms." Aloud she remarked :
" Eun tell your master that I would rather he breakfasted
by himself, and I will content myself here alone with a cup
of tea."
Eose was obeying, when in came two footmen, carrying
between them a little table, spread and set, which they had
only to bring from their master's rooms, for, being a lusty
eater, they always had a substantial cold collation ready for
him, in case he woke up hungry or came in late after hunting.
The baroness felt cold all over ; clearly enough her
husband intended to post himself beside her, so that Trigavou
would have no alternative to dying of hunger in his den, but,
braving the general's rage, quite likely to end him without any
explanation. How could the lover escape now ? Eose might
be got out of the way, but here were the two lackeys ; they
seemed never to have done laying out the meal, and the
general would not be slow reappearing. Her last hope was
annihilated, and she saw nothing before her but a shroud.
CHAPTEE lY
LADY FLAVIA SIGNS HER HUSBAND's DEATH WARRANT.
Indeed, General Houlbecq came in shortly, and not alone ;
he had a couple of workmen along with him, who carried a
long roll of roofing lead and tools.
"My dear," observed he, in the most natural of tones,
"since you talk of keeping to your room, I really must
protect you from a danger I noticed to my cost during last
night. I wondered where the cold rush came in, and
remembered there was an outlet from the old tower. I dare
say it is worn away, the fastenings rust-eaten, and those
hangings just cobwebs. When you are so much better that
you can change your rooms, I'll have the doorway walled up,
but at present the work would annoy you. So I will only
have this sheet of metal tacked up over the gaps — a make-
shift, true, but then it will not show under the tapestry.
Now, then, my men, fall to work ! "
The horrified lady had no power to utter a word. Yivette
was hushed also, too stupefied by terror to fully understand
the affair. The maid and footmen alone were not surprised,
for their whimsical^ master was all the time upsetting the
house arrangements. They retired, leaving the plumbers to
their work, neither long nor hard. The low narrow door
was recessed in an oaken frame, on which the leaden sheet
was nailed, but as it happened to be a trifle short, there was
an orifice of half a dozen inches left at the top.
Eesting one hand on the back of a chair, the baroness
clasped her sister's hand in the other, watching wildly the
operatives' movements, and starting at every hammer blow,
28 The Condemned Door
as though they were nailing up her lover in a coffin. And,
verily, it was a tomb in which they were sealing up the luck-
less Lothario, for his refuge had no other known issue than
this nailed-up door, and his wails could not affect walls six
feet thick.
She had expected that the first knocking would advise
him of the fate awarded him by the ferocious Othello, and
that he would rush forth like a lion, upsetting the workmen
and dashing aside the general in his running a-muck. But no
token of existence gave he, resigned, doubtlessly, to the most
horrible of deaths.
" But he shall not die," murmured she. " I am determined
he shall not, if it were only to spite this monster."
When the last nail was driven in, the general made sure by
a strong double-handed pull that the shutter would resist the
efforts of a desperate man, and then let the hanging fall, and
dismissed the workmen.
"There, now ! " he exclaimed, rubbing his hands. "I am
quite at ease. No cold for either of us. But I am very
sharpset, and I hope, my dear, you will not mind my break-
ing my fast. Not that I even propose your coming to
table, as you are not well, and nothing so spoils appetite as a
bad night's rest, and I fear you have had no good one.
Besides, you'll want to spend some time in your dressing-
room. So don't let me fetter you. Yivette, who is the
picture of health, will keep vip the reputation of her end of
the table."
" Thank you, I am afraid not ; I am not hungry," faltered
the girl.
" What, you off appetite, too, sis 1 You seem all invalided
but me ! but I never felt in better form. I could give my
youngest neighbour ten pounds and a beating. That's racing
slang, for which I beg pardon, but my dear little Vivette
understands it for one. But, though you cannot ply a good
knife and fork, at least you'll grace the board, eh 1 We'll
have a chat, anyway. You may leave the window open,
the heavy blow is over, and a splendid November day is due,
Lady Flavia Signs her Husband's Death Warrant 29
■with fresh air that always makes me a boy again. You are
the Spring, pet, and I am the Summer, the after-Summer."
Whilst he was thus rattling on, the general " pitched
into " the patty and emptied a glass of his favourite wine.
Yivette's sister having told her in a glance to accept the
invitation, she left her to sink down in the high-backed arm-
chair which faced the arras. The old-time beauties and
heraldic beasts seemed to look out on her with a mocking ex-
pression, as if to say : " Going to let your lover perish in the
trap ? Never going to rebel at being your tyrant's laughing-
stock ? Eise in revolt, if you have any heart ! "
Yivette stood by the table where the general was making
rapid progress with his repast.
" Well, little sister, what do you say about our return to
town," remarked he, between two huge mouthfuls. " That
would not vex you, eh ? "
*' Nay, I am content here, and hope we ai-e not going before
Christmas. My poor patients require me, and there's one in
particular, the mother of your keeper, who can be attended
to by none but me."
" Mother Calorguen. Yes, a good old dame, with a line
chap for a son, though he's changed greatly this last year —
grown dreamy and absent, which is queer in an old cavalry
man. I fancy he is in love."
The baroness raised her head and darted a hateful glance
at the speaker, who continued in the same jocular vein :
" After all, though, there's no law against love-making — in
the young. By-the-by, sis, how about yourself 1 Though
you keep your counsel finely and have never let drop the
faintest hint, I am fain to believe that last Winter in society
you selected some desirable worshipper."
" Come, come ; think it over. Troops of fine fellows there.
I noticed you were rather kind toward Captain Clamorgan
and the Yiscount of St. Briac ; and there was little Servon,
who waltzes so divinely and is a millionnaire. Then, again,
last but not least, there's our handsome hermit, our neighbour
down here, whom we never see but in the capital, Alain of
30 The Condemned Door
Trigavou ! Aha, you colour up,\,Yivette ! Don't deny it ;
haven't I guessed aright ?"
The baroneas rose abruptly, feeling how pleased her husband
was at railing at her torment with such cruel jests. He must
have known that the man he had imprisoned was Trigavou,
yet uttered the name, and, moreover, to torture his guilty
wife, accused her sister of being her rival ! She swept past
the general, averting her head, and went to the casement, for
she was ready to choke.
She beheld that same keeper, Calorguen, whom the baron
suspected to be in love. He was walking slowly up a
garden path, in his uniform, his hunting knife sheathed, but
his gun on his shoulder. It was his hour for making his
daily report after his morning round, and, as he was medi-
tatively hanging his head, he did not see the baroness ujj
at the window.
"There is no evidence that it was he betrayed me, and
, whether he has discoveied my intimacy with Alain or not,
I am sure he loves me. If I order him to do anything, he will
do it, and not be treacherous."
She heard her husband chuckling at his own joke. Anger
turned her flaming red. She had a little memorandum book
in her bosom, on the first page of which she scribbled four
words, tore out the leaf, folded it longwise with a fine twisted
point at one end like the false tails with which children
decorate flies, and waited for Calorguen to come under the
window on his way to the porch. Blanched again, but resolute,
she stood ready to drop the scroll, on which her steady hand
had traced :
"Rid me of him!"
Rage was not guarded — she never reflected that if Calor-
guen executed this sanguinary behest, and was accused of
assassinating his master, this line would be her death sentence.
All she thought of was saving Alain, and to do that, the
general must die. She extended one hand and let the note
sail, gyrating, to tlie feet of the gamekeeper. That caused
Lady Flavia Signs her Husband's Death Warrant 31
him to lift his head, and he stopped short on perceiving Lady
Houlbecq.
This ex-cuirassier was a broad-shouldered, tall blade of
thirty-five, straight as a Lombardy poplar, and dark as a
Spaniard, though pure Breton born. His complexion was of
the bronze from open-air life, his features were marked, and
his expression winning. He took off his cap respectfully to
the dame of the castle, who pointed to the paper dagger
sticking up in the sand of the walk.
Calorguen hesitated an instant, and then picked it up. She
made an impatient gesture for him to open it, which he did.
The moment his eyes fell on it she saw him turn pale.
What would he do ?
She laid her finger on her lips and responded to his
questioning look with an imperative sign.
He remained still, as though changed to stone. The
temptress divined all that seethed in the heart of the hopeless
man who loved above his station, the faithful servant and
loyal soldier, whom she urged, with effrontery, to commit an
abominable and dastardly crime. She had the appalJing im-
pudence, over and above all this, to blow him a kiss. The
wretched butt of her temptation clutched the note to his
breast convulsively, and fled away instead of coming up the
doorway steps. She watched him till he had gone from sight
behind the large tower standing out from the main building
into the grounds. He took the road to his mother's dwelling,
two or three miles away.
" He understood it well enough," mused the baroness.
" Will he dare do it ? If he halts or is slow over it, Alain will
die before I can get free of this brute, who prevents me tearing
down that door. And I shall remain at the mercy of Pierre
Calorguen. He has kept the writing, and will use it as a rod
of power some day. Well, then, I shall kill myself," con-
cluded the half-crazed woman, as she returned to the chair
she had quitted for this colloquy in pantomime, and for the
imxke of the death-warrant against her mate.
CHAPTEB V
SLAIN IN THE HOUR OF HIS VENGEANCE
ViVETTE had noticed nothing, and the general had gone on
chattering while devouring at such a rate that he had pretty
nearly cleared the board. The coffee being all ready, he
filled up a large cup and took it in gulps with the calmness
of one who had no cares and still less remorse.
" It's all very fine, your protestations, sis," said he, in
resumption of a subject Yivette had let drop; "it is high
time you were paired off. You are getting on for five-and-
twenty — excuse me reminding you, pet — and I warrant you
do not mean to die an old maid. I would not tolerate such
an idea. You assert that no tender sentiment has been
inspired by the lady killer, Trigavou, invisible hereabouts,
but prominent in town. I am willing to believe you, and
I am not eager that you should wed that gentleman. But
you must have a husband, and I take it on myself to find you
one not later than this winter."
"I doubt you can manage that at such short notice,"
rejoined Yivette, with a sad smile. " But I am in no hurry."
" Well, I am ; and as you cannot have a dance without
paying the piper, I will settle on you such a portion as will
make your wedding a more likely matter. I promised you
as much when I became your brother-in-law, but talk does
not amount to much. Nothing stands but legal deeds, and
the lawyers manage even to upset them now and then."
" I am truly grateful to you, my dear brother, but it will
be full time to present m© with money when I wed, if ever I
do wed."
Slain m the Hour of His Vengeance 33
"That's not my way of thinking, little sister. I have
, passed three score, and I am apoplectic. I may die any day,
and I would rather be on the safe side, and leave nothing to
be done after death. Do you mind ringing for my man ? "
" I will tell him to come up, for I want to give my patients
a call, if sister has no further need of me."
The baroness shook her head ; she was not sorry to be
alone with her husband, who might then lay biare his
design.
" Very good," replied General Houlbecq. " You might
also send me up the two footmen to take away this table, and
add to Francois that I require writiug materials, as they
say in the stage business of plays," he added, affecting
jocularity.
Vivette asked nothing better than leave to go, to avoid
witnessing an explanation between the married couple. She
could not guess the trouble, but felt herself in the way of her
sister, perhaps dispelling a danger, removable if alone with
her husband. Vivette meant to return to her sister as soon
as the general left her by herself, as it was hardly supposable
that he would camp down there all day long. That return
would be in about an hour or so, after her looking to the
poor souls in the vicinity of the great house. So she kissed
her sister, who also squeezed her hand without speaking a
word, and went out.
General Houlbecq had leaned out of the window till the
table was removed. The two footmen were not slow to
come, and when the valet had put paper, ink and pens on
another table, he sat down there to writ^, as he hid
promised Vivette.
His observant wife saw him dash off one very short no.e.
He then went on to labour claiming much more atieiition,
for it took him considerable time to fill up a foolscap page,
and he read the whole over and over again. He folded this,
sheet into a large envelope, which he sealed with his own
seal in wax ; he addressed it and pulled the bell.
*' Hand these to my huntsman," he said sharply to \h&
D
34 The Gondermie$Door
servant who came. " Let him ride as hard as he can to
deliver them. He must have a receipt for the large one, the
other is not of consequence. If the party is not at home, he
must bid them give it him the moment he returns."
The man bowed and left the room.
"May I know to whom you are sending such pressing
dispatches ? " inquired Lady Houlbecq.
" One is to your physician, Dr. Avangour, asking him to
look round to-day."
"What for? You know quite well that I stand in no
need of his services."
" It's just the other way : you do need him — more than
you imagine, perhaps ! The other letter is for my solicitor
at Dinan, and contained my will."
" Your will I Why that was made long ago — you showed
me it."
"The one I have just written adds some codicils to the
other. Did you not hear me saying that I wished to make
your dear sister independent henceforth ? So long as I live
she would not need that assurance, but when I am gone "
" I should remain "
" Such is our hope and belief," returned the general, with
icy politeness.
" And I love Vivette more than you could ever do."
" I do not dispute that. But I have just fixed her share ;
it's the safest course."
The baroness was silent. She was pondering thus :
"He has deprived me of fortune. He means to kill me —
no I He would rather torture me by leaving me alive. He
is a monster, and I was justified in wishing his death. All I
hope is that Calorguen will do the deed, and all I bum to
know is when he will do it."
" Now, my darling, to my plans," went on the pitiless hus-
band. **I have decided on returning to town as soon as you
can travel. The air hereabouts is not good for you, and
besides, I am set on marrying your sister off as soon as pos-
sible, and there are no eligible partners here. So I propose
Slain in the Sour of Bis Vengeance 35
receiving no end of company, and we shall go about a great
deal."
"You will go to town without me," said the baroness,
bluntly.
"What do you mean, dear? I hope you will quickly
recover. I myself will watch over you, and even never leave
you till you are fit for the journey."
" What ] Instal yourself in my apartment ]"
" Not a very usual thing in French high life, I grant it,
my dear ; but wives in other countries in the best society
manage to endure their husbands' presence. However, I
believe it will not be for long, eight or ten days — a fortnight
at the farthest. I must ask your medical adviser, and the
duration of my stay beside you will depend upon the answer
he gives to the first question I put to him."
Flavia shuddered, comprehending.
" He will ask him (she thought) how long a man can live
without food. And when he is quite sure that Alain is no
more — starved like a rat — he will drag me from this house
to Paris ; I shall be chained to him, and my life will be
one long spell of torture. No, never ! I had better put an
end to this at once. They shall fight it oflt, and I hope
Alain will kill him !"
She rose like a wounded tigress, shrieking :
" Down with your mask ! Your false tenderness only
horrifies me ! Show the courage to say outright that you
think there is a man concealed here and that you aim at an
atrocious vengeance."
" A man in my lady's chamber ?" reiterated the general
with cold irony. " Your illness has become delirium, dear.
Where would the fellow be, my good lady I Under the
dressing-table, like stage robbers ?"
" Enough of your mockery ! You know very well what
you are about or you would not have sealed up that door "
"The old tower doorl Merely to keep out draughts.
Deuce take me if I ever dreamed that the old dungeon was
inhabited by other tenants than owls and toads. But, if
36 The Condemned Door
by any chaace I have blundered, allow me to rectify my
error. Tell me so, and I will have those men back again to
rip off that plate. If anybody is in there, it can only be a
housebreaker, and as I am a pretty fair shot still and carry
a revolver, I'll wing the rogue if he shows fight. Well, what
say yon ? Shall I ring ?"
" No, no," muttered the baroness, terrified. " There's no-
body there. It was mad of me."
*'I told you so. I need not wonder what put that into
your brain. It must be this novel which you were reading
overnight when I came in. I had a peep at it myself, and
saw there was some stuff about a lover walked up by a cruel
husband. They did such things before there were divorce
courts. That vile deed haunted you, and the dream came
again upon you this morning. Was I not right in telling
you that novel reading is dangerous ] "
Whilst he was uttering this derisive speech the baroness
had fallen back in her chair exhausted, unable even to think
She had no longer the hope to struggle from under the lion's
paw. The only chance was in the hunter coming ; in other
words, that Oalorguen should deliver her from the grim
jailer who guarded the portals to Hunger Tower. But
Calorguen would never dare come up into the lady's pri-
vate apartments, and the general had resolved not to go
forth. She remained in a prostration like slumber, which
General Houlbecq did not interrupt, busy as he was in
writing notes upon his own affairs.
So passed the day, with no return of Vivette and no
appearance of the doctor. The former w^as probably detained
at some sick bed, and the doctor might be out when the
baron's messenger reached his house. The baroness had
begun to wish for his coming, for she had always liked him,
and vaguely hoped that he would help her. But the castle
was a dozen miles from Dinan, and this hypothetical assist-
ance was far. The ill-fated woman waited like Fatima
under Blue Beard's impending scimetar.
But even this lugubrious November day had an end. It
Slain in the Hour of His Vengeance 37
was already closing when the general rang for dinner and
lights to see it by. To be more comfortable, he naturally
went to close the window, but his wife was astonished to see
that he looked intently out instead of so doing. He was
evidently trying to recognise some one perceived in the
grounds. His wife watched him, and wondered whom he
was eyeing so persistently. Scarcely Calorguen, for his
master would manifest no surprise at seeing him there ; and
instead of studying him from his observatory, would have
spoken to him. Who, then? Not the medical gentleman
from Dinan, as he would have come by the regular approach
and not through the woods by dusk.
" What are you about there, you ? " challenged Houlbecq,
in his overbearing voice. "Are you looking for me?" It
was evident that he knew the person. " You will soon know
with whom you have to do." He shook his fist out of the
window. *' Just wait till I get down to you." He turned
and exhibited his face, so inflamed with fury that his wife
iiung herself to one side to avoid him in his rush, but before
he could take a single step a gun was fired, and he fell, head
foremost, almost under her feet. He did not uttei* a groan ;
he did not stir. He had been killed outriorht.
CHAPTEK VI
ANOTHER BARRIER BETWEEN THE LOVERS
It never occurred to the baroness to succour the fallen
man. Instead of stooping to him, she sprang to the open
window. But not a soul was visible in the walk alongside
the house, and none on the lawn. A faint pufF of white
smoke faded in a clump of evergreens. Out of that the shot
had been fired, but the marksman had time enough already
to disappear. He had probably plunged into the small forest
that commenced not far off.
" He will get clear by the breach in the wall," muttered
the baroness between clenched teeth. "He will not be
caught ; I know that. It is Calorguen. He will keep quiet,
and Alain will be saved."
Without troubling about her unfortunate husband, stiffening
in death on the floor, she strode over him to run to the
tapestry, which she pulled up, and then she beat on the
metal plate with all her strength, whilst calling her lover by
name. He did not answer, and yet he must have heard, for
she cried out loudly and the covering did not wholly shut
up the worm-eaten panel. She redoubled her blows and
screamed still more loudly, but she could not hear the
prisoner's answer or any sound whatever.
" He is dead," she muttered ; " and yet that cannot be.
One day's fast kills no man. He does not answer me because
he fails to recognise my voice, and he thinks it is a lure of my
husband's to learn if he be still there. Have I time to deliver
him by tearing off this fatal plate "
But the door on the landing opened, a gush of light
Another Barrier Between the Lovers 39
illumined the room, and a servant who carried the candles
announced " Dr. Avangour."
The baroness let the curtain drop, and leaned back against
it, her arms extended, as if to prevent passage that way ; her
eyes wild, her hair loose, and her mouth parted.
The physician paused on the threshold on seeing the lady's
strange attitude. He had not yet perceived the dead body,
and he wondered if his patient had not suddenly gone mad.
But the footman already had espied the bleeding corpse.
" Great heavens ! " he cried ; " master is dead — killed ! ''
In an instant the scene changed. The physician believed
he understood the cause of the terror so energetically ex-
pressed by the lady's countenance, and he did not lose his
head. With the coolness acquired in the medical profession,
he beckoned the footman to attend to his mistress, whilst he
snatched a candle and went down on a knee to examine the
luckless general. There was no difficulty in learning that
help was vain ; the bullet had gone to the heart.
"The shot was not fired at close range," muttered the
doctor to himself. " Hence it is no suicide. He has been
murdered, it follows — by whom ? "
" There — there ! " cried the baroness in a hoarse voice, as,
hardly able to sustain herself, she nevertheless pointed to the
open window. " The shot came in there."
Dr. Avangour rose quickly, ran across the room and looked
forth ; but, night having fully fallen, he could see nobody.
He returned to the lady of the house and said :
" This is no longer the place for your ladyship, and I must
myself go away."
" No, no ; I shall not leave this room," returned the
baroness, clinging to the hangings.
" In that case, you must allow me to issue certain indis-
pensable orders. A crime has been committed, and justice
must be immediately informed. It is my duty to do so, for
I am responsible both as a medical man and a witness."
To the valet, who was lingering near in consternation he
added :
40 The Condemned Door
" My man is below in the court with my carriage ; just
ask him to drive to the market town, and bring back a
magistrate. Dinan is no great distance, so that the court cau
be assembled to-morrow morning. ^ But it is important that
the first steps of authority should be taken this evening.
And, mind ! not a single creature is to be let enter this place
before the magistrate arrives, which will be in half-an-hour,
if you do not lose any time."
" Nobody, sir, not even Mdlle. de Bourbriac ? " inquired
Francois.
" My sister 1 " repeated the baroness, with the air of oiie
aroused from a dream. " No ! I do not wish she should see
this sorry sight — the shock would be her death. When she
comes back, pray tell her that I am expecting her in her own
apartments."
*' Take care, also, that nobody quits the chateau," took up
the doctor. '* Have the garden gate and the park gate
guarded."
This saojacious doctor thought of everything, and he believed
it his duty to facilitate the authorities' task of finding out
the general's murderer. At the same time he had no
suspicion as to the culprit, though he had been the regular
medical attendant here these ten years, and knew the character
of the widow much better than she supposed he did.
He was a man in his fortieth year, thoroughly learned,
without any pedantry, complaisant, sympathetica! with the
upper classes on account of his good manners, and adored by
the poor, whom he never charged for his visits.
" Now, my lady," said he gently to the bereaved one, *' I
address your good sense. I can well understand the feeling
which retains you near your husband's remains, but I should
fall short of my mission, which is to console the afflicted, if
I were to leave you longer to face this horrible view. It
was not in my power to have spared you it. You may
naturally burn to avenge the death of General Houlbecq, but
you must know that to discover the assassin it is better to let
the authorities see the body as it fell in order to comprehend
Another Barrier- Between the Lovers 41
how the crime was perpetrated. That is why, too, I have
left the window open. But I entreat you, be good enough
to pass into the dressing-room, where I shall follow and
remain until the coming of the police. The magistrate will,
no doubt, have information to request of your ladyship."
For an instant the baroness hesitated to move away from
the door, behind which Alain of Trigavou was probably
awaiting the end of his captivity in poignant anguish. But
she felt that she could not linger here under penalty
of directing attention upon the tapestry which veiled her
secret. Over and above this, the dead body horrified her.
Dr. Avangour had turned it over on the back after his
examination, and the death-glazed eyes seemed to gaze on
her, wide open as they were.
"As you please," she merely answered, leaning on the
physician's arm for him to conduct her to her dressing-room,
which a silken cloth alone separated from the sleeping
chamber. There he led her to a reclining chair, where she
took a seat, and he sat himself beside her.
They were lighted only by the gleam of the candles left on
the mantelpiece of the other apartment, and in their twilight
the general's wife had less fear of her features betraying
the agitation of her spirit.
"Now let us speak of your ladyship," said the doctor.
" You are not well — anything but well — or you would not
have called me over."
" It was not my call, but my husband's, who always
alarmed himself without cause ; and granting that I had so
much as a feverish touch, the woe that has befallen me has
been my cure."
" Nay, you are still feverish, and my attentions will not be
thrown away upon you. As soon as you are better you must
get away from this fatal mansion, which would always recall
. a frightful event."
" Do you believe, then, that anywhere I shall forget it ] "
" Not the scene you have witnessed ; certainly not. But
tiaae, that hea,ls all wounds, also crvlms all griefs. You are
42 The Condemned Door
young, my lady, and you are not alone in the world. There's
your sister.''
" Whom I love with all my soul ! "
" And who returns your affection with interest. Her
affection will console you. But here I am preaching resigna-
tion to you, while I feel that it will be very difficult for me
myself to recover from the blow which this loss has given me.
The man you weep was so kind and true ! Who could have
borne him a grudge ? I never knew he had an enemy."
" He could have had none."
" Then the murder is inexplicable, unless the general is a
victim to some accident."
" That may be," observed the baroness, lifting her head.
" Somebody passing through the grounds, whose gun went
off by chance."
"I saw nothing. The general was writing till he had to
leave off because of the darkness coming. He went to the
window, where he lingered a few moments. He was just
going to come away, when I heard a gun-shot ; he fell a
couple of paces back, then, altogether. I was seated by
the fireplace. I rose, bewildered, but was going to run to
the spot, when you came in."
" The event having so come about, my supposition is not
admissible. I will barely mention it to the police. Besides,
the perpetrator of an accidental homicide would not have
fled. Did you not look out into the grounds 1 "
" Why, no, I never thought of it,*' replied the baroness,
who had no story ready.
"And, again, there's no public thoroughfare in your
property ] "
"It is not impossible to get in over the wall, though. We
had burglars a couple of years ago, while we were in town."
" Yes, I remember that. One of your keepers caught
them ; that honest fellow, Calorguen. But a thief would
have hidden himself sooner than taken a shot at the general.
In any case, I shall advise the searching of the wood. Can
you rely on all your household ? "
Another Barrier Bettveen the Lovers 43
" Yes, all old servants."
" It is no use looking for the assassin in their number.
We can only hope that he will be found elsewhere."
The lady oifered no comments, and the conversation
dropped there. She was too thoughtful to want to prolong
it, and the doctor did not know what to say. A conversation
beside a corpse, with the widow of the murdered man, is
awkward to keep up, and Dr. Avangour had too much tact to
try to sustain it with commonplace consolations. Deeming
it better not to further intrude on the widow's grief, he went
back noiselessly to take a seat in the bedroom, the proximity
of the dead having no terrors for him. There he was within
earshot of Lady Houlbecq in the event of her calling him.
She did not do so, the solitude suiting her best. Her mind
was concentrated on problems, the solution of which affected
her a great deal more than the tragical death of a detested
mate. When could she deliver her lover ? Was it Calorguen
who had slain the general ? Would they accuse him, and
were they to do so and find him guilty, would he answer, to
escape the capital penalty, that he had only obeyed a written
order of his mistress, one that he could produce to save his
neck ? Would he betray her to the guillotine ?
CHAPTEE VII
LADY FLAVIA's TROUBLESOME AVENGER
These darksome reflections were interrupted by the slight
sound of a door cautiously opened. It was the little door at
the other end of the toilette room, where, on turning her
head, the baroness saw her sister, coming in on tiptoe.
" What have you come for here ? " she demanded, throwing
herself across her path.
" I knew that I should find you here. For some unknown
reason to me, Francois would not let me enter directly, so I
pretended to go up to my rooms, but I slipped down by the
side passage. What has happened here ? " As no reply came
Vivette pursued : " I am so late, because I did not wish to
leave Mother Calorguen by herself. Her son, for whom she
was waiting, never came till close on live o'clock."
" 'Twus he !" thought the baroness, with a shiver, " and it
will come out that he only got home a quarter of an hour
after the murder — just the time to enable him to go from here
to his mother's."
Then she started ; she hoped the doctor had not heard the
communication of her sister.
Stupefied at this cold reception, Yivette stood mute and
motionless.
"Away ! " ejaculated Lady Houlbecq. " Up to your rooms
and don't go thence till I come to you."
" Then you do not want me here 1 " ventured the young
lady timidly.
" No, no, you are really in the way. Be gone, dear 1"
" And yet this morning you said — I — I thought you did, at
Lady Flavians Troublesome Avenger 45
least — that the man you wished to save had got safely
away."
If the girl had continued thus to question her elder, all
was over with the secret which the latter had so much interest
in concealing from the physician, who might well be over-
hearing. The baroness could no longer contain herself. She
literally fell upon poor Vivette, put her hand on her mouth
to silence her, and fairly bundled her out of the room.
Yivette was so frightened as to allow it to be done. As soon
as she was gone, Flavia shot the bolt and went back to the
reclining chair, where Dr. Avangour had last seen her, and
where he found her again as now he raised the door- way
curtain.
"Eh !" said he softly, *'did I not recognise the voice of
your sister ? You did quite right to send her away without
mentioning the catastrophe, which she will learn soon enough.
I am glad, too, that the footman has not told her, and hence
I conclude that he will strictly carry out the orders which I
gave him. Thus the police will find all the people under this
roof who were here when the shot was fired. A very impor-
tant matter, for they must all be examined."
Flavia breathed freely again. The doctor could not have
heard the unlucky phrase of Vivette alluding to the prisoner
in the tower, and so she lioped that there would arise no
question concerning him. The rest was nothing, or, at least,
she would have time to prepare to meet the outburst.
Calorguen would only be accused after a rather long inquiry,
and there would be lulls and breaks in its course. She calcu-
lated that her lover might live two or three days without
nourishment, while, on the morrow, perhaps, she might grasp
some moment in which to liberate him, when left to herself.
She knew where to find tools to tear out the nails in the sheet
of metal, and the work would not take over a quarter of an
hour. Once delivered, Alain could take refuge in the upper
rooms of the castle, and await nightfall for flight. She did
not fear that suspicion would fall on him, as he never was
seen near the place.
46 The Condemned Door
She now forecast the joy of meeting him in the capital,
where he would go by way of La Hunaudaie, so as to make it
seem that he went straight from his farm to the railway. In
Paris, she would be married to him after the ten months'
widowhood imposed on her by the law, and he would never know
that she had commanded the murder. Calorguen would not
speak, or if he did, none would believe him. A line on a
loose leaf was not much of a proof, and, anyhow, she would
deny her writing.
In short, the baroness dreamed of happiness as the reward
of crime, and, if heaven did not inte rvene, her odious dream
seemed in course of realisation. She felt no remorse, shed
not one tear for the veteran who lay near her with a coward's
bullet in his war-worn breast, and took no heed of the fate
awaiting the infatuated keeper whom she had urged to
murder. She forgot everything, even to the will which her
husband had written under her eyes, though maybe it
disinherited her.
Dr. Avangour had returned to the death chamber after his
brief looking in at the other. He did not move, but she
heard him cough, for he had carried to such an extreme the
respect for police requirements as to leave the window open,
and he had caught a chill. Hence he was more impatient
even than Lady Houlbecq for the officer of justice, who did
not come for three-quarters of an hour. That official had
jumped up from dinner, and the doctor's horse went at a good
pace, but the doctor was terribly impatient, and each minute
was a month to him. But to Lady Flavia the delay seemed
short as she turned over in her mind the problem of saving
her lover and getting rid of her avenger.
CHAPTEE VIII
THE NEST IS EMPTY AND THE BIRD FLOWN
The rustic magistrate was a character, born on the spot and
well-known in the district. He had been a country lawyer,
and all the good points of magisterial dignity were his,
namely, straightforward judgment, sharp wit, and perfect
honour and impartiality. He exhibited no pride of office,
and paraded no preconceived opinions ; he was plain in
manner, naturally conciliatory, but firm when firmness was
requisite ; he fulfilled his functions in a free and easy way,
and settled more cases out of court than in it. A married
man and a bondholder, these two advantages won him his
superiors' consideration, and he obtained as much afi'ection
from his subordinates.
Personally, Justice Miniac was a regular Breton for brevity
and compactness of frame, his broad face closely shaven, his
dress rather negligent. This forbidding aspect was soon seen
to be tempered by a kindly air.
From long service, he had known everybody at the castle,
servants and masters. Of course, he knew Dr. Avangour
too, and he had a high opinion of him. He had picked up
the main facts before he came into the room, and after some
complimentary explanations, he needed only the few pro-
fessional words from the doctor, whicli made the situation
clear.
He asked also after the baroness, and expressed astonish-
ment that she should have remained so near in the dressing-
room, and desired to see her. She heard the wish and pre-
sented herself, but he would not hear of her re-entering the
48 The Condemned Door
death chamber. After desiring her to resume her place in
the easy chair he opened an interview which began with con-
dolence, but necessarily became an interrogation, though a
kindly one, which could not alarm the lady. She was asked
if she suspected any one, but she knew of none. One after
another all the household were named, Calorguen included,
though he slept out of the castle, but, finally, the justice con-
cluded that search must be made elsewhere.
" I compassionate your ladyship's sorrow too much to pro-
long this conversation," he said with sincere emotion. " It
was indispensablCj'^but I have no more to ask now. I sent a
messenger to Dinan, so that the public prosecutor will pro-
bably arrive this night. To-morrow you shall see him. But
I entreat you to take some rest. It is quite useless for you
to be present at the investigation of your servants on the
scene of the crime whilst awaiting the government official."
" Act as you please, sir. But my mind is made up on my
remaining here," replied Lady Houlbecq, firmly. *' Besides
you may have need of me to verify or rectify the evidence
you are going to collect, and I do not suppose you see any in-
convenience in my hearing it."
"None at all, my lady," the good-natured justice said.
" You are right, too ; perhaps I may want to call in your
corroboration. Still, I shall consult you in this room, so as
to spare you that frightful sight."
" I should find the courage to support something worse, if
needs be, to help you to discover my husband's assassin."
'* Oh, we shall find him, my lady ! " returned the other. *' I
can promise you that the general's death will be avenged. If
the villain who has done the deed escapes justice, mark me !
I will give up my office."
After this somewhat risky pledge, he bowed to Lady
Houlbecq, and went to rejoin the doctor in the further
room.
"The medical report seems to me superfluous," he re-
marked. " You need not make the autopsy till to-morrow."
"It will not teach us anything I do not know," returned
The Nest la EniiAy and the Bird Floion 49
Dr. Avangour. " The shot was fired from below, the bullet
striking the general behind between the fifth and sixth ribs
and passing through the heart."
" For the present, I have but to have the inmates of the
castle brought before me. To begin with, there is my lady
and her sister."
" The latter just came in, as her sister will tell you, and has
gone up to her rooms. She was absent when the deed was
committed, and I believe she is still ignorant of the mis-
fortune which has befallen her sister."
" Then we had better question her to-morrow. To-night,
the servants. As I came along I gave rran9ois the order to
summon them into the ante-chamber."
He had no sooner opened the door than the pro':^s<?ion
filed in. As the justice had not brought his secretary with
him, the doctor took down the depositions ; meanwhile, the
baroness, unseen in the toilette chamber, did not lose a word
The servants, led by the head footman, successively told all
they knew ; in other words, very little, indeed. The general
had returned from hunting after midnight. He had found
his wife quite ill. He had taken up his watch-post beside
her all the day long. Every one manifested the same horror
at view of their master's remains, and the waiting maid,
Rose, almost fell in a faint.
As their mistress heard more and more, the greater she
was encouraged. She thought to herself — they know nothing,
and the government ofiicer from the county town will not do
much upon so little. One day will suffice for the judicial
proceedings, and when all these "bigwigs" go, she could
deliver Alain. Vivette alone could suspect what had
happened. And very wrong was she to ask her to help in
the escape of somebody luckily not named. However,
Vivette would hold her peace.
" Have I seen all the household 1 " inquired the justice of
Francois, whom he had appointed usher for the witnesses.
" All the household, your worship, yes," answered the valet.
** The two keepers sleep out But there are those plumbers
50 The Condemned Door
who were repairing the roof when his lordship called them
into my lady's apartments to seal up a door. They were still
on the roof when the gunshot rang out, and wanted to run
in, but I stopped them. They are at hand."
" Let them come in."
They came in, dressed for work, and carrying their bags of
tools like workmen whose job was over, and who were going
home. They related that from the roof they heard the firearm,
but, though they looked down into the wood, they had seen
nobody. This quieted the baroness, who had trembled when
they began speaking.
" Where is the door which you closed up by order of
General Houlbecq ? " inquired the justice, albeit attaching no
great weight to a supplementary question.
" That's the one," answered one of the plumbers, pulling up
the tapestry just behind him.
The baroness sprang up and came forward three steps.
** That's no door that you are showing," responded the
examiner.
" There's one behind the sheet we were ordered to put up
by the general, to keep the draught from coming through the
cracks."
In the silence that followed, Flavia's heart thumped as if
to deafen her. The justice questioned the doctor with a
glance, and received a nod of approval.
" Just let's have that down, so we can see whither it leads,"
ordered he.
The baroness entered the death chamber. The workmen
were getting ready to work, and, eyeing them, the legal and
the medical gentlemen did not perceive her, and all the
domestics were gone save FranQois. His back was turned
toward her.
" Allow me, your worship, it's not worth the trouble to
undo the good work. That door opens into the old tower,
where nobody goes and whence nobody could come out,
as it is only a hollow, surrounded by thick walls on all
sides."
The Nest is Emjjty and the Bird Flown 51
" Never mind. Do as you were bid," commanded Miniac.
" I want to see everything."
One after another the nails came out under the pincers of
the pair of vigorous workmen. In another instant the plate
would be ripped off, and Flavia felt sure that her reputation
would be gone.
In the tower would be found Alain of Trigavou. There
would be no difficulty in gaessiog that, surprised in my
lady's apartments, he had fled thither to elude the husband,
and that the husband, knowing where he was, had had him
walled up therein. All the country would say he was her
paramour. All this she foresaw, and yet she did not despair,
for Alain would still be alive and hers !
" Ah, my reputation gone — but who cares ] " she said to
herself, cheered by her impudence. " At all events, they
cannot accuse him of having killed my husband."
The plate was off. The justice opened the door, and led
the doctor through, lit by the candle in Francois's hand.
Behold the culminating moment !
The baroness expected to see Trigavou, pistol in hand, and
rushed forward to prevent him committing the additional
manslaughter which would embitter the situation even more.
" You're right," said Miniac, "there's nobody here."
The lady had penetrated behind them, and also seen that
the hiding-place was vacant.
What had become of Alain of Trigavou ?
Perchance she believed that the fiend had flown away with
her guilty accomplice, for she fainted away in the arms of Dr.
Avangour.
CHAPTER IX
WHAT UNKNOWN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS ?
Three days have gone by.
The preliminary inquiry is over, the one opened im-
mediately after the discovery of a crime, and resulting most
often in a mere collection of suspicions. The attorney-general,
assisted by the magistrate and by the examining judge, had
been busy for four- and -twenty hours without issuing any
warrant of arrest. Thirty witnesses had been examined,
including Lady Houlbecq and her sister.
The former, overwhelmed by the tragic event which had
widowed her, had added nothing to her previous statement,
and the interrogators, respecting her sorrow, had not harassed
her at length. She kept her bed in her sister's room. The
latter, not having witnessed the murder, indeed only know-
ing it by hearsay, had given no information worth record,
piivticularly as she had taken care not to tell the only thing
she knew.
There was no question of the old tower as a hiding place.
The justice and the doctor had attributed Lady Houlbecq's
swoon to fatigue and emotion. They still believed that the
general had the metal plate put up to exclude the draughts.
As for the man-slayer, none knew him, and suspicions
even fell upon no one. The final impression was that the
deed had been committed by some poacher, avenging himself
for complaints filed against him by the general, who was
pitiless against transgressors upon his manor. This poacher
was actively sought for, but was not to be found. And as
the hunt was likely to be a long one, even if successful, the
What Vnlcnoivn Emmy has Done This ? 53
permission to bury the deceased was accorded. The surgical
examination had furnished no enlightenment. The bullet
that caused death was extracted. It was one fitting
almost any fowling-piece, and consequently but a vague
" pointer."
It was decided that the general should be temporarily laid
to rest in the village burial-ground, for exhumation hereafter
and transportation to Paris, where he had a family vault in
P^re-la-Chaise Cemetery. His widow did not oppose this
arrangement, and the ceremony was to be carried out in that
manner.
At the grave were assembled all the domestics and
tenantry. The doctor and the justice were there also as
genuine mourners. All the neighbours, too — squires, gentry,
and tradesmen — deemed it their duty to accompany to his
last home their hardy hunting companion and hospitable
landlord.
Old Commander Jugon, a retired naval officer, did not fail
to come to the obsequies of the friend whom he had received
on St. Hubert's Day in his place at Lanvollon, which he had
quitted in the evening to return home, with no suspicion he
was hasting to his doom.
After a short and simple burial ceremony, the party left
the graveyard, some taking their departure deeply impressed,
others — more particularly acquaintances of the general —
gathering on the little church green to exchange reflections
and conjectures, as usually comes to pass, after an unforeseen
loss. Each commented after his own fashion. The hunting
set unanimously accused the wicked league of poachers.
Commander Jugon was less positive. He reminded his guests
that on St. Hubert's Night General Houlbecq, after feasting
jovially, had suddenly resolved to return that same evening
to Trigavou, though engaged to go out hunting on the
morrow. The naval officer was of the opinion that his friend
of the other branch of the service had received, by an
unknown hand, and at an unknown moment, some note
recalling him home, which note could only have been sent
54 The Condemned Door
liim by an accomplice of the murderer, who thought to decoy
him before his gun.
Squire Miniac pointed out that the supposititious enemy of
the general — one who had no enemies — would not have waited
till the ensuing night to shoot him, when it would have been
so much more easy to waylay him on the road from Lanvollon
to Trigavou, on the dark rainy night. Nobody disputed this
logic.
The corporal of the gendarmes, who had drawn near,
declared that he was the man to lay the guilty one by the
heels with his own hands, to which Squire Miniac, knowing
him to be vain and aspiring, answered him with a little
sarcasm that such an arrest would be worth a step to whoever
made it. The corporal dared not make more of it, but it
was clear from his manner that he meant to hurry on a
search on his own account.
The groups of mourners finally dispersed, the gentry
stepping into their carriages to be driven homewards, the
rustics footing it towards the neighbouring hamlets, and the
servants using the short cut through the woods to the
castle.
Lingering behind, Pierre Calorguen saluted the doctor and
the justice as he passed them by, when both remarked a
changed expression on the relaxed features of his no longer
bluff face. He was controlling himself, but it was plain he
had been violently affected.
"There's one who loved his master," observed Squire
Miniac, watching him. '• He owed everything to him, and
carried gratitude to fanaticism. If the scoundrel who slew
his old colonel was to fall into his grip, he would execute
justice himself, I'll be bound."
"So he would," agreed Dr. Avangour, "an honest blade,
and I believe he was most devoted to Genera! Houlbecq. At
the same time "
"Goon. What?"
" I am going to startle you. At the same time I fancy he
is in love with the baroness. * He never told his love,' and
What Unknown Enemy has Done This ? 55
all that, of course, and my lady never suspects the passion
she inspires."
" What an idea ! How came you to entertain it 1 "
" I have caught him two or three times in contemplation
under my lady's windows, and he sneaked away like a thief
when he found himself under observation. I have also
noticed that he eyes her peculiarly when he passes near her."
" The deuce you have ! If this be so one might believe
that jealousy had urged him to remove the husband ; but I
rather think, dear doctor, that this unlikely love has never
existed out of your brain. I shall take care, too, not to
repeat to the Investigatory Judge your appreciation of the
hidden feelings of our poor Calorguen"
" Don't be alarmed, dear friend, for I would not confide it
to anybody but you, for while T believe that the baroness's
charms have disturbed his wits, I also believe him incapable
of so dastardly a crime. A soldier does not commit murder,
and this man bravely served his country before he entered
the general's service. As a proof that I do not doubt his
innocence, I am going to his house even now to see his old
paralysed mother, who sent for me. Their little house is on
the castle road, where I left my chaise. I shall profit by the
chance. Come along 1 "
" I cannot do that. This is my day for hearing cases, and
I have no more time to spare, for I came afoot."
" So keep well till we meet again, squire. One of these
days I shall give you a call."
CHAPTER X
LADY FLAVIA GOES A-\ISITING
The two friends departed with a hearty shake of the hand.
Squire Miniac little dreamed that he would not hold his
court because of a meeting he nowise anticipated, and Dr.
Avangour still less expected the incidents going to disorder
the exercise of his profession.
The good doctor was honest in asserting that he did not
suspect the keeper, and his visit to Mother Calorguen's was
truly to see how she was with her paralysis, and not at all to
question her upon her son's sayings and doings.
This interesting patient, unlike her neighbours, did not
dwell in a dirty, incommodious, ill-ventilated hovel. On
taking possession of the castle, the general had a good cot-
tage built for his favourite gamekeeper, out of brick and
stone in a pretty orchard, and there he had installed the
Calorguens, only a few musket shots from his park. They
lived there happier than many of the well-to-do, and their
neighbours envied their lot.
The doctor called so often on the old woman that he per-
fectly well knew the road up to the cottage, so surrounded
by trees as not to be visible from afar. He went straight
up to the garden and was going to push open the gate, when
he perceived a woman, all in black, leaning against a tree
just outside the orchard. As he came down against the
wind she did not hear him, and did not turn round. She
seemed to be waiting for somebody.
" It's astonishing how much she resembles Lady Houlbecq
away off,'' thought Dr. Avangour. " But it cannot be she —
Lady Flavia goes a-visUing 61
what could bring her here ] Besides, I left her in her sister's
room, abed."
On account of this reasoning, the doctor passed on without
stopping to enlighten a mystery which did not interest him.
He was in haste, the gate was open and he speedily reached
the cottage, where he entered without knocking. He knew
all the arrangements, and that he should find his patient on
the ground floor.
There she was, indeed, dozing in a huge straw-bottomed
armchair, before a fire of roots which a lad of twelve, sitting
on a stool, was trimming and feeding. The dame did not
awaken, but the urchin jumped on perceiving Dr. Avangouro
who paused to gaze on the scene of still life.
In the depth of the room was the bed, a four poster, closed
in with shutters, not curtains, at the risk of smothering the
sleeper. They were open at present, so there was a view of
the green spread, the needle worked pillow on the bolster — a
present from Vivette — and a fine ivory crucifix hanging on
the wall, enframed in blessed boxwood. The floor, firedogs,
and old lockers shone with cleanliness. On the high shelves
old crockery was piled amid pewter mugs and platters gleam-
ing like silver.
Everything spoke of easy competence in the large room,
fully lighted, where the dame's supper was laid near the bed-
side, and the son's little arsenal was in a rack over the mantel-
shelf — his double-barrelled fowling-piece, his heavy rifle for
wolf and boar, his revolver and hunting sword and the cavalry
sword with which he had charged at the battle of Gravelotte.
Pierre and the child slept in the garret, but Pierre was
more often out than in, and the youngster seldom quitted the
paralytic.
He was the son of a canteen keeper and an artillery cor-
poral killed at Sedan. The mother was a Breton woman,
dying after the Franco-Prussian war on her return home,
and Calorguen had housed the orphan, from the father having
been his comrade.
He was a bewitching little fellow, with a pink complexion
5S The Condemned Door
and fair, curly hair, but he knew next to nothing. The
schoolmaster had given him up. He was a stick-in-the-mud,
said the louts, to express that his intelligence had stopped at
a point beyond which it 'ceased to rise. But this lack of wit
was redeemed by his goodness. He adored the mother and
her son, devoted himself to them like a dog, and did his
little utmost to make himself useful, nursing the invalid like
a trained nurse, cultivating the garden and keeping the house
in order.
He was created taciturn, and only spoke when pressed..
Knowing him ever so long, the doctor conceived that his
intellect would arouse some of these fine days at the shock
of an unexpected event which would dash light and passion
into the dormant brain.
'' Good morning, Yvon," he said, patting his cheek.
The sonorous voice startled the palsied crone into opening
her eyes and sitting up.
" What, is that our good gentleman ? " she exclaimed.
'' The Lord bless you for coming into our house, though at a
mournful time. Our poor master "
" Yes, mother, I am just back from seeing him laid where
we must all go one day, sooner or later "
" For my part, would it were to-morrow ! "
" Tut, tut ; you will see us all under ! Yet I can well
understand your grief at losing a good master. But the lady
up at the great house is not dead, and she will not cast off
either you or your son."
The old woman shook her head as the only answer.
" It looks as if you did not place much faith in her, in
which you are wrong. She will take care of you. But let
us examine your right side," went on the doctor, feeling the
right arm of the palsied woman. " Does it pain you when I
touch it?"
" Not much, my kind sir. But I don't believe I shall be
able to move it again. Only to think that I have not been
to church these seven long months. Oh, dear ! "
** You can go to the midnight mass next Christmas eve.
Lady Flavla goes a-visiting 59
But you'll have to keep ou with the rubbing I recommended
the last time, and, above all, avoid escitement. Happily, in
the life you lead, you are shielded from anything event-
ful"
" Oh, no ; I had shock enough day before yesterday, when
Pierre told me that master was dead, and how dreadfully
killed, too, good Mary mother. Oh, the vile 'un who killed
him will go straight to the hot place, for there's no mercy for
the likes o' he ! "
" He will first have to pass through a court of justice,"
remarked the doctor, smiling. " And so far the magistrates
have not set about the right way to get him there."
*' Only to think that Pierre might have arrested him, God
willing ! He was going the round in the baron's wood, and
might just as w^ell have been on the spot. But he went
towards the village, and never heard any gunshot up to his
coming home. The kind young lady was here, and she will
tell you the same."
'' She has told me so. But how can we help fatality ?
Where is your son, by the way 1 I saw him at the burial,
and thought he would have been home before me."
" Don't know," murmured the old woman dolefully. " He's
been another sort these last six months. Before that, when
he was not on duty, he never left me ; now I only see him at
dark, and he does not always come home then."
" Pooh 1 he's fallen in love ! "
" Nay, I don't believe that. Pierre would never go sweet-
hearting with a girl of his own station, and yet he could have
married very well in that way. There was the daughter of
the farmer of the Morandais, who made eyes at him, and the
father would not have said him nay. But Pierre would not
hear of it, he aims higher."
Dr. Avangour made no remark. He thought to himself —
" I guessed aright. It is Lady Houlbecq he aims at. And
I begin to wonder if he did not also aim at her husband too."
He could not help smiling at the villainous pun which he
would have taken the greatest care not to speak out.
60 The Condemned Door
" Will you let me question him on this point when I see
him ? " he inquired.
" I would like you to do it, kind sir, and if you could cure
him of the bee in his bonnet, I should be more thankful
to you than if you set me on my legs again."
Little Yvon had settled down on his stool again, and took
no part in the talk. The doctor, having no wish to prolong
it, was preparing to take his leave. He was sitting near the
window, and facing it. On lifting hi« eyes, he spied through
the glass a black form, which flitted past in an instant.
He remembered the woman he had seen in the copse, and in
one leap reached the lattice, which he threw open quickly.
The figure had no time to get away. It turned at the sound,
and this time he clearly recognised the baroness, although
she was veiled to the chin.
" Your ladyship here ! " he ejaculated. " What rashness ! "
CHAPTEE XI
THE SERVANT WHO DARED TO LOVE HIS LADY
The reproach which Dr. Avangour addressed to Lady
Houlbecq might be understood in two ways, but the lady
took it in the better sense, and answered without apparent
embarrassment —
" Yes, I was wrong to leave my bed and come out against
your prohibition. But I could not stay quiet any longer — I
needed the open air, and the idea seized me to go and see my
poor old charge once more. I was about going in when I
caught sight of you, but I did not recognise you, because
your head was lowered "
" And then you ran away from fear of meeting a stranger.
But now that you know who it is, and as soon as you are
rested, for as much as you ought not to remain outdoors, you
will allow me to offer you my arm as far as the castle.
You must not overtask yourself, says the physician, and I
rely on your obeying him."
The baroness put the best face on the matter that she
could, for she did anything but bless Dr. Avangour, whom
she had not expected to find there, not having seen him pass
as she was waiting for Pierre Calorguen in the copse. She
wanted to have an explanation with Pierre, deeming him
guilty, and hoping to get back the note which she had thrown
him in her imprudence. She, furthermore, hoped that he
would consent to quit France, and accept a large sum of
money which she brought to aid his flight.
She knew his nature very shallowly, and reasoned to the
injury of her own interest, for the interview she sought
C2 The Condemned Door.
might be her ruin. But she was frenzied with impatience.
The disappearance of the Count of Trigavoa had perplexed
her. What could have become of him 'I How had he been
able to get out of the town ? Seals having been put on the
whole sviite of apartments, she had no way to enter and make
sure that the hiding-place had no issue. Yet there must
have been one, since Alain was no longer there — a trap-door,
a sliding stone, some co vered way out.
Alain, reared in the castle, would verv likely know of this
passage, yet he would seem to have perished in it, for there
were no signs of life given by him since the fatal night when
Ihe general had surprised the lovers. The farmer at La
Hunaudaie, to whom a footman had taken a letter of invita-
tion to the obsequies, had said that his master had gone to
Paris. From this reply Lady Houlbecq concluded that this
man; a devoted servant and the sole contidant in his master's
intrigue, did not know where he was. She would have liked
to see him, but durst not go to the farm for fear of being
noticed. She meant to wait till the farmer came to her
place on some pretext or other, when she might manage to
see him. Meanwhile, to pacify the impatience devouring
her, she determined to hunt up Calorguen.
She felt that she must not refuse Dr. Avangour's invita-
tion, and, passfng around from the window to the door, she
entered the cottage, though sorely regretting the unlucky
idea of leaving her shelter behind the large tree to learn
whether the man she watched for had not arrived before
her.
The paralyzed woman had recognized the baroness's voice,
and was not astonished to see her, but she received her coldly.
Ap])arently she had divined her son's ill-omened attachment
to the high lady. The doctor had the same belief, and he
clearly remarked how the mother's reception embarrassed
Lady Houlbecq. The two women exchanged a few insigni-
ficant phrases. The lady asked after the old woman's health,
who replied lamenting the general's death, and the conversa-
tion was ending there when ( -alorguen abruptly dashed in.
The Servant lohc Dared to Love his Lady 63
He lost his colour on perceiving his master's widow. After
saluting her; he went to embrace his mother.
" What has kept you, my lad 1 " inquired Dr. Avangour.
" You started from the village before me, and yet 1 have
been here some twenty minutes."
" I went up to the castle," was t}ie gamekeeper's answer.
'' The young lady had my promise to bear her news of how
mother was getting on."
" My sister did not know that I was coming over," said the
baroness, quickly. "I have not seen her this morning."
Calorguen was hushed, and the doctor was struck by his
bearing, for he observed him. He avoided looking at the
general's widow, and when by chance their eyes did cross^,
his features expressed an emotion hard to account for. Was
it love under constraint ? Was it fear which electrified his
features? The doctor was inclined to the former opinion.
Calorguen had nothing to fear from the baroness, yet he had
lost countenance when he came face to face with her. But
the doctor did not, in the least degree, forecast the discourse
suddenly begun by this agitated worshipper.
" My lady," said he, ^' I would much like a word with you
in private."
" With me ? " exclaimed the stupefied dame.
" Yes, my lady. It is downright audacity on my part, but
your kindness emboldens me. You have taken the trouble
to come to see my mother, and as I happen to meet you under
our roof, pray do not refuse to hear me."
** Why not here ? " faltered Lady Houlbecq, more and more
disquieted.
" Because what I have to say concerns your ladyship alone
When you learn the nature of the matter, you will approve
my not speaking before my mother, and I hope that Dr.
Avangour will overlook my acting as I do."
*' Don't speak of it, my lad. If you have a secret you
have a right to confide it to none but my lady."
"Then you will allow my hearing our honest Calorguen ?"
inquired she.
64 The Condemned Door
" I should think I would, and I'll even be gomg, not to be
in your way."
*' No, no, stay, I beg. I will just step out with him into
the orchard."
" As you please, my dear lady. I will wait here till you
get through."
The baroness looked quite at her ease now, although she
feared he was going to acknowledge that he had killed her
husband, and to claim the reward of the deed. Her fate was
in the balance.
" Well, be it so," she thought. *' I'd rather settle it at
once."
So she went forth, resolved to face this interview, so
desired yet so dreaded.
The keeper's cottage stood lonely in the very middle of the
orchard, surrounded by thickset hedges and accessible by two
gates, the north for the village, the south for the castle. By
the former had come the doctor, the baroness by the latter,
and, to await Calorguen, she had taken her previous road till
she had quitted her post of observation in order to approach
the window.
She stopped under an apple tree midway betwixt the gate
and the dwelling. She had regained her self-command, and
was quite ready to cope with the man who could break or
make her with a single word.
He had followed her closely and took off his cap, halting.
" I have consented to hearing you," she said in a tone of
haughty assurance belied by her pallor. "What is your wish?"
" I thought you guessed it," replied Calorguen, not being
daunted by a reception probably anticipated.
" Not in the least, unless you have taken as serious what
happened in the grounds a few hours before my husband's
death."
" I might easily believe you were jesting with me if I did
not know what went on in the great house."
" And what do you know ? " iuquired Lady Houlbecq,
quickly*
The Servant tvho Dared to Love his Lady 65
" That the general was standing guard over you in your
rooms."
" Nothing more ? "
" No more. Still I thought that you had a violent quarrel
with him, and that, giving way to angry impulse "
"Who has so well informed you ? "
"No one in particular, but I gather it from all. Your
servants do not hold anything back from me, and I am often
up at the house. They were full of the general's flying home
at midnight, and his strange orders."
" And from their tattle you jumped straight to the con-
clusion that I commanded you to make away with my
husband'? All we need now is your assurance that your
killing him was upon that order."
" Ha ! do you believe that 'twas I who killed him ] " cried
Calorguen abruptly, and staring her in the face.
" I believe you will be accused of it."
" And you fear, if that be done, that I will show the slip
of paper you tossed out of the window to me ? "
"Tossed ? I let it fall without intention — without the mean-
ing you attribute to it, and without its being meant for you."
" For whom else, and what was it about 1 "
" How is that your concern ? Do I have to account to
you ? It is your place to answer me. Come ; you picked
up that paper, read it, and ran away with it. I could not
call you back, but I have the right to ask you what you have
done with it."
u TV'ere I to say I burnt it, you would say I lied."
" That I should ; and I demand its return."
" So you think me the man to take advantage of such a
thing against you ? Still I ought not to be amazed at your
haviug such a poor opinion of me, when you really suspect
me of having slain my older benefactor, my old ofiicer, for
whom I would gladly have laid down my life."
'' I do not suspect you, and I should defend you against them
that did say so much, but still return me that paper at once.
Come, come, you have it with you "
66 The Condemned Door
" 'Deed, I've not."
" Then you have thought to keep it as a safeguard in case
of anything untoward ? You must be the murderer, for an
innocent man would not have taken this precaution."
" Your ladyship is wrong. The paper is in safety, and
though you had never asked it back, not a soul should see
it. I am ready to restore it to your ladyship."
* * When, when ? " asked the baroness eagerly.
" This evening — shortly — as soon as Dr. Avangour has
gone and we can come together again "
" Then you have it in your cottage, intrusted to your
mother ? "
" Oh, not to my mother, who might have read it. But it's
no odds where it is, so long as I promise it to you.^'
The widow's eyes beamed with delight. The parley of
which she had been so afraid turned to her advantage.
Calorguen, after having all but extorted it, let himself be
questioned like a prisoner. It was she who attacked and he
who stood on the defensive. The battle was won, since he
offered to laydown his weapon in the writing which gave
him a hold on her. Success surpassing her expectation, she
felt she ought to be contented.
*''Tis well," she said gently, as though touched by the
sacrifice. " Come into the grounds about nine o'clock this
evening, where I shall await you near the gate. After I have
that paper I shall be under obligation to you. Meanwhile
return to your mother, and tell the doctor to excuse me, as I
can find my way home alone. Should he question you, tell
him — tell him — anything that comes into your head."
Calorguen had not come to such a conclusion, and he did
not budge. The baroness believed she understood his
dallying.
" But what are you going to do ? " she resumed. " I hate
this place and shall leave it for ever. I shall sell the castle,
which would always revive frightful memories. You ought
to have no more desire than I to stay in Brittany, and if you
go to another country, or abroad, which is much bettei, you
The Servant who Dared to Love his Lady 67
will need money to keep yourself and your mother. Kely
on my providing, and, as an earnest, pray take this."
She drew from her bosom a packet of bank notes, and held
them out to the keeper, who went white with wrath.
" So you do undervalue me ? You surely believe that I
asked this hearing to sell you the paper which you are to
have free this evening ? "
"Why else would you not speak out with no bystanders ?"
imprudently retorted Lady Houlbecq.
"Because I wanted to tell you before I went far away that
I loved you, and love you still. You know it, though, or you
would never have incited me to infamous crime by a written
word. Yes, I am going hence — leaving my native land and
my mother that I may lessen the torture I undergo in adoring
you, but 1 cannot accept alms from you, and I forbid your
insulting with money the servant who presumes to love you,
to worship you, and who would give his life to prove the
greatness of the love he bears to Lady Flavia ! "
CHAPTER XII
THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE AVENGER
** You love me ! " repeated the baroness disdainfully.
" Don't pretend to be unaware of it, lady. Yes, I do love
you, hopelessly — I am not speaking of the social gulf between
— but I hope nothing, because you have your chosen "
^' That's not true ! " exclaimed Lady Houlbecq.
" Do you want me to name him ? Shall I tell you the very
road he took to enter your rooms — how your husband came
upon him by surprise and what he did 1 "
" Wretch ! 'twas you betrayed him."
"No — I only longed to kill him. But he would have
refused to fight a duel with a gamekeeper, and none but
cowards assassinate or betray. Heaven took the punishment in
its own hands, and he has died dreadfully — and you let him
die because you were afraid of your husband ! "
" How do you know he is dead ? "
" I am sure of it. The roofers told me of the job the
general set them upon. No more than your servants did
they wot of the reason for sealing up that door, and they will
never know, but I do ! I know all about the burrow where
your husband had your paramour built in, having been all
over it, from top to bottom, when the castle was under repair,
and I'll answer for it that nobody could get out of it — a living
tomb."
" But he has, though ! "
" Do you dream so ? Perhaps you will say that the
magistrate found nobody when the plate was removed ?
You no doubt imagine that the prisoner escaped. Escaped 1
The Footsteps of the Avenger 69
Good Lord, yes ; but do you know where he escaped to ? He
tried to get awaj^, and thought himself sure to succeed, for
he knew of a way. He pulJed out a stone which marked th^
opening of a well hole in the hollow of the wall — a well
running right down to the ground level. It used to have an
outlet at the tower foot, but five years ago that was blocked
up . He slipped down into the narrow shaft and found no
hole. Most likely he tried to climb up again, but he had no
strength for that, and so he lies there — smothered."
'* Oh, how horrible ! " uttered the hearer in dismay.
" He is dead, I tell you ; but not, believe me, because I
hope to replace him. By all that's holy, I vow to you that
after you get your letter you will never more hear of me.
I'll take my oath, too, that it was not I who warned your
husband. If I knew who was the tell-tale I would name
him to you, for it is certainly he who murdered the general.
My personal interest would be in handing him over to the
police, since I may get into a scrape on accusation. But you
would be entangled, too, and though I should be brought to
the steps of the scaffold, I would never breathe a word of
what I know. There's nothing further to add. To-night, in
the grounds, we'll see one another for the last time. Forget
me ! as I shall try to forget your ladyship."
" Dead, dead ! " murmured Lady Houlbecq distractedly.
" If you doubt, go see the base of the tower, the new
masonry stopping up the air-hole, time not having blackened
it like the other stones. AVere you to venture to remove
them you would find nothing but a dead man. But I advise
you to touch nothing, if you hold to hiding the tragedy
played in your apartments that November night. No one
will ever know it, save the new buyer of the castle, if he
should demolish the tower, and that's not likely."
This time the baroness bent her head under the vengefu^
speech of the man whom she had tried to make an accomplice,
and who denied the crime with an energy and an accent of
sincerity which seemed to testify to his innocence . She had
lost her lover, and she hung on the discretion of Calorguen,
70 The CoJidemned Door
who might change his mind, fail to keep the nocturnal tryst,
and treasure the note which placed her at his mercy. She
could not cheer herself, though she urged that no one had
yet thought to accuse either her or him, and that he could not
denounce her without ruining himself. Alain of Trigavou
was no longer present to defend her or counsel her, and she
tremblingly measured the depth into which a criminal passion
had impelled her. What was to become of her, alone in the
world with her young sister, whom she shunned since the
catastrophe in order to avoid her unanswerable questions 1
Perhaps she suspected the truth.
And now she knew that she would never see again this
lover who had died uncomplaining for her sake. Heaven
had set its hand against them, and she had no right to
murmur, so merited was the judgment. It bade her flee
from this ill-omened castle for that obscurity in Paris which
became a widowhood. There she might obtain oblivion,
though she felt that remorse would follow her, and that she
would never find peace of mind, condemned to live under the
perpetual menace of Pierre Calorguen's treachery.
" If he be arrested," she mused, shivering, " he will speak
out to justify himself, and I shall be lost, even though he
keeps his pledge to return me that fatal reward this night.
It will be quite enough for him to speak, and he can
easily prove that the general did find Alain of Trigavou
in my rooms. If he owns that he did fire the shot, what
judge will hesitate to believe that I ordered him to slay my
husband to save my honour 1 "
" Your ladyship is silent," observed Calorguen. " Because
you cannot disbelieve what I assert. You cannot doubt my
promise also to keep absolute silence on the past, come what
may. You horrify me, but, none the less, I love you, and
I shall die rather than bring that lovely neck under the
knife. Farewell — no, good-bye till nine o'clock, when we
shall meet again by the lodge gate."
Colorguen went away without looking back, and Lady
Houlbecq made no attempt to detain him. She expected
The Footsteps of the Avenger 71
nothing additional from him, and was in haste to return to
the castle, where she could cast aside the mask of indifference
under which, in this momentous conference, she had been
strong enough to hide her sorrow and her pain. There she
could shut herself up to bemoan her lost one till the hour for
the rendezvous.
** He will come to it," she reasoned, to give herself courage,
" and he will quit the country without anyone suspecting
him. So I have nothing to fear, and nobody to trouble me.
But Alain is no more, and I shall die of despair."
She glided from the orchard and disappeared in the woods
before Calorguen had rounded the corner of the cottage where
he had left the doctor, his mother, and the boy. Dr. Avan-
gour, who had remained standing by the window, cried out —
" Ha ! I see the justice and the corporal of the gendarmes
over there. Strange," he went on. " The Squire left me at
the burying-ground to go over to Trigavou to hear his cases.
He must have fallen in with the gendarme officer, who
induced him to alter his course. But what the mischief do
they want here ? "
" They have a couple of the rank and file with them," added
Calorguen, in a low voice, as he pointed to the silver-laced
cocked hats glittering in the sun over the orchard hedge.
" Humph ! " muttered Dr. Avangour, " that's a bad pros-
pect for somebody. I hope you ha,ve nothing to fear from
these chaps, eh ? " he inquired, drawing Calorguen aside.
" Nothing, sir, or I should not be waiting for them,'
answered the gamekeeper unhesitatingly; "but I would like to
entreat your not telling about my lady having been here.
They have not seen her, and there's no use in their knowing
it."
" Yery well, I understand," grumbled Dr. Avangour,
shaking his head. But, though I hold my tongue, "that
mother of yours will speak. If you will take my cue, my lad,
you will go and meet the officers, to find out what they want
of you, for it is clear they are after you."
" Let us go," rejoined Calorguen, without wincing.
72 The Condemned Door
" He shows no fear, which is a good sign," thought the
doctor. " And yet his secret talk with the lady of the castle
looks very queer. And again his trying to keep her out of
this snarl. There is a mystery in it."
Then the two went forth to meet the law's avengers of
blood.
CHAPTER XIII
THE HAND OF JUSTICE GRASPS A VICTIM
A FEW steps from the cottage the doctor and the gamekeeper
met Squire Miniac and the gendarme officer coming from the
opposite direction. The two privates had stopped to guard
the orchard gate. The corporal looked triumphant — the
magistrate sorrowful. All this promised nothing pleasant.
" The idea of seeing you again, my friend ! " cried
Dr. Avangour. " How about your cases 1 "
'' Adjourned to the morrow," responded Miniac, " for I
have, as you see, come along with Grisaille."
Corporal Grisaille was a tall, foxy-headed fellow, with an
unprepossessing, surly phiz.
*' Come on business here — what about ? "
" To interrogate Pierre Calorguen."
" What has happened ? "
" Grisaille has received a denunciation, on which I am
obliged to act."
*' Against me ? '^ demanded the keeper steadily.
" Yes, against you."
" Let's know more about it."
" I am going to tell you all ; but had we iiot better go
indoors ? "
Dr. Avangour thought it meet he should intervene.
" Stop a bit, my friend," said he, firmly. " I divine what
is brewing, and, though I cannot allow myself to resist your
judicial functions, I must protest against your questioning
this honest man in the presence of his mother. I have just
left lier, and, you know, she has had a stroke of paralysis,
74 The Condemned Door
from which I believe she would recover, but a great shock
will kill her outright."
" Yet she must know sooner or later," remonstrated the
justice.
** Let her know nothing, especially if it comes out, as I
believe there will be no reproach on Pierre."
" I can open the examination here "
" Out in the open field ? " ejaculated the scandalised
corporal.
" I see no inconvenience in it. The house can be searched
afterwards, if there be any occsision for it, all depending on
Calorguen's explanation."
" That is all I ask of you, judge," said the medical gentle-
man, " and, as I am no further concerned, I will take my
leave."
"No, no, friend, pray stay. You are not in the way. I
may want enlightenment from you. Now, you, Pierre
Calorguen, please to answer my questions clearly and.f rankly. '
" I am ready, sir," rejoined the gamekeeper perfectly
calmly.
" Did you bear General Houlbecq any ill will 1 "
" None ! I had rather much to be beholden for, as he
was my benefactor. I owe him everything, and would have
rushed into the flames for him. I see that I am accused
of having killed him. That's shame and all nonsense. My
whole life speaks better for me."
" I know that. But the crime has evidently been the
outcome of some spite. Do you suspect^ anybody ? "
"No one. The general had no enemies, unless the
poacher or two punished for being on his estate. But these
rogues would rather have had it out with me for having
caught them."
" These men are known. They have been questioned,
and all proved alibis, I pass on to the examination of facts.
General Houlbecq did not take you with him to Commander
Jugon's, over at Lanvollon, on St. Hubert's Day. Why not ? "
"Because he had set me on the night watch, reckoning that
The Hand of Justice Grasps a Victim 75
the rough scurf would profit by his absence to have a pop at
his deer. Besides, he had no need of me at LanvoUon, as his
other keeper had been sent on there ahead."
" Did you go on this night duty ? "
" Yes, sir ; I made a round from 10 to 3 a.m., without
catching anybody."
"Did you know that the general returned home at
midnight ? "
" Not till next day, by my mate, whom I ran against, and
who told me his master was passing the day along with my
lady, who was not at all well."
" Where did you pass the day 1 "
" I went up to the house to make my usual noonday
report, when I learned that the baron would see nobody.
Then I went over to Plumodan Woods to tarn out the traps
for weasels. I caught two foxes and brought them back here
where little Yvon flayed them, and you can see the pelts if
you like."
" So you did not go into the grounds 1 "
" I went around them on the outside, and gave some time
to a breach in the walls, where there was a fall a month ago,
and which my lord meant to have repaired."
" At what time were you home 'i "
" About five o'clock. Night was falling. I found Mdlle .
de Bourbriac with my mother, as you can hear from her."
"You did not hear any gun go off?"
"No, sir. Nor did the young lady."
" Still you did pass near the house ? "
" The high wind was from me. Our young lady went away
almost instantly. I was fairly done up. So T tucked my
supper in sharp and went straight to sleep. Nobody came
over from the castle to tell me, and I never knew of my
master's death till my waking."
All the responses were naturally made and without any
hesitation. The look of the questioner and the doctor
showed Calorguen that he had won his case. But the gen-
darm e did not appear to be gained over, for he had not lost
76 The Condemned Door
his suspicious mien, and two or three times he curled his lips
scornfully.
" Very clear explanation,'' remarked Squire Miniac. " But
it is now the moment to inform you that a witness affirms to
having seen you at a quarter to five take your gun from under
a clump of gorse, where it was hidden at the skirt of the
wood, and slip into the grounds by the park gate, which was
ajar. Only an instant after the shot was fired."
"How is it the witness with such sharp eyes was not
sharp enough to grab me ? " sneered Calorguen.
*' He says he believed you were only shooting a rabbit, so
he went on his way. But this very day he remembered
what he had seen, and he gave evidence before the corporal.'
"A false witness ! Who is he ? Just confront him with
me ! "
" It is Jean Baptiste Pillemer, the farmer at La Hunau-
daie.''
" I might have guessed that. The man hates me."
■ " For what reason 1 "
" I hardly know — perhaps because his master always had
a grudge against me since the time I informed my lord that
the old Count of Triga.vou had trees felled on the estate after
he had sold it. There was a wrangle about that. The young
lord -denied it, but they would have suffered for it, only my
own lord did not care to go to law."
'* Then you assert that Pillemer lies. It will cost him dear
if you can disprove him, for the law is severe against false
witness. But I find it hard to believe that he would invent
the detail of the gun hidden in the gorse."
For the first time since Squire Miniac put him in the box,
Calorguen seemed disconcerted. After an instant's hesitation
he said —
" That is so far true that I had put down my gun — not
hidden it, mind ! — on the edge of the wood, for it was in the
way of my measuring the breach with a foot-rule I carried.
But I was not ten minutes in doing all that, and when I got
through I found the gun in the very spot where I placed it.
The Hand of Justice Grasps a Victim 77
Was Pillemer spying me up in a tree ? I cannot say that is
so, but I am inclined to think it."
" Is yours a double-barrelled gun 1 " asked the justice.
" Yes, your worship ; a central fire, a nice piece, as good
for fur as feather. My lord bought it for me last year in
town."
" Was it loaded with ball '? "
"Always on night duty. I remember now that after my
first charging it I did not think of drawing the cartridges."
'' Then they would still be in it ? "
^* Of course they would. Would you like to see it ? It
hangs over the fireplace."
" Grisaille, just go and fetch it."
" I beg your pardon, friend," spoke the doctor. " You con-
sented to not disturbing my patient yourself, but it would
frighten her a great deal worse for her to see the corporal's
uniform. Do you mind my going in for the gun? At the
same time I will tranquillise the good creature, who must
wonder what has become of us."
" Do so," answered Squire Miniac, checking the zealous
Grisaille, who was already marching off.
Dr. Avangour hastened to profit by the permission.
"Can you really believe me guilty 1 " said Calorguen
sorrowfully, on being left alone with the magistrate, for he
did not consider the corporal as anybody.
" I do not think at all — I only seek to learn — that's my
duty. But I hope with all my heart that you will get out of
this affair."
This laconic reply was not of a nature to reassure Calorguen,
who comprehended at once the full gravity of his situation.
The doctor returned with quite an armoury, the fowling-
piece, hunting rifle and revolver.
" Here's ail I could find," he said. " Have you any other
arms % "
" Nothing but my cavalry sword."
" That is not in question. Corporal, it is your place to
examine the firearn^s."
78 The Condemned Door
Grisaille wanted no pressing. He began with the gun.
" Halloa ! " he cried, as he extracted the shell of a car-
tridge. " One shot has been fired."
" It is not possible," stammered the gamekeeper.
" These gentlemen see for themselves. The other is there
unfired. That explains itself, one shot having killed the
general. This gun has not long been fired, for the left
barrel is still black with powder."
He showed his soiled finger to the magistrate.
" What have you to say 1 " demanded the latter, sternly.
" Nothing," replied Calorguen, confounded.
" Do you acknowledge, then, that you made use of the
gun?"
" Not I, but another. I swear that it was not me ! Why,
I, in that case, would have cleaned it out and put in a fresh
cartridge."
" That is an argument for your legal defender to advance.
If you have nothing stronger to allege in your defence I must
request you to accompany the corporal to Dinan, where the
government attorney will dispose of you. I will allow you to
say good-bye to your mother."
"Never mind. I would rather she believed me dead.
Let us march away."
Dr. Avangour felt that his intervention this time would
be of no avail. He sadly shook Justice Miniac's hand and let
him go away, with the gendarmes escorting their prisoner.
Then he returned towards the cottage, where he had left the
old woman napping.
"Deuce take me if I know how to explain her son's
absence," he mused. " And I only wish that was all that
worried me. But there is Lady Houlbecq. This luckless
fellow has killed the general because he loved his mistress —
that's clear as day. She knows as much, and I'll wager that
she is longing to see me up at the castle to tell her the
news of what happened after her departure. Now, what can
I say ? Hang it all ! " concluded the prudent doctor, " I shall
go to Dinan without seeing her at all."
CHAPTEK XIV
THE sister's revelation
In a month after the general's death, his widow and her
sister sat together in a parlour of their winter residence in
Friedland Avenue, Paris. They had been in the city three
weeks. After early agitation a period of what was relative
calm had succeeded, which Lady Houlbecq all the more
enjoyed as she feared it would soon come to an end.
She had left Trigavou three days after the funeral so
precipitately that her departure resembled a flight.
Calorguen had not come to the appointment for a good
reason. <• She had waited a couple of hours in her ignorance
of his arrest, the doctor having avoided an explanation and
the servants not repeating it in her hearing till the morning.
There were no particulars, and the cause was not known, but
everyone suspected it. All that came out was that the
gendarmes had taken Calorguen over to Dinan, where the
high court had ordered him to be imprisoned.
Here was ample to render Lady Houlbecq uneasy, not more
than half relying on the keeper as she did, and very little
would have turned her from going to Paris into embarking
at Saint Malo on the steamer for Jersey. But second
thoughts had told her that to sail for a foreign land would
have been almost avowing her guiltiness.
She was puzzled, too, whether Vivette would consent to
follow her, and what would become of Vivette if she
remained alone in France. What would her sister think —
what the world — of this inexplicable casting off of family
ties 1
80 The Condemned Door
All these considerations would not have hampered the
baroness if her lover had been in England or coming there to
join her, for then she would have led that independent life
with him which she had longed for. Had she not proposed
it to the Count of Trigavou ? Before the crime was she not
ready to brave the scandal of a noisy rupture and her
husband's anger 1 But Alain was dead, smothered in a loath-
some well, as Calorguen had stated, and this she could not
dispute. The best proof of that was that no one had seen
him since that fatal night.
Farmer Pillemer believed and said that his master had
suddenly gone to Paris, but he had not been seen there.
Lady Houlbecq had made inquiries herself at the house in
Miromesnil Street, where he had rooms, but the housekeeper
was without any news. Besides, were Alain living, he would
have shown himself, or at least written, to relieve his beloved
of frightful anguish.
Flavia therefore hoped no more to see him, and naught
remained of this mad amour but the painful memory and the
fear of paying dearly for the guilty folly. Calorguen had
sworn to keep silent, and he had done this so far, but would
he stand true to the end when he could extenuate the crime,
though not clear himself, by proving that he was incited by
his mistress ? And even though he maintained a heroic
muteness, might not the accusatory writing be found ? If not
in the gamekeeper's house, probably doomed to be searched,
it would be under some custodian who might hand it over to
the magistrate to free himself of responsibility.
Therefore Lady Houlbecq fretted in mortal dread, and
durst not even write to Dr. Avangour for news about the
gamekeeper's case, still less to her steward and gardener — the
man left in trust at the castle.
The neighbouring gentry were not sufficiently her associates
for her to open a correspondence with them. The result of
all this was that the baroness remained uninformed, for
Vivette's intelligence from Mother Calorguen was scanty and
indirect, from her inability to write. Since her son s arrest"
The Sister's Bevelation 81
she had taken to her bed and hardly ever spoken — at which
the widow was not sorry, for this sorrow-stricken mother
might have said something dangerous. Little Yvon, half an
idiot, was not to be reckoned with. Dr. Avangour was
discreet by his character and profession, and the baroness
might trust to his making no mention of her being found
wandering around the gamekeeper's cottage, and having a long
talk with him in the orchard.
On that side, no danger.
Calorguen was at Dinan, where the case was being built
up, with nothing leaking out of what occurred in the prison
and the judge's closet.
Lady Houlbecq could do nothing but wait for events.
Her sister was the cause of thought. Vivette could not
have forgotten the brief, animated scene interrupted by the
arrival of the waiting-woman, and it would have been natural
for Vivette to remind her elder of it. But ever since Vivette
had not alluded to the singular episode, or to the no less
singular proposition of the baroness that she should harbour
a man in her rooms. Yet, like everything else, she could not
be ignorant of the metal plate nailed over the door and taken
off again some hours subsequently. Still, Vivette offered no
allusion to this either. Had she divined the secret which
the general had carried with him into the grave and Pierre
Calorguen had vowed to keep as well ?
Flavia was tempted to believe this, for Vivette hardly
spoke to her now, plunged into a dark sorrow for which the
general's tragic death did not wholly account.
Formerly gay and active, she ceased to smile and never
went out of doors. Flavia reasoned that her sister, with all
her surmises, could not suspect the man to be saved was the
Count of Trigavou, and as nobody had been found in the
tower, she further hoped that Vivette would never ask for
an explanation of the facts preceding and following the
crime.
The sisters lived like recluses. On their arrival in the
city numbers of letters of condolence and avalanches of card^
82 The Condemned Door
had been received, but all callers had been pitilessly excluded.
They had no near-of-kin, as the aunt who brought them up
died three years ago. And their previous acquaintances had
become indifferent to them.
One man alone had ever interested Flavia, and he had
disappeared for ever. Yivette had never shown preference
for any one, and so the isolation must have appeared less
painful to her.
The baroness had seen only her Paris solicitor, who had
come to read the will to her, a long while in his safe, by
which Baron Houlbecq constituted his relict the universal
legatee on condition of paying over to Mdlle. Yivette de
Bourbriac a sum equal to that he had given Flavia as a
marriage portion. Had he revoked this on the day of his
death, as his widow feared, in the writing sent to his solicitor
at Dinan 1 Six weeks having elapsed without hearing from
that gentleman, she began to believe that the baron had only
modified his original intention, perhaps merely increasing
the donation to his sister-in-law without disinheriting his
wife.
She had so pressed on the transfer of the legacy that the
funds were already paid into Yivette's account at the
general's bankers. She had hurried this operation because
she had made up her mind not to live any longer with her
sister.
Yivette was near her majority, and possessed an indepen-
dent fortune now. Consequently she could renounce her
elder's guardianship and live where she liked and marry a
husband of her own choice, unless she preferred to preserve
her freedom.
This separation pleased Flavia for more than one reason.
To begin with, there was this cloud between them, one that
the baroness did not strive to pierce. Besides, the latter had
come round again to her early idea of living abroad, since
nothing more bound her to France. Her heart was empty, her
life aimless, and Paris was becoming as hateful as Brittany.
And she ill assented to this vacation when her heart was not
The Sister's Eev elation 83
dead, and there's much to occupy a woman even after five-
and-thirty.
But, before she took a final decision she meant to have an
explanation with her sister.
One December day early they were sitting at the fire
opposite one another.
Vivette, more silent than ever, was working a crochet bed-
spread for Pierre Calorguen's mother, and kept her eyes down
on her taper fingers toiling with unparalleled activity so that
the work advanced rapidly. But it was clear her thoughts
were wool-gathering for quite another end. Her watchful
sister judged this the hour to break the ice.
" What are you thinking of ? " she challenged her
abruptly.
The girl started and looked up, blushing as though caught
in some fault.
" Why are you troubled ? " continued the other. " My
question is quite natural. You are so sad that I am fretting
to know the cause. You may answer me that you can never
console yourself for our loss. I, too, bewail our excellent
benefactor, but, at your age, nothing but a love disappoint-
ment causes profound grief. Are you then in love with some
one ? "
" No," murmured Vivette, " and I am sure that no one
will ever love me."
" Don't talk nonsense, sister mine ! You have naturally
all that one needs to captivate, and you are quite a wealthy
woman since my husband's legacy. You may make an
excellent alliance. If you have singled out some distinguished
gentleman, you do wrong to hide the matter from me, for,
wishing you to be wed as soon as possible, I would help you.
You can understand why I wish your speedy union when I
tell you that it is my fixed intention to leave France without
any idea of returning. It will pain me much to leave you
here, but this must be."
Lady Houlbecq thought her sister would make a scene,
entreat her to remain, beg to follow her, or at any rate
84: The Condemned Door
inquire the reason for this radical resolution. LadyHoulbecq
was altogether wrong. Vivette received the news without'a
quiver and remarked coldly —
" You will do well to go."
riavia turned paler, saying to herself — " She knows all ! "
But she had the power to conquer her emotion and proceed :
" I am glad to hear your approval. You are reason itself.
And since you do not see any hindrance, I shall go as soon
as I shall have settled what business has so far detained me.
Trigavou Castle and the estate are for sale. This house will
also be offered. My man of business assures me that they
will all be disposed of before the year's end. But what are
you going to do ? "
" I shall keep rooms here, but I shall buy a little place in
Brittany to spend most of my time."
" In Brittany ? "
" Yes, in the district where I have my poor people to look
after."
" What strange notions you have ! Such a partner as I
covet for you will never look for you on the heaths of
Trigavou."
" No more than in Paris. He does not think of me."
" Ah ! then there is a lover 1 "
" A beloved, who never paid me the least attention, though
I have often met him."
" Some one I know, then ? ''
"Oh, yes."
" Why have you never pointed him out to me ] "
" Because I did not wish him to know that I cared for
him. You might have given him a hint."
" One you love still 1 "
" I am trying to forget him."
" That is wrong, if he is an eligible partner."
" Perfectly — in age, rank, fortune about the same — all just
meet."
" And you Iiave long been seeing him ? " inquired Flavia,
singularly moved,
The Sister's Bevelation 85
** Since the beginning of summer."
" But as we left town "
"Oh, he came down in the country also. He was our
neighbour, and it was his own pleasure that he did not come
frequently to our house."
" His name, his name ! " cried Lady Houlbecq. " I must
know that ! "
" Why should I not tell you, my sister — you alone ? 'Tis
the Count of Trigavou."
CHAPTEE XV
HIS HEROISM A SHAM, LIKE HIS LOVE
Alain ! it was Alain of Trivagou whom Flavia's sister loved !
Struck to the heart by this unexpected avowal, the widow
turned pale and leaned back voiceless. Memories flocked in
upon her suddenly. Only a few hours before his death she
remembered that the general had joked his sister-in-law
upon the preference he accused her of entertaining for the
Count of Trigavou, and that the blushing girl had but
faintly defended herself. What Lady Houlbecq had taken
for bitter jesting on her husband's part from an endeavour
to disquiet her on her lover's fidelity was the truth, uttered
without his knowing it was so. He had spoken at random and
had hit the mark. Vivette loved Alain and now ventured to
tell her. At least here was the proof that she had never
suspected she had ensnared their neighbour.
But in spite of this assurance on the one hand, up sprang
a dull rage into her brain at the mere thought that she might
have had a rival. Flavia ran on so far in her fancy as to
fear that had Alain lived to this day, Yivette would perchance
have won him away from her, and for the possibility she
cursed Yivette.
With one word she might have repaid her for this pain ;
she had only to say, " Your beloved is dead," but Yivette
would not be content with a bald statement. And the ex-
planation could not be given without relating what occurred
in my lady's chamber on that awful St. Hubert's night.
She had the self-command to repress the outburst on her
lips and to question her sister, instead of wringing her heart
His Heroism a ShaTUf Like his Love 87
with the news that Alam of Trigavou would be seen no more
among men.
There were other reasons for so acting. Already she
suspected that Vivette's confession was not complete, and she
wished to learn the full growth of the flame springing up in
that young heart. The count must have perceived it, and the
baroness believed him quite capable of encouraging it by
some of those masculine arts which too often captivate in-
experienced maidens. He could not be punished out of this
world, but she would willingly be revenged on Yivette. She
cursed her already ; she thirsted for an excuse to make the
guileless pay for the guilty,
" Well, it seems to me you have not set your choice badly,"
she commenced after a long pause.' " The Count of Trigavou
is an accomplished gentleman, and I am astonished that you
should have so long concealed your selecting him. Had you
told me I should have approved your choice."
" What was the good of telling you ? I repeat that he
never paid me the least attention."
" You may mistake on that point. Last winter you waltzed
with him every time you met at a ball, and he has often
spoken of you to me."
" Keally ? " ejaculated Mdlle. de Bourbriac, with a vivacity
leaving no doubt on the state of her heart.
" He eulogized you so warmly that I almost expected leave
formally to pay you his addresses," replied Lady Houlbecq,
perfidiously. " How was it you did not discover you delighted
him ] You are silent. Be frank and admit that, though he
may not have actually framed a proposal, he let you at least
perceive the tender feeling you had inspired."
" Well, once, maybe — " faltered Yivette.
" Yes ; where — when ? "
"At a ball. Lady Sartilly's — the last of last winter's — as
we were about going down into Brittany. As he led me back
to my place after a long waltz he told me that he could not
have consoled himself at my departure, but he had the hope
to see me soon again at Trigavou. That he would do all he
88 The Condemned Door
could to bring that about, though your husband did not
appear over-desirous of receiving him; that, in the hope of
obtaining invitations to the castle, he would go in for hunt-
ing, though he detested it. In short, that evening I might
readily believe that he had a fondness for me."
" How did you answer him "? "
*' Not at all. I was too confused."
*' And did you not see him again in Brittany ? "
" You know he came once a year to pay the general the
call of courtesy. I was not at home and he did not appear
with our regular visitors. Later, attending my charitable
charges, I sometimes happened to see him at a distance, and
I thought he tried to draw near and speak to me, but I was
frightened and slipped away.''
"Frightened of what?"
" Of letting him see that I loved him."
"I had no idea you were so timid," remarked Lady Houl-
becq, with poorly disguised gall. " You will get rid of this
defect in time. And since you intend living near Trigavou,
as soon as I leave the country, you will have plenty of
chances to meet your idol. Marry him ; 'tis the very boon I
wish you."
The tone was so unmistakable that Yivette comprehended
that her sister was making fun of her. Tears sprang to her
eyes and the colloquy suddenly ended.
It was Flavia who had originated this colloquy, so full of
surprises, and she had carried it on to the actual point. She
might much sooner have obtained these sincere confidences
by questioning Yivette, and she already regretted having
obtained what wounded her deeply. She had learnt that the
lover whom she worshipped to the point of sacrificing her
reputation and repose was impudently courting one sister at
the very time when the other was braving so many dangers
to keep stolen interviews.
What were men worth when this one thus betrayed his
trustful darling ?
And with what design was he ensnaring a girl who might
His Heroism a Sham, Like his Lorn 89
be his by wedlock, this villain who offered so many excuses
when she suggested her running away with him to be married
eventually abroad ?
He was dead ; yes, but not in the way his dupe believed.
He had not resigned himself to support the tortures of famine
and he had not dared to brave a husband's sword. On the
contrary, he had tried to sneak away and had almost gaily
submitted to be sealed up in the tower because he believed
it certain he could slip out by a channel known to himself
alone. His heroism was a sham like his love, a mere shift to
escape the dread wrath of the general.
CHAPTER XVI
A DIRGE OP DEATH FROM BEYOND THE SEA
There was assuredly good grounds for Alain's depreciation
in Lady Houlbecq's eyes. By degrees she cast off her illu-
sions and began already to regret having so much admired
him. But she had not got so far as to regret loving him, and
still in her heart lingered a wish that she could see him
again.
Out of these reflections she was roused by her sister's
voice.
" No," said Yivette, slowly, " I shall never wed the Count
of Trigavou, and it is not to meet him that I am going back
to Brittany. It would be distasteful to marry near where
your husband was wickedly done to death."
"A death that will be avenged," muttered the other
gloomily. " They have arrested the assassin."
" In Pierre Calorguen ? No, he is innocent."
" What do you know about it ?"
" He will prove it."
" I hope so, as much as you, more perhaps, but I do not
believe he can clear himself. Appearances are against him."
" Heaven will intervene."
*' Heaven ! " reiterated the baroness bitterly. " It did not
intervene to prevent the crime. If this gamekeeper is inno-
cent, who is guilty ? "
" I do not know, but I shall try to find out."
" Is that why you are going down there ? "
" For that, and to take care of a mother deprived of her
son."
A Dirge of Death from Beyond the Sea 91
" I approve. But this is no reason for you to remain life-
long unwed."
" I am not sworn to that."
" Oh, you would not refuse a suitable match 1 "
"Not one that would please me.''
" Then would you marry our Cousin Olivier 1 "
"I do not know, but I might in course of time."
" She's fencing," thought Lady Houlbecq. " She loves
Alain more than ever, and she would only marry another
out of spite."
"That's a far cry, though," observed Vivette. "Olivier
is in China, thousands of miles off, and may never come
back."
" He has come back. He has obtained a year's leave, and
reached Paris yesterday. I had a line from him this morn-
ing, answering a call at two o'clock this very day. I did not
interid to be at home to him, but if you care to see him "
" Do just as you please."
" Olivier is of our family. He is handsome ; has a little
more money than you ; is only thirty, though already a first
lieutenant, promotion being rapid in war times "
" I think nothing but good of him, but I do not know
what he thinks of me."
" Mark my words ! Before sailing on this voyage, which
has kept him three years away, he declared plainly to me
that he would have no other wife than you. He would have
told you the same, but there was no time on the eve of
sailing. He was not sure of ever coming back, and it was
not a favourable moment. But he promised to ask for your
hand on his return, if you were still free and had no dislike
for him. And he's a gentleman of his word. I have never
known a more reliable man. Therefore it depends on you
to have the wedding in a month — — "
" I'm in no such haste."
" But the gentleman is, and small blame to him, for you
might, notwithstanding what you say, let your flame for my
Lord of Trigavou revive."
92 The Condemned Door
" There's no fear of that. I know my own heart and I can
rule myself."
"You are a lucky woman," returned Flavia, ironically.
" So you give up the whim to plant yourself in Brittany ? "
" I shall see about it. In any case, I do not give up the
intention to take a trip there very soon. Will you not your-
self be obliged to go there shortly ? "
" I hope not. There's no call. The sale of the castle can
be managed without me."
" I dare say, but do you not think that if our unhappy
Calorguen is brought to trial justice will require your
testimony ? "
" I ? What an idea ! " murmured Lady Houlbecq, visibly
affected. " I have no evidence to give ; I know nothing."
** But you were present when your husband was shot ; he
fell at your very feet. Do you cheat yourself into the belief
that you will not be summoned 1 "
" But they have questioned me."
" Just as they did me and all the servants. But you alone
were on the scene of the shocking murder. You will have
to describe it all over again to the jury."
" I shall not ! I will write an excuse to the bench of
judges. They never can force me to appear in court whilst
trying my husband's murderer. I will tender written
evidence, if that is compulsory, but as to a personal
appearance ' '
She was interrupted by Franpois, the former valet of
General Houlbecq. He showed his face at the door to ask
in a low voice if her ladyship was at home to Lieutenant
Olivier Derquy.
" Oh, show him in ! " said the baroness, enchanted at this
diversion cutting short risky discourse.
FrauQois had scarcely more than time to step aside, for
the naval cousin was at his heels, and rushed in like a cyclone,
saying—
" It's well I knew that you would not cool my heels at the
door. You would not turn away your nearest relative fresh
A Dirge of Death fro7ri Beyorid the Sea 93
from Formosa. How d'ye do, Cousin Flavia ? How are you,
Vivette, my coz 1 "
He offered his hands, which were both promptly taken
and heartily shaken, for our young seadog was winsome
generally, and there was no sulkiness that could stand
against his dash. Lady Houlbecq, indeed, tried hard to
assume a befitting air, but the lieutenant said —
" YeSj yes, I know, the poor old don is gone ! I heard of
it on landing at Toulon. Queer thing, life is. When I gave
him good-bye on starting for Tonkin, he said, with a laugh,
that we should most likely never meet again, meaning that
I should never turn up at the muster. The fact is, I had
many opportunities of leaving my bones thereaway, and yet
the old buck takes the lead, you see. How can we help it 1
No man's skin is shot-proof to a scoundrel in ambush, who
brings you down like a rabbit, and there must be a better
reason than the inevitable to fret and grieve, eh, Flavia ?
But now let's talk about yourself — yourselves — that will be
an agreeable subject."
"Not much more cheerful, my dear Olivier," rejoined
Lady Houlbecq. " We have passed a month in tears and
repining,"
"You shall weep no more, since I am on deck. I
promise to enliven you, for I reckon on you receiving me
every day. I have some of the merriest tales to tell you of
John Chinaman."
Vivette looked at the good-natured young gentleman, who
returned jollier and more reckless than ever through many a
danger and fatigue. His bearing and his speech seemed to
her rather unseemly at this juncture, but she could not help
liking him none the less.
" We'll chat about China, Cochin China, old China, or any
China you like," he resumed, " but, before we begin on that,
let me have done with all churchyard subjects. Just imagine
that I have newly learnt of the death of an acquaintance of
mine, and of yours too, cousins, one of your best partners in
the waltz, my dear Flavia, and one of your rural neighbours^"
94 The Condemned Door
" Of whom are you speaking 1 " demanded Lady Houlbecq,
quietly.
" Of the former proprietor of Trigavou, of course, of our
dear Count Alain, so jolly a table companion and so good a
fellow," responded Derquy.
" Dead ! " murmured the girl. " Count Trigavou dead !
It cannot be."
" What ! did you not know it 1 You must allow that it is
strange to have the news from a man fresh from the
Antipodes."
" But how did you learn that ? "
" In the simplest way. Yesterday I got back and came
down here to find the door closed. I was put off till the
morrow. Twenty-four hours without seeing you seemed
hard, and the time did hang heavy. No mate of mine in
town, though I spied around the Helder Cafe at the very hour
when everybody comes for his bitters. Then I thought of
that trump Trigavou, who had made me a pro tern, member
of his club before my embarkation. I went round to see
him. He was not there ; but they gave me his address.
No. 19, Miromesnil Street. There the doorkeeper declared
that he had no news of him, and that nobody down in the
country knew what had become of him. Since a month he
had vanished, and as he had gone without his traps and with
little money, none doubt that he had been made away with.
Our dear old Brittany must have sadly altered since I went
away that men can be knocked over the head as easily as
under the Black Flags. And you were ignorant of this
mishap, my cousins 1 "
" I knew," remarked Flavia, " that the Count of Trigavou
had suddenly quitted the farm where he lived a few miles
from the castle. I understand that he often absented him-
self for rather long periods without warning, and nothing
proves that he is dead."
The expression on her face contradicted her words, and
Vivette, reading in her sister's eyes, turned so pale that the
naval officer stepped up nearer and asked her what ailed her.
A Dirge of Death from Beyond the Sea 95
"Nothing," faltered Yivette. "Since my brother-in-law
died I have been nervous, and I so little expected to hear
further bad news that "
" Excuse me for having uttered it so abruptly. I was con-
fident that you knew it, and, besides, I believed that poor
Trigavou was not an intimate friend. I remember that he
displeased the general. I never knew why, for he was a
charming fellow, a trifle conceited, T grant, but very amiable
and obliging. He was once my second in a duel, and I have
been most grateful to him ever after. Such services are not
soon forgotten, don't you know."
Derquy might have run on a long time without check from
his cousins, who were not heeding him. Less troubled than
her sister, because the lieutenant told her nothing she did
not already know. Lady Houlbecq watched Vivette restraining
her tears with difficulty, and took a cruel pleasure in seeing
her suffer who would have been her rival had Trigavou
lived.
She said to herself that he would perhaps have cast her off
for Yivette, and she almost felt consoled for losing him.
Greatly surprised at the effect his intelligence had pro-
duced, Derquy vaguely felt that he had blundered, and he
sought to repair the fault.
CHAPTEK XVII
THE STING FROM THE GRAVE
" I SEEM born to commit nothing but folly," cried Derquy,
beating his forehead. " And I am not cured by three years'
practice with great guns ! I have clean lost the art of tact
and discernment. But this shan't happen any more, I
promise you ; and from fear I may go on babbling athwart
the due course, I'll resign the speaking-trumpet to your
ladyship. Flavia, you must have a mass of news for one
arriving from the most outlandish climes, and knowing
nothing. Post me up to date, as the supercargoes say. I am
a blank from when I said farewell in 1881, as I left for
Tonkin."
" I have not forgotten your parting," answered the baroness,
" and could repeat what you said — aye, word for word."
*' So you may," returned the officer, laughing. "I should
even be infinitely glad to profit by the fact of Cousin Vivette
being by to hear the report of our conversation."
" I'm quite willing, if you hold the same ideas."
" I hope you don't suspect my having changed. "We have
known one another since infancy, and you must be aware that
the least of my faults is stubbornness, like a true born
Breton."
"Precisely what I was telling Vivette when jou dropped
in."
" May I know what she answered ? "
** Ask her that yourself, cousin dear ! "
" Ask her that myself ? Not I ; I fear too much to get a
downright refusal* I prefer for the time to simply lay down
The Sting from the Grave 97
the situation. Kindly hear me out, Cousin Vivette, whilst I
present myself as Olivier Derquy, nine-and-twenty years of
age six months ago, a first lieutenant since a year. My
mother was a Bourbriac, a sister of your father. We are
therefore cousins german. Our surgeon on the Bayard man-
o'-war calls this a barrier, and all through my campaign made
my life burdensome with lectures on the danger of consan-
guineous marriages. All I can do is hope you do not share
the notions of this pessimistic wiseacre. Now that you have
my standing defined, civil and naval, I pass to the supple-
mentary items. My father left me a capital of five hundred
thousand francs, into which I have made no serious breach.
I was too deeply in love with the girl I left behind me to be
a spendthrift."
"Vivette has a hundred and fifty thousand francs herself
i.ow," interrupted Lady Houlbecq.
" How's that ? " asked Derquy, frowning. " I thought she
had next to nothing."
" She was no richer than I when I married, but the generaJ
settled that sum on her in an old will."
" The deuce he did? " grumbled the lieutenant.
"That seems to vex you," resumed the bai*oness with a
questioning smile.
" I confess it does a little. I have always hated to be
thought a fortune-hunter, and I looked to wed a portionless
girl."
" But, cousin dear, Vivette has far less money than you."
" Still it's too much. However, it is no fault of mine, and
poverty is not compulsory. I now touch upon my prospects. I
like my profession, in which I have made my niark. If Yellow
Jack or a bullet does not strike me oflf the pay list, I may
be a captain a few years off, and an admiral at fifty. Splendid
post that, and I should be proud of it. But 1 love my cousin
even better than my career, and, if Vivette exacts it, I'll send
in my resignation without any regret, to marry her. That's
my programme, as those frauds, the members of the House,
say, who higgled and h^s^gled over our pay for pitching into
11
98 The Condemned Door
the Emperor of the Mandarins. I wait yotir rejoinder, and
will reply."
This uncommon declaration displeased Yivette less than a
regular proposal directly offered. Frankness glowed on the
loyal seaman's face as he promised without hesitation to
renounce glory, cocked hats, and gold epaulets all for her.
She felt that happiness dwelt in a union with a man who
would consecrate his life to her, and yet she hung back from
saying yes. Though the Count of Trigavou was dead, his
memory still flourished in Yivette's mind. First love is not
so fleeting in a maiden's thoughts, and Alain retained his
place. But, understanding that she was bound to speak, she
answered in an agitated voice :
** I had no idea, cousin, that you would go ahead so fast.
Flavia told me that you fondly thought of me, and I do not
forbid her telling you what reply I made."
" I prefer to learn it from your own lips, my dear Yivette,"
Said the naval ofiicer quickly.
" Well, I answered her that 1 would be happy and honoured
by your wedding me. But I cannot think of a wedding
whilst there is mourning in the house."
" Oh, I can wait — I have a year's leave."
"And then again," went on Yivette sadly, "I have a
mission to fulfil."
" Diplomatic 1 " queried Derquy, laughing.
" A holy one which I have put upon myself." Here
Flavia lifted her head to watch her sister, who pursued :
" General Houlbecq was murdered, and an innocent man has
been accused. I have taken an oath to discover the real
criminal."
" I approve, and, come to that, why should I not lend a
hand ? I will be your counsellor, your private policeman,
your detective, anything you like, and you'll see that the
chase shall come under our guns. We are good at all games
in the navy. Jack's jack of all trades, I tell you."
" Confound her bringing him into it 1 " thought Lady
Houlbecq, very little pleased by the involving of Lieutenant -
The Sting from the Gram 99
Derquy in this darksome imbroglio where her honour was at
stake.
"I accept," said the girl, holding out her hand to the
gentleman, who kissed it.
" And only to think that I was afraid of having nothing to
do ! " he cried joyfully. " A man to be saved ! It's like a
man overboard ! And then there's a reward, eh, coz 1 "
" Even if you do not succeed, I shall be profoundly grateful '
for your having tried."
*' Thanks, Vivette ; but I shall succeed, though I have to
regularly settle down in that part of the country. Luckily I
know the lay of the land, for I was born and brought up
there, and I know how to get the lads to chatter. Rely on
me. The general's death shall be avenged."
" My dear Olivier," said the widow gravely, " I share your
joy. Have you some pity on my grief ? Do cease to speak
of that doleful story, which my sister wrongly keeps reviving,
also, too often."
" I beg your pardon," said Yivette, " I was wrong, and I
promise you "
The door opened a little again and Francois reappeared,
carrying a visiting card on a salver, which he presented to
the baroness.
" Dr. Avangour ! " she murmured, changing countenance.
" I — I shall not see him. Tell him I am not in."
" What 1 " exclaimed the lieutenant, " Avangour, the
doctor of Dinan ! Why, he is one of my friends ! When he
came over to Trigavou I never could tear myself away from
him, and I shall be awfully pleased to see him again. If you
must decidedly refuse to receive him, allow me to run and
shake hands and find out where he is staying in town 1 "
" And, sister, you'll also let me ask news of his and my
patient and Pierre Calorguen," added the girl.
Lady Houlbecq instinctively dreaded this man, who had
mingled with the tragedy at Trigavou from the very opening
scenes. She feared that he had made some discovery, and
was expressly come to talk about it. Yet better still to face
100 The Condemned Door
such a thorny interview than to let Dr. Avangour speak
freely alone with Yivette and her lover. So she changed her
order into one for his admission.
An instant after he entered, and was much surprised to see
Lieutenant Derquy, who merrily saluted him without giving
him time to bow to Lady Houlbecq. When he had acquitted
himself, like the member of good society that he was, of
obligatory courtesies, the physician took a seat between the
naval officer and Vivette, in face of the baroness, who un-
easily observed him. He was less negligently dressed than
in the exercise of his functions in the country, and appeared
rather stylish in his overcoat. But Lady Houlbecq fancied
he looked more grave than usual, and she foresaw that he
brought vexatious news.
" Charmed to see you," she said as graciously as she could.
" Such a pleasure is rare here."
*'It's true I do not come here often," he answered, bowing,
" I have had to run up on a professional call — a medical
congress."
The baroness breathed again.
" I wished to profit by the chance to offer my homage, my
lady, and also to acquit myself of a commission forced upon
me."
" A commission from whom ? " inquired Lady Houlbecq.
" From Plaintel, the notary of Dinan."
" Eh, what's the matter now ? " murmured the baroness,
who had expected any other name than this.
" I would like you to believe that I would not have had
anything to do with it if Plaintel had not actually compelled
me."
" So it is a disagreeable charge ? "
" Not for everybody here present. Plaintel insisted that
you would rather learn it through me than by an official
notification."
" Whatever it is he is right, I dare say. Well, speak out,
as you may before my sister and our next-of-kin, Lieutenant
Derquy."
The Sting from the Grave 101
" Well, my lady, the general made a will which revoked
the previous one, and constitutes his sole legatee Mdlle.
Viviane de Bourbriac before us."
^' Peacocks' feathers and yellow buttons ! " ejaculated
Derquy. " Here's my cousin a millionaire ; my dream has
* gone from my gaze like a beautiful ' — gazelle ! If we
marry now, everybody will say I did it for her money-bags."
The baroness had dwelt no more on the threat overhanging
her since her husband had written in her presence to the
solicitor at Dinan At first she had expected to be disin-
herited, but, as she received no intimation, she had gradually
grown encouraged. The blow was, therefore, only the
heavier to receive. And, nevertheless, she felt almost
relieved on learning that the news was only the loss of an in-
heritance. She had feared much worse. But she was not
insensible to the discomfiture, for she was reduced to a pit-
tance just when she dreamt of a golden existence abroad.
Still she had enough self-command to dissimulate her vexa-
tion.
" My husband was the master in the disposal of his for-
tune," she remarked, coldly.
" Exception is made of the sum acknowledged yours in
the marriage contract," rejoined the doctor. "That remains
your ladyship's, everything else to the contrary notwith-
standing."
" I knew that, but it is of no consequence. I regret
nothing since it is my dear sister takes all in my stead."
" Then you imagine that I am going to accept ? " exclaimed
Vivette. '^ I shall fiing this will into the fire."
" Hurrah ! " cheered Derquy, clapping his hands like a boy.
" She's a girl all heart," thought the medical gentleman.
" But I shall not accept the sacrifice ! " returned the
baroness, carried away by an outburst of wrath and pride.
" I shall force you to it, dear," was Vivette's smiling
rejoinder. " I shall write for the will and tear it up under
your eyes."
*' It is only in plays, my child, that legal documents are
102 The Condemned Door
thus annulled," remarked Dr. Avangour, *' and in any case
Plaintel cannot show it you, at least at present ; it is no
longer in his hands."
" What do you mean by his letting it go 1 " inquired
Derquy. " I always thought that a lawyer stuck to papers
like wax."
" Certainly. Deposits at a solicitor's are inviolable, just as
letters are ; but in some cases an order of the bench can
seize letters under transmission by the post."
" I do not see the analogy."
" It is strikingly clear, though. On hearing of the general's
murder, a couple of hours after writing his will, Plaintel
held it his duty to inform the high court that this will was
in his keeping, whereupon he was ordered to communicate
the settlements the baron had made in extremu, so to say."
" I am as much at sea as before."
" But it is quite simple. It is rather natural to suppose
that the crime had an interested motive, and that some one
knowing the purport of the testament, had killed General
Houlbecq in order the sooner to benefit by the advantages it
assured him."
" My sister, you mean ? " queried the baroness, ironically.
" No one ever thought of suspecting this young lady,"
replied the doctor, quickly.
" Still less to suspect me, I hope. My husband took good
care not to tell me what he was writing under my eyes, but
had he done so my interest would have been for him to live
as long as possible."
" Consequently justice does not aim at your ladyship. It
is now demonstrated that the general's murder was in
revenge. Still a copy of the will has been officially made to
show to the jury, and the original deed remains in the custody
of the court till the trial is over. That is why the solicitor
cannot show it, or send it to any one till later. So he begged
me to explain how things stood."
"Well ?" asked Vivette, " though I cannot destroy it, can I
not renounce profiting by itj "
The Sting ftwn the Grave .103
To be sure you can ! "
" That will be enough for me."
Derquy could not help wafting a kiss to the noble girl who
preferred sisterly friendship and her lover's esteem above
riches. As the doctor looked astonished at this familiar token
of approbation, he said, eyeing Vivette in the face —
" Oh, we are betrothed, doctor."
Though the girl was not completely decided on the point,
she did not protest against the assertion as premature.
" Now I know all about it, and am set at ease," went on
the lieutenant. " But you were speaking of revenge, doctor.
Whom had the old boy offended ? He was rough as oak
bark, but he was incapable of hurting anybody seriously."
" Not even a servant, sir. He bullied them now and then,
but he liked them as children would have been liked, had he
any. Yet, the man accused was in his service."
" Then I dare say I know him."
" You have certainly seen him at the castle. The younger
of the two gamekeepers — Pierre Calorguen."
" The old soldier. Do they dare suspect him ? It's a great
shame ! He worshipped his leader, and I'd answer for the
brave fellow as for myself."
" Still, the charges press very heavily against him. He
was seen lying in wait near the scene of the crime — at
the very time — and seen to run away, and one of his gun
charges was found to be recently fired. Serious points ! "
*' A fig for your points ! Calorguen is innocent, and who-
ever accuses him lies. I say, cousin," he proceeded, suddenly
turning to Vivette, " isn't this the man you wanted saved ? "
" It is."
" Good ! We are both in the same boat, putting forth, and
I'll vouch for success."
Dr. Avangour was going to offer some objections when
Lady Houlbecq intervened. The conversation put her on the
rack, and she had only supported it from wanting to learn
what the doctor thought of her visit to Calorguen's before
the geijdarmes came ; but, seeing that he shunned go delicate
104 The Condemned Door
a subject, she dared not bring it forward before her sister
and her cousin. She sighed to be alone, to recover from her
emotions and ponder over the new condition in which her
husband's will placed her.
"Gentlemen," said she abruptly, "you are speaking of
matters which torture me, and I beg you again to change the
subject. I really need a rest."
" I have nothing more to do than take my leave," said the
doctor, rising. " I shall be back in Dinan before the week is
over. If I can be of any use here or there, pray command
me."
" I thank you, sir. But I am no longer interested in what
goes on there. You can tell the notary that I would like
him to send any further communications to Mdlle. de Bour-
briac, as the sole legatee of General Houlbecq."
Yivette wished to protest anew, but Derquy checked her
with a glance. He thought it wisest to leave the sisters to
fight it out alone, and said —
"My dear Flavia, you might let me go away with the
doctor. I abridge my call, but I shall look in again to-
morrow. I carry away enough happiness to last me over
twenty -four hours."
This tag of the speech was for Vivette, who was almost as
much pleased with it as with the disinterestedness he had
shown in approving her resolve to annul the testament.
Then the lieutenant went out with the doctor.
CHAPTEE XVIII
" WHEN YOU SEE THE DOG THE MASTER IS NOT FAR OFF "
"When the young officer and Avangour reached the foot of
the staircase, the former took his arm, saying —
" My dear doctor, what a good wind blew you in at my
cousin's just when I was there. In the first place, I am glad
to see you again, for I have the pleasantest recollection of
our long chats of old. Besides, I cannot make out clearly
what happened in the country — I am floundering about in
an unmapped sea, like a submarine boat. Do enlighten me,
and I shall not take my hold off, now I grasp you. Where
are you going 1 "
"To my hotel in Helder Street."
" Just in the nick ! I am stopping at the Grand Hotel,
and was going there. We can^ go in convoy — I mean
together."
" Superfluous explanation," said Dr. Avangour. " I was
born on the shore, and, consequently, know a few sea terms.
I ask nothing better than your company, but I am not pre-
pared to supply useful information, for I do not see much
clearer than you into this lamentable murder of the general.
Murder it evidently is, but by whom committed 1 Maybe
by that keeper, though I still doubt, in spite of law. Why
was he killed 1 That is what nobody yet has puzzled out."
'* Not even you, doctor ! "
** Not even I, though I have never ceased to think it over.
There is an old popular axiom — ' Look out for the woman ! '
and I am still looking for the woman."
*' I suppose Calorguen has not married since I left France?''
106 The Condemned Door
" No, he has not even a betrothed, and no sister. As for
the general, he had never been a terror to the girls of the
estate ; quite an exemplary husband. Therefore, admitting
that Calorguen killed him, it would not be to avenge any
wrong done the girl he loved."
" And looking on the other side of the question, it is hard
to believe that this blade was enamoured of my cousin."
The doctor knew much more than the speaker on this
head, but he had the sense to say nothing, not liking to make
a confidant of the baroness's future brother-in-law.
" Then it's not Calorguen," went on Derquy.
" I hope not, for I am much interested in him."
'' Then who the deuce is it ? "
*' That's the point ! None know, and perhaps none ever
will, so that the poor lad runs a great risk of being condemned
by the jury."
"And that will delay my cousin Yivette becoming my
wife "
"Even if she renounces a splendid bequest?" observed
Avangour gently.
" In renouncing it she does what I would have counselled
her if she had consulted me. But, that will coming up again ;
can you explain to me why the general has disinherited his
wife?"
" No more than I can explain the rest. The couple always
lived on the best of terms, apparently a most united pair.
What is more strange is that the general wrote it only a few
hours before the bullet split his heart. And he sent a rider
with it to his solicitor at Dinan. It looks as if he foresaw
his approaching end."
"It is highly extraordinary. But tell me, is there no
motive expressed in these last lines ? "
" There are not many over a dozen lines in all, and they
contain nothing but the one legacy for Mdlle. de Bourbriac,
quite enough for her to take all."
" No, since she gives up the idea of profiting by a whim of
poor old Houlbecq. He was very hasty, apd, after an alter-
' " When you see the Dog the Master is not Fa)' Off '* 107
cation with his lady, he no doubt dashed off the deed ah irato,
in his ire, but would certainly have annulled it if he had
survived."
The doctor shook his head, seeming to be of another mind
than the optimist officer.
The two in chatting had descended Friedland Avenue and
had reached the corner of Faubourg St. Honore.
" So this unfortunate Calorguen is in Dinan jail ?"
In solitary confinement, too. I asked leave to see him,
but I was refused."
" If they refused you, they will not pass me. Yet I would
have liked to hear his tale."
" Oh, the restriction will be soon removed, for the pre-
liminary inquiry is about closed. Squire Miniac told me
lately that the decree for the trial at the chief court would be
issued before the close of the month by the Eennes Court of
Appeal, and that the accused would be brought up at the
assizes next month."
"The deuce ! I have no time to waste if I mean to attempt
to prove his innocence."
" I doubt you will manage, but anyhow, one may hope so
long as the verdict 'is not given. Unhappily there is one
crushing bit of evidence against Pierre — that of one Jean
Baptiste Pillemer, who all but saw him fire the gunshot."
" Pillemer— who's he 1 "
Instead of answering the question the doctor stopped sud-
denly and stared at a passing man on the other side of the
way, coming in the opposite direction.
" The saying is true," muttered Dr. Avangour. " Speak
of the devil and he's sure to appear — but Pillemer in Paris !
this is queer."
" What ! " cried Derquy, " is this the witness who accuses
Calorguen, that kind of ploughman in his Sunday clothes who
passes there ? He does not look like a townsman in the
least."
" He is a thorough Breton," returned the doctor, in a low
voice. "He is a farmer half-a-dozen miles from Trigarvou,
108 The Condemned Door
at the Hunaudaie, and I should like to know what brings him
to town."
" I have a mind to stop him to ask why he intends mis-
chief to poor Calorguen."
" You would act very wrong. He would get it about that
you had tried to influence him. But I am curious to know
where he is going."
" Are you ? Well, doctor, we need only follow him.''
" I do not know if that is prudent. He may catch sight of
us, and if he should "
^ ' Let's try. I engage to chase him without his seeing
us. There he goes round the corner. Come on, my dear
fellow ! "
Avangour let himself be drawn away, and arm in arm they
remounted Friedland Avenue. The rustic had turned to the
right towards the Haussmann Boulevard. He walked rather
slowly, and often stopped, like a stranger who feared to go
wrong. But he kept the lead and did not bother about any
one behind him.
" You see there is no danger," resumed Derquy. " Let us
lock step with him at a convenient distance, and on the waj^
tell me why this clown's presence in Paris seems suspicious."
" That's not precisely the word. Only he never goes up,
and I am more astonished to see him when he might be called
at any moment before a court of inquiry. The owner
of Hunaudaie lives in Paris in the winter, it is true, but he
has been out of the way this month, and it is said down our
part that he is dead."
*' What is the name of that landowner ? "
" You know him very well. It is the Count of Trigavou."
"Alain! Why, we were thick in the old times. And,
indeed, I was shocked this morning to hear that he was
believed dead. His housekeeper said so, and the news took
me aback. My cousins know it now, too."
" It is not so certain that he is dead, though his disappear-
ance is alarming. What does Lady Houlbecq think of it ? "
*^ She appears quite afflicted, and her sister too. I shajl
** Whe7i you see the Dog the Master is not Far 0/" 109
console myself with difficulty at the loss of a friend, for,
whatever you or my cousin Flavia say, I no longer hope to
see him."
" Eh, does her ladyship doubt 1 "
" It struck me so. She never saw the count save in winter
in society, for he came but rarely to the castle, whither the
general did not try to entice him."
" He may have been jealous of him."
" I don't believe that. Still, though, there's some sense in
it, for Trigavou was a winning card, whilst poor Houlbecq
had dreadfully aged since marriage ; and, between ourselves,
was not always amiable, particularly towards my lady. But
my cousin is virtue itself to the tips of her nails." As the
doctor said never a word, Derquy added : "Was she ill-
spoken of ? "
"Not openly. But you know there are slanderers and
libellers everywhere. They will pass comments, and the
general's tragic death set all tongues a- wagging."
*• I suppose they do not accuse his widow of having him
killed ? "
" Oh, no. But when it is generally known that his will cuts
her off they will give full cry again."
" I'll silence some of the hounds ! "
" Then you have made up your mind to go down there ? ''
" I shall go if my cousin wishes it."
*' Lady Houlbecq will be compelled, I fear, to appear in the
Assize Court."
" So will I appear. Ha ! there's our man stopping to read
the name-board at the corner of Teheran Street, as if he were
astray."
" Very likely, and if he should retrace his steps he'd
infallibly run up against us. Now, I am very much set on
his not seeing me, and will, therefore, give up this chase.
But he does not know you, and nothing bars you from seeing
it out. I advise you, though, not to accost him. He's as
cunning as a fox, and will mistrust you."
"I will content myself with following him. And when I
110 The Cojidemned Door "
house him I shall have safe ground to start from. I do not
clearly see what this will bring us too, but still "
"He's going to turn ! I shall come around to the Grand
Hotel to-morrow to hear how the adventure turned out, my
dear sir."
So .saying the doctor wheeled and went his way, keeping
close to the houses.
Derquy believed he could not do better than stick to the
man-hunt, whilst conforming to Dr. Avangour's advice for
him to act with prudence. He began to like the fun, and
thought to himself it was good apprenticeship before he took
vip the chase of the assassin in order to demonstrate the
innocence of Vivette's " ward."
The farmer of the Hunaudaie was still at fault before the
street sign-board, hesitating to go down Teheran Street, and
Derquy had ample time to study him. This peasant was
clothed like a townsman, but he appeared constrained in the
unaccustomed suit, and his bearing and face were not
altered. Thick-set, broad-shouldered, with a square face
enframed in red whiskers, he looked more like a sailor than a
farmer, but he " went over the edge " of the disguise, as
policemen say of an evil-looking passer-by.
He did not notice the naval officer, who was slowly
approaching, but he applied to a working man, no doubt to
ask his road, for Derquy, quickening his pace, caught the
answer — " To get to Monceau Park? Why, go up to
Teheran Street — to Messina Avenue, and on to the end, when
you will see the park gate before you."
The farmer thanked the man, and started in the denoted
direction, when Derquy grazed him as he came by. He
thought himself extremely sharp in going up Teheran Street
with the lead, reasoning — *^He will never guess thus that I
am following him. Every now and again I will glance over
my shoulder to see how he is coming on, and I cannot miss
him, now I know whither he is bound."
He forgot that no craft can be well done without some
experience. He was still in the 'prentice stage as a
*' When you see the Dog the Master is not Far Off ^^ 111
*' shadow," and he was soon obliged to confess that nothing
in this difficult pursuit can make up for unenjoyed practice.
The first time he looked behind him he saw that the
Breton, instead of proceeding, had halted in the mouth of the
street.
" He seems to distrust himself,'' grumbled the'naval officer.
*' Can he chance to remember me from having seen me at
Trigavou ? It's likely, for I thought his displeasing phiz had
come athwart my eyes before, probably near the castle.''
An empty cab was crawling along, to the driver of which
Pillemer beckoned. It stopped, and in jumped the country-
man, after giving an address which Lieutenant Derquy could
not hear at a distance, and the vehicle rolled up the Hauss-
mann Boulevard, carrying away the farmer and his secret.
"Oh, he must have recognized me," growled Yivette's
betrothed. " Here I am landed like a greenhorn after a trial
trip. Nice of me, ain't it ] This will teach me to leave police
duty alone. There may be good sport in dodging a man
when one is gifted that way, but there's none of the vocation
in my sea-pie. Anyway, I don't reckon to have squeezed
much out of this turnip- cutter. Still, I should like to know
what he wanted in Monceau Park — to meet some one 1 A
countryman does not go into gardens to stroll among flowers."
After reflection he concluded that the only course open to
him was to transport himself to the park, where he might be
lucky enough to find Pillemer anew, who was, perchance,
going round about in the hackney coach to throw pursuers
off the scent. Derquy was in nowise pressed, and he could
not hope to overtake Dr. Avangour now.
So he went on to Messina Avenue, and all the way to the
gilded gates visible at the end of Euysdael Avenue.
The doctor's remarks floated in his brain, and entangled his
own idea ; he tried to solve their enigmatical sense.
Ordinarily frank, Dr. Avangour's language had been full of
reticence, and cleared up nothing ; he neither denied nor
affirmed Calorguen's innocence nor the baroness's virtue. In
this scepticism there was much to shake Olivier'a father
112 The Condemned Door
though supported by Vivette's categorical declarations, the
keeper's guilt not being admissible by her any more than
Lady Houlbecq's complicity. But our seaman was not one
to give up a generous design. He went straight on without
thinking any more of the doctor's opinions.
CHAPTER XIX
DROPPING A TORCH IN A KEG OF POWDER
Arrived in Monceau Park, Lieutenant Derquy set to explor-
ing it in every way — no small affair, as the park is pretty
large and crossed by numberless paths. In summer it is full
of idlers, nursemaids and children, and to look for a human
needle in that haystack were summer madness indeed. L u t
there is no mob in winter, and though it was fine weather,
most of the seats were unoccupied and there were few pro-
menaders.
There was only required good eyes to spy the man, and our
lieutenant had excellent ones. But the question was if the
farmer of the Hunaudaie would come at all, and which way
as there are three or four different entrances. Instead of
standing guard at any one of these, it were assuredly better
to wander about where the lawn alternated with shrubbery.
Through the main road vehicles came, and Pillemer might
even cross without getting out of the cab he had taken.
To begin with, Derquy examined this east and west road,
but in its sweeps he met nobody but nursemaids and their
charges. Then he perceived a bridge over an artificial brook,
and went upon its arched back, whence he commanded the
beds and clumps. In this well chosen spot he waited like a
wild fowler for the game.
Behind him rose a colonnade around a sheet of water, a
sham ruin imitating the remains of a Grecian temple, a sad
and damp place, where no one strolls even in the brightest
season.
But one gentleman was lounging here, with his hands in his
I
114 The Condemned DoOT
ulster pocketsand its collar turned up, no doubt to keep off
the chill. He stamped round the lake like a man impatient,
or with cold feet, or both.
"There's a person who looks as if keeping an appoint-
ment," mused Derquy. " A lady of course, though I don't
know ; it might be a man more naturally this weather — why
not Pillemer ? Anyway, I have a strong mind to view him
closer to learn if he is an acquaintance."
Without further deliberation, the naval officer descended
from his observatory, noiselessly reached the colonnade, and
made the circuit of the lakes, but not in the same direction
as the lounger, so that they came face to face. Both
stopped short.
"Thunder! is it you?" ejaculated Derquy, stupefied.
" How happy I am to see you ! I can hardly believe my
eyes. I heard you were dead ! "
" I beg your pardon, sir," replied the other curtly. " I do
not know you, and I do not understand your talk."
" Can I be wrong ? " muttered the lieutenant, examining
the speaker. " But no," he resumed, almost instantly, " I am
not mistaken. You are Count Alain of Trigavou."
" That is so, but, I repeat, I am not aware to whom I have
the honour of speaking."
"Well, I never expected that my campaign im China would
change me so that one of my old friends would not recognise
me. It is true that I am wearing all my beard, but still,
dear boy, take a hard look at me. Don't you recall the naval
officer you introduced to your club four years ago 1 "
" What, are- you "
" Derquy — Olivier Derquy."
" Oh, my friend, many excuses ! I so little expected to
meet a man here whom I believed to be in the depths "
" Of the sea," added the other, laughing.
"Lord, no ! of the Far East. How happy I am, too, to
see you ! " cried Trigavou, shaking Olivier 's hand effusively.
" How long have you been home ? "
" Only since yesterday in Paris."
Dropping a Torch in a Keg ofPoicder 115
" And I only came back this morning."
"That explains why, when I called at your place in
Miromesnil Street yesterday, I was told that there had come
no news from you in a month."
" And did they conclude that I was dead ? "
*' Indeed they did. My cousins, too, believed so, and wore
mourning for you."
" Lady Houlbecq and her sister are really too kind, and I
am eager to learn how that idea got afloat that I would go
hence without taking my leave of them."
" They knew that you had left the Hunaudaie farm
suddenly, and nobody had seen you since. In Brittany it
was thought some misfortune had befallen you. Dr,
Avangour for one was convinced of that."
" The Dinan doctor ! Have you seen him 1 "
" Just left him ? I met him at my cousin's."
"Really these dull dogs among the cabbage-heads have too
much imagination. What ! because a man pleases to absent
himself without leaving word where he goes, people amuse
themselves by spreading reports of his death ! It's really
too absurd."
" I grant it, but it also shows that you have friends' who
fret about you. They alarmed themselves mistakenly, for
here you are alive. All is for the best. Only I ought to
undeceive Lady Houlbecq and her sister about your fate.
Now I think of it, their house in Friedland A venue is not
two steps. Will you come around with me ? What a sensa-
tion ! They'll take you for a ghost ! "
" I don't care to frighten them. And besides, between
ourselves, I cannot leave this spot. I am waiting for
somebody."
" Ahem ! a lady ? "
" Label it as you please, my dear Olivier ! "
" Good ; I understand. You have been courting her this
month. Now I see why you let nobody hear from you."
" But I have not been in hiding, only travelling."
*' Incog., eh 1 That's much the same thing. Pursuing the
116 The Condemned Door
bella donna from town to town ? You are in the true course,
for there is nothing half so sweet in life as pursuing love's
young dream. But I am awfully in your way, of course, and
so I'll sheer off. I'll go around alone to my cousin's and
promise your early call."
" No, no. Pray stay, my friend, I am too soon for my
appointment, and so we have time for a little parley. You
know that the old baron went off rather tragically ? "
" Alas, yes ! Never did any event surprise me more."
"I left the Hunaudaie on the very eve, learning of the
lamentable occurence by the newspapers, and I only know
what was said at first. How does Lady Houlbecq bear her
affliction 1 "
"Profoundly afflicted she is, and she cannot bear her
husband's death to be spoken of. Her sister feels much
sorrow, too, and is all the more saddened because a man is
accused of the crime who interests her, and me also — a game-
keeper who was in the heavy horse under the general —
Pierre Calorguen. You must have seen him down there."
" Very likely. Do they know why he killed his master ? "
" Mdlle. de Bourbriac asserts that he never did, and I agree
with her. I may even tell you that I perhaps am going to
Trigavou to try to collect favourable testimony for the man.
My cousin Vivette has asked me to help and defend him.
Before I actually set out, I shall ask you for particulars
about people there, whom you know better than I. And I
will keep you cognisant of my doings, for I hope we shall see
one another often ! "
" I hope so, too. I am going to resume my winter life in
the same quarter, and we can meet every day at the club."
" That's a settled arrangement. And we shall also meet at
Lady Houlbecq's when I get back from Brittany."
"When are you off]"
" I hardly know, depending as it does on what my cousin
decides. I have placed myself at her beck and call. But it
will probably be soon, as this unfortunate Calorguen appears
at the assizes next month, and we have no time to lose in his
Dropping a Torch in a Keg of Powder 117
behalf. But, by the way, do you know that the bitterest
witness against him is your farmer at the Hunaudaie "
" Pillemer 1 How should I know that ? I left two days
before the crime : I arrived here this morning, and during my
stay away I have held no correspondence — whether you
believe me or not — with this honest fellow, who does not
know how to write well. Anyway, I do not comprehend
how he gets entangled with the affair. The Hunaudaie is a
good bit from the castle, and Pillemer generally sticks to
his farm."
" Does he ? Ha, ha ! He's in Paris at this very speaking."
" Impossible ! "
"I have just met him."
"Why you don't know him ! "
" Well, I don't ; but Dr. Avangour pointed him out to me.
" Some error of the doctor's. Pillemer has never come to
the city. I have not called him, and if, on some next to
impossible errand, here he is, without my leave and without
notifying me, I should have seen him already, for he has my
address, of course."
" He did not find you there, and he is hunting after you.
I heard him inquire of a passer-by for Monceau Park."
" That's too rich ! Pillemer never in all his life heard
of Monceau Park."
" Your housekeeper may have told him you were here."
" My housekeeper ! Do you fancy that I let him into my
confidence about the trysts I have 1 "
" True ! My supposition has no sense in it ; and, in any
case, it is no business of mine whom this Pillemer is looking
for."
" I repeat to you, my dear boy, that it can't be Pillemer.
Dr. Avangour has gone wrong."
" I begin to believe so, and that I did not hear aright. If
the man whom the doctor took for your farmer intended to
be driven to this park I should have seen him in the half-
hour I have been looking about. But I am not sorry for the
wild goose chase he's led me, since I have found you. Yet
118 The Condemned Door
I would never have been here if I had not met him at the
corner of Friedland Avenue and the Faubourg St. Honore."
" You followed him ? "
"I own up, and that I am very stupid. But if I had
known that you were not dead (heaven be praised !) I should
not have been such a fool. Instead of following the man I
should have asked you straight what you thought of him."
'' I can think only well of him. He was on the farm in
my father's time. He has made money, and might have
lived independent, but has remained faithful to me whilst I
am under a cloud. He takes care of my little property, and
acts as my serving-man. I have entire trust in him, and he
deserves it."
" Incapable of bearing false witness, then 1 ''
" Totally ! and I must add that I do not know of his
having any ill-will towards the baron's gamekeeper. How-
ever, I suppose I shall be running down to the Hunaudaie
one of these days, when I shall question Pillemer and make
him thoroughly confess, and I will give you an account of
the examination."
Whilst conversing, the gentlemen had sauntered away
from the colonnade around the ornamental water. Derquy
fully perceived that the count did not want the lady he
expected to find him in colloquy with a stranger. Frequently
Trigavou turned, no doubt to see if she was coming.
Thus they got to the Malesherbes Boulevard entrance and
the main road coming to it. The lieutenant saw a cab
rattling up the middle of this road, and at the window the
face of the rustic he had seen get into it at the corner of
Teheran Street. " There he is ! " he muttered, squeezing
the count's arm.
"Who? My farmer?"
" Yes; yonder, in that cab."
Trigavou looked, but the man had dropped back under
cover, and the vehicle rushed past.
*' I had no time to see him, but I suppose he had plenty to
gee us," remarked the nobleman,
Dropping a Torch in a Keg of Potoder 119
"Oh, plenty !"
" Then it is not Pillemer, for he would have stopped to
speak. But in order to be still more sure that it is not he,
you can run after the cab," continued Trigavou merrily.
" It's not flying, and you can easily overtake it."
" My dear fellow, you have reason to laugh at me,"
returned Derquy, gaily as well. "That is some compensation
for my having bored you with my whims and assertions.
It's all that fault of the doctor's seething in my brain. He
must have a beam in his eye to take some suburban market-
gardener for a chawbacon. But let it drop ; go back to your
appointment, and excuse my keeping you so long."
" There's no harm done since my party has not turned up
yet. I am lucky."
" I believe you are. But you'll not be kept long, and it is
useless for me to be seen detaining you. I shall run on to
Lady Houlbecq's."
" To tell her you have seen me ? "
"Certainly. She would never forgive my concealing so
happy an encounter."
" Oh, I should soon have paid her my respects, but that
need not prevent you trumpeting my resurrection. Only I
shall be obliged by your not mentioning that you caught me
. hanging round a tree in Monceau Park like a hobbledehoy
waiting in Love Lane for a sweetheart."
" What do you take me for, my dear Alain ? I beg you to
believe that I know how to hold sacred a friend's confidence
as regards a love affair. Now, when do I see you again 1 "
" To-morrow, if you like, at the club, five to six. What
do you say to dinner ? I am not free now, and I do not ask
you around to my lodgings during the day, for I may be out.
Lots to do after a month's absence, of course."
After a cordial shake of the hand the two friends separated.
The Count of Trigavou sauntered back to his old post by
the lake, where he said his guiding star would soon appear,
and Lieutenant Derquy strode off towards Houlbecq House.
J5e was ^nch^mted at finding a pleasant companion agairi
120 The^ Condemned Door
who might serve him in his plans, but he stormed at the
hastiness of Dr. Avangour. He even wondered if the doctor
did sincerely interest himself about Calorguen. He doubted
it, almost as much as his own right, and he reckoned on the
Count of Trigavou being a sharper and more devoted ally
in the campaign undertaken to rescue the ward of Yivette
de Bourbriac.
Assuredly Olivier would never have been of this way of
thinking had he known that this winning gentleman was the
paramour of Lady Houlbecq, and had also flirted with Mdlle.
de Bourbriac, but Olivier was fresh from China, and had not
the faintest suspicion of what went on at the castle once he
sailed the seas. On reaching the house in Friedland Avenue
he considered it useless to see his cousins to tell them that
their country neighbour was in good health. He pencilled a
few words on his visiting card for the footman to carry it
immediately to his lady, and thereupon he walked away,
delighted to be the first to give such happy intelligence to
the two sisters.
Little did he forecast the effects it would produce.
Without knowing it, and with no such intention, he had
simply dropped a torch in the keg of powder.
CHAPTER XX
OUT OF THE TOMB INTO THE SUNLIGHT
The Count of Trigavou, believed by so many to be dead ,
had never enjoyed better health, and readily assumed his old
mode of life, modest as it was, in accordance with his limited
income.
With twelve thousand francs a year, a man is not rich in
Paris, even though he spends six months annually in the
country. He is almost poor if his birth and relations oblige
him to go much into society.
Alain was thus situated, for he lived up to his rank among
the millionnaires. But he knew how to regulate his
existence.
In the first place, as he spent hardly anything during his
stay at the Hunaudaie, his twelve thousand francs became
equal to twenty thousand for the winter months. He
belonged to a fashionable club, where he dined in superior
style at a very moderate price, when he did not dine out in
opulent mansions, where he was frequently invited. He
never gambled, or at least played whist and often won. He
threw away no money on female notorieties. He kept no
carriage, and no gentleman's gentleman. He had a lodging
in Miromesnil Street, comfortably furnished, with the house
porter as his man of all work.
His only luxury was a saddle-horse, which he kept out at
livery, and took down to the country to be turned out to
grass.
By his example he proved a well-known truth, namelj' —
that a knowing and experienced man can live on the best in
a great city for very little outlay.
122 The Condemned Door
After his month's absence, which had obliterated him from
the list of the living among his friends of both sexes, quick
to take alarm, and even by his faithful housekeeper, Trigavou
had re-installed himself with much pleasure in his rooms,
and had not quitted his fireside by three p.m. on the second
day after his stroll in Monceau Park. He remained indoors
because he expected a caller, for he did not doubt that the
good-hearted Olivier would hasten to announce to the
baroness the resurrection of her country neighbour.
Lady Houlbecq, before widowhood, never came to her
lover's house.
Equally prudent, they made it a rule never to expose
themselves to a surprise, and always to deprive themselves of
meetings in Paris, whatever it cost them. They made up
for it in summer time at the castle, where the general was
much less on the alert, and hardly watched his wife. In this
he resembled most husbands, who always see danger where
there is none.
Now Flavia was free, completely free. The world had
watched her when she went into mourning, but nobody now
busied about a woman who had remained plunged in grief
without giving hold for the lightest criticism. Trigavou's
disappearance had prevented Flavia compromising herself,
and now allowed her to renew, after a month's abstention,
without peril, her relations with the bewailed gallant.
He reckoned on this, and all his thoughts and deeds since
the disaster tended to prepare for them a durable happiness
which naught should trouble hereafter.
The moment had come.
On receiving Derquy's card overnight announcing the
blissful event, Flavia had nearly choked with emotion. But
then joy does not kill, and she had managed to contain
herself so as carefully to keep from Yivette the news that
the Count of Trigavou still lived, and that she expected to
see him a day or two hence. She could not let her servants
remark her going forth after dark for the first time after her
El/rfiv^l in to\yn, Again, Olivier's pencilled lines had giveii
Out of the Tomb into the Sunlight 123
no details ; they ran on the visiting card — " Alain of
Tvigavou has returned. I have seen him."
By running straightway to Miromesnil Street, Lady
Houlbecq ran a risk of finding no one at home. She knew the
count's habits ; that he breakfasted about noon, and dawdled
about over a cigar. At one she quitted her residence, telling
her sister she was going to profit by the fine weather to take
a stroll in the Champs Elysees. On her way she took a cab
for Trigavou's lodgings.
He himself opened to her ring. He expected her, and
showed that he did by losing no time in asking her questions
or furnishing any information.
Instead of exchanging vain words, they prattled of the
present and forgot the sorrows of the past, and paid no heed
to the uncertainty of the future. But ardent as they may
be, transports come down to earth from the seventh heaven,
and they found themselves hand in hand, looking into one
another's eyes, as at the castle on the gloomy night when
Baron Houlbecq cut short their villainous colloquy. The
same remembrance struck them both, and nothing more was
needed to spring the questions out upon their lips.
^' At last I shall learn what happened at Trigavou after
our abrupt separation," said the lover.
" Now, what have you done all this month ? Why did you
give me no token of life 1 "
Each was trying to draw the other out.
" I could not write you," rejoined the count. " I feared
my letter would fall into other hands than yours. At first I
was ignorant your husband was killed, and feared you were
under close ward. When a little later I read the newspapers
announcing the event, I also read that the investigation was
begun, so I played the dead lest I injured you. As soon as
the police take up a matter, extreme prudence becomes the
golden rule. Had I written you, some allusion to our adven-
ture must have crept in, and the mere seizure of my letter in
the post would have got us both in a pinch. I quickly
understood that in our mutual interest I ought to dive under
124: The Condemned Door
if only for a time. I did it, and I do not repent it, for we are
now in a lovely situation. No one saw me enter the castle
or go out on St. Hubert's Night. No one knows or even sus-
pects we love one another. Hence no astonishment will be
aroused at your receiving me. As for those curious to know
what became of me since General Houlbecq's death, my reply
is ready without any need to lie. I went to Scotland and
stayed with a laird, one of my friends, who can testify to it,
if my word is doubted."
" Now, is this true, really true ? "
" What ! Do you yourself doubt it ? Do you imagine I've
been hiding in some other tower, under the care of some
other lady of a castle ! Tut, tut ! You know well enough I
have loved none but you, and I love you more than ever
since you have undergone so much for me."
" Forgive me, Alain, dear ! I am mad to accuse you, but
how can I help it when I was so miserable ? And I have
always been jealous, you remember."
" So am I jealous, too." said Alain, smiling. " If ever you
give me cause to believe a rival "
" Hush ! " ejaculated the baroness, closing his mouth with
a kiss.
" Oh, I am glad to believe it not. But I warn you I shall
look out. Now, to speak seriously. You did not answer
my query on what occurred after you pushed me out into
the tower chamber. I listened at the door to your tyrant
roaring his intention to camp down in your rooms and not
leave you. I had no trouble guessing that he meant to
blockade me, so as to force me to show myself."
" You must have also heard the hammer at work under his
order for some roofers to fasten a sheet of metal over the
condemned door."
** No. Oh, ho ! he wanted to box me up and starve me to
death?"
" Just so."
" Then he was more ferocious and more cowardly than I
fancied. Decidedly he merited what befel him. But, tell
OiU of the Tomb into the Sunlight 125
me, has not that metal plate been moved since the fatal
shot?"
" I would have torn it down myself if I had been left alone,
but Dr. Avangour came in upon me. The general had called
him over from Dinan on the pretext that I was unwell. He
arrived the very moment when my husband fell, and he was
the first to pronounce his death certain. Then came Justice
Miniac. It is possible he supposed a man was in the tower,
for he had the plate immediately taken off."
" In your presence ? "
" Yes, I stood by, more dead than alive."
" How you must have been amazed to find the hole
empty?"
" I was so terrified that I dropped in a swoon."
" I hope, when you came to, you never told them why you
were so deeply afi'ected 1 "
" Not I. Besides, nobody asked me. It was thought my
powers were exhausted after so many shocks."
" Yery lucky. And what did my darling Ma via think of
that miraculous disappearance ? "
"Nothing. I remained unconscious a full hour, and
w^hen I recovered my senses I believed I had the night-
mare. Later, I was led to think you had perished in seeking
safety."
" Then you guessed the hole had an outlet? There was
one indeed, known to me since I was a boy — a rat's run in
the hollow of the thick wall. Nobody ever found it and
nobody will, though only one of the stones has to be moved,
but you have to know the right one."
" Others do know it. The burrow runs down to the foot
of the tower, where the opening was walled up some five
years ago. I believed you descended this well, and "
Pooh ! catch me sliding down that no-thoroughfare ! I
would never have got out. On the contrary, I climbed up.
The wall is bored from the foundation stone to the turret,
and the perpendicular tunnel used to have two egresses — one
below, stopped up, and one above, still free. By climbing
126 The Condemned Door
like a chimney sweep, I reached the conical roof covering the
old platform of the tower. The rest was a trifle. In the
roof is a skylight, and the ivy has grown up to there — that
blessed ivy which so often served as my ladder to reach your
window."
" This time it helped you flee. And I believed you lost.
Had I but known "
" You may well believe that I did not go to sleep on the
road. Twenty minutes after your husband's popping in on
us I had landed in the grounds. I stole along the wall to
the breach you know about, and thence flew straight to the
Hunaudaie, which I reached in an hour and a half. Of
course my farmer, Pillemer, was asleep, and 1 would not
wake him. I had worn my considering-cap on the way, and
my course was taken. I went up to my room, filled my
pockets with a hundred napoleons I always keep in a desk
for sudden emergencies, and shot off a.gain. I reached
Dinard easily before peep of day, for you know I am a good
walker. There I took the first boat for St. Malo. By ten I
was aboard the Southampton steamsliip, and on the next
evening but one I was in London. What a good thing I
went ! My stay in Brittany would have been on thorns,
whilst nobody troubled about me in my absence. Anyway,
I never foresaw your husband would be killed, and I wanted
to play him a trick — let him believe I had died of hunger in
the deadly trap, and chuckle over being rid of me, and then
confuse him \yy presenting myself some fine day at the castle
to ask him how he was. That ought to have cured him for
ever of jealous suspicions — ha, ha 1 But things have turned
out differently, for which I am not sorry, as the obstacles
between us exist no more. But I must know how I stand
as regards this death. There is a gamekeeper accused and
arrested. Did he do it ? "
" I do not doubt he did."
" Good 1 But why assassinate his master 1 Not to please
me, I'll wager, for the man hates me."
" He killed him out of love for me."
CHAPTER XXI
A TERRIBLE SWEETHEART
This was not the first time that Trigavou's ido], had swung
from rage to joy, from insults to endearments. Such wicked
entanglements as theirs cannot be without quarrels, and the
reconciliations are but temporary. But the storms are
quickly forgotten, and Flavia was so effusive with happiness
that she all but informed her false w^orshipper of Yivette's
generous project to renounce the general's inheritance. Re-
flection checked her.
To begin with, Vivette might recall her resolution.
Besides, the test was not complete. In promising to wed
his lady love, Alain had perhaps only yielded to an enthu-
siastic impulse to be regretted by and by. Best to make
sure of the constancy of his sentiments, fortify her power
during the period imposed bylaw, and in ten months' time
if his tenderness was lasting, reward his perseverance by
telling him how she came into her own again against her
husband's design, by her sister's kindness.
Lady Houlbecq did not see it was difficult to keep such
triumphant tidings long. All she thought of was the still
distant bliss of linking her destiny for ever to her adored's
and she felicitated herself on having witnessed overnight
the betrothal of Vivette, who could not disengage herself
whatever might be her regret when she saw Alain of
Trigavou again. She could not fail to see him, for it was
settled that the count should often come to the Friedland
Avenue mansion as a friend. Besides, the unsuspecting
Derquy would not be slow to inform his intended of
Trigavou's resurrection.
128 The Condemned Door
In less time than it takes to write it, Flavia thought of all
this, and, amid fondlings, said of a sudden : —
" Now I believe you. You have sworn it under heaven,
and if you are a perjurer, heaven will punish you."
The last of the Trigavoua had nowise expected to hear
the wronged baron's widow call heaven to witness the oath
consecrating a shameful amour, but he was sufficiently his
master not to smile, and he protested anew against the
lingering doubt of his suspicious divinity.
" Cheer up, woman of little faith," said he impiously. " I
have always been the pattern for lovers and shall never
change. My fidelity will resist time and events. Have you
not found that so already ? And nothing can come wores
than the crisis we have gone through. Now for more trouble-
some matters. Down there in the Breton country a sword
of Damocles is hanging over your head by the finest hair.
What shield have you against the danger 1 "
" I meant to have fled from France, but you oppose it, and
as you are my lord and master I shall obey."
" Mark — two men are to be feared "
" Calorguen and — and "
" Dr. Avangour."
"Why the doctor?"
" Because he must know many things, and I believe he is
set against me. Moreover, there's your sister, before whom
you spoke imprudently."
" She will not speak."
" But she will act."
" What can we do as regards her ? "
" Nothing. Otherwise I may do considerable."
" How ? "
"I must get back the note you wrote. It is clear
Calorguen no longer has it. The prison searcher would have
found it. Therefore he hid it away before arrest."
" Or entrusted it to somebody ? "
" Just so. The puzzle is to light upon the hiding-place or
custodian, which I charge myself with,"
A Terrible Sweetheart 129
" Then yon mean to go into Brittany — to theHunandaie %
" Why not ? How natural after a month's touring that
I should spend a few days on my little property before
settling definitely in town. An excellent way, too, for
silencing the scandal-mongers mayhap commenting on my
absence. None better than I know the castle, its surround-
ings, and the country folk of the township. I can make a
thorough inquest without any show of it. I shall give Dinan
a turn, and if I meet Dr. Avangour find out what he has in
his brain.'*
" And should you meet my sister around Trigavou ? "
" Well, I'll bow to her and no more. You cannot expect
to conceal that I live, and I hope you are no longer jealous.
Besides, she'll not go down to Trigavou alone. Olivier will
accompany her. Between ourselves, that is not the correct
thing, but since they are to be married "
" I would it yi ere to-morrow ! "
" I have the same wish for it to be over promptly," Alain
hastened to say on seeing Lady Houlbecq's countenance darken,
for he wished to tranquillize her upon his aim in that quarter.
" I dine this evening with Derquy, who will certainly pro-
claim his approaching nuptials, which I shall urge him to press
on. On the same occasion I shall drop a word or two upon my
projected excursion — which you do not disapprove, I suppose."
" Would I could do it with you."
"Now, that would be a blunder and no mistake ! Were
you to set up in the castle again you would attract general
attention. It's lucky the public have not troubled about you
since the general's death. And if Calorguen learns that you
have come down at the same time as I, he's the man to let all
out. I shall take ray precautions to keep it dark that I have
reappeared. But the best thing is to manage his escape, and
if our simple Olivier will help me I'll succeed in that."
" When do you intend going *?" interrupted the baroness.
" As soon as possible. First I must learn what can be done
with Derquy, which will be this evening. About four to
morrow you will receive me — a ceremonipus visit of condolence-.
K
130 The Condemned Door
All the better if yonr sister be present, for I shall bear myself
in such a style that her fancy will fade away. The day after
to-morrow we will meet here again to arrange our plan of
campaign, to be carried out by myself alone. You remain in
Paris whilst I am scouring the plains, but I shall keep you
informed upon my operations, for there's no danger now in
our writing. Neither of us is mixed up with the case. If
the police had wanted to involve you it would have been done
before this. I even hope you will be spared the nuisance
of giving evidence in the court room. Needless to repeat that
the true aim of my trip is to recover your confounded auto-
graph and destroy it."
" Don't hunt for it in Calorguen's cottage. The police have
searched it high and low."
" But not all the cottages around ? "
" He lived alone with his old paralyzed mother and a half
idiotic child, with no friends among the neighbours and no
mates among our servants. I cannot think of anybody he
would have confided the writing to. During our interview
he told me it was not his mother, as she might have read it."
" By Jove, there's a clue there ! He has chosen some
illiterate fellow as guardian — lots of them at Trigavou, I
know. I will seek about and I shall find."
"He promised to return me the note, and I believe he
would, had not the gendarmes arrested him."
" Therefore, I repeat, he's not going to say anything so long
as he is not condemned. If it chances so, he will not be
believed were the cursed paper destroyed. Now, if you'll
believe me, you'll no longer defer telling your sister I am
living. Her intended Olivier will soon be doing it, and she
must not be let suppose you were trying to keep the truth
back from her. Your interest is to be first in with the news
in this 1 ace of intelligence. I do not see any inconvenience in
her knowing through you that I am off into Brittany to work
for her pet. In our complicated situation we ought to play
with cards above-board as the only means to win the stakes.'*
'* You ftr« right, And besidesi 1 axn eager to m% hoW
A Terrible Sweetheart 131
Vivette will take the news of your resurrection. If she
declares she loves you still and will wed no other "
" Pooh ! you can throw cold water on her by recalling her
engagement to her cousin. I even empower you to say that
I do not love her."
" Enough ! I believe you now."
"A lucky thing."
" How can I help being distrustful when I am jealous 1
But you see me pacified now. I shall follow your counsel
bit by bit, and we tog tlier will reach our goal through all
obstacles."
" Union is strength," observed Alain, returning the em-
brace of his terrible goddess.
The reconciliation was complete, and the interview finished
as it had commenced. Flavia, full of happiness and intoxi-
cated with hope, tore herself away and returned to her
mansion, where her sister awaited her.
CHAPTEE XXII
HER MOST DANGEROUS RIVAL
Lady Houlbecq took a cab to reach her residence the sooner,
and went straight on entering into the little sitting-room
where Yivette passed her evenings. There she found her
needle-working by the fireside as usual, and no more gay
than, on the eve. The guilty woman should have felt a
twinge of conscience at this calm scene of domestic life, after
her trip to the garden of forbidden fruit. She should have
envied the maid who, thrusting aside a hopeless lover
decided to wed an honourable man for whom she only yet
entertained a warm friendship. But the baroness never
thought of admiring sacrifices of this sort, Eesignation was
not her strong point, and her sister's wisdom merely excited
her scorn. All she had in her mind was to test the touch-
stone which the Count of Trigavou advised her to apply to
Vivette, and she set to work offhand.
" Has Olivier come while I have been away ? " she inquired.
" I do not think so," rejoined the other, without raising her
eyes.
" Well, had he come he would have asked to see you."
" I was alone, and I should not have received him."
" Why not 1 Are you not betrothed 1 "
" That is rather too strong a word," murmured Mdlle. de
Bourbriac.
" Olivier believes so, and on good foundation after your
conversation with him yesterday. Changed your mind 1 "
'*No. I have no repugnance to marrying him — later
on."
Her most Dangerous Bival 133
" No repugnance and no eagerness, itstrikes me."
"I do not know how to answer you, and I am astonished
at your pressing me to explain my sentiments regarding him.
I am too much embarrassed to define them. My cousin
deserves the love."
" But you do not love him. Is that it 1 "
" I do not think the time has come. I told him so before
you, and he accepted the delay."
" He also accepted your strange alliance to go and try to ex-
tricate from the grasp of justice the man whom the universal
voice accuses of killing my husband. I do not gainsay this,
though the fellowship ensuing from this association seems to
me passably improper. I forewarn you that, when your
enterprise comes to an end, yoti will have to marry him for
your reputation's sake. Society does not allow girls to
scamper over mead and lawn for months at a time with a
man, even when the man is a cousin."
*' You forget I am five-and-twenty."
" What does that matter when he is only thirty ? And a
naval officer will never pass as a schoolboy. Since you must
marry Olivier sooner or later, let it be immediately."
" A month after the death of my brother-in-law ! Olivier
himself desires nothing of the kind."
" Only because he fears to vex you, but he is not the less
vexed himself at having to wait. Between ourselves, it is
not handsome on your part to impose so long a probation.
You may go back on your determination in a year, and if
you do your conduct will be most blamable. Hence I
counsel your ending the suspense now, unless you have some
hidden resolution."
" What about ? "
" Come, come, little sister, don't pretend not to under-
stand me. Yesterday you owned to me that you loved the
Count of Trivagou fondly. I fear you '^have not forgotten
him,"
" And I never shall, come what may ; but he is no more ;
and my fondness for him becomes a mere remembrance."
134 The Condemned Door
" He is said to be dead, but there is no proof. Perhaps
you hope to see him again."
" If I had cherished that hope, I would not have deferred
Olivier for a year, but refused altogether to marry him."
This declaration made Lady Houlbecq start and compre-
hend that indirect questions could obtain nothing but incom-
plete answers.
" So, if the Count of Trigavou were alive,'' she began.
" I would never marry," replied the other unhesitatingly.
" Oh, but you would — and the partner he ! '*
"No, He no more than another. But what pleasure
can you find in torturing me thus ? You know well that he
is dead."
Plavia, pale to whiteness, looked steadily at the speaker,
and abruptly said :
" Alain of Trigavou is alive."
" That's not true ! " cried the other. " You say that to
try me."
" He lives, I repeat, and I can swear to it."
" Have you seen him ? "
" Olivier has, yesterday, and he wrote me the happy news.
Our poor cousin is delighted to recover a friend, for before he
sailed to China he was intimate with our neighbour, and he
has never suspected that the count pleased you also. Per-
haps he will be less satisfied on learning the tendency of your
heaii;, which he will discover unless you marry him speedily.'
Yivette did not protest ; she still doubted.
"No, I cannot credit this," she faltered. "If the count
were not dead we should have heard something about him
during the month of his disappearance."
" Why so ? " retorted Lady Houlbecq coldly. " He was in
Scotland. He has full right to travel incognito. He has no
near relatives. To whom, therefore, is he obliged to write 1
You did not expect a letter, did you, any more than 11"
" Certainly not ; still "
" Or his tenant of the Hunaudaie, or his housekeeper in
town? Still less, you will admit. He does not have to
Her most Dangerous Bival 135
account for his movements to his hired servants. I wonder
now how I was so silly as to take as serious the rural chatter
of Dr. Avangour and the replies of a porter to that dull-
brained Olivier, who ought to kick himself, as I believe the
latest slang of our young men has it, for so lightly spreading
about a tale of a man whom he ran up against in the street
at our very door."
" At our door *? " repeated Vivette, mechanically.
" Yes, truly. Paris life is full of such chance meetings.
The count came back that very morning," having quitted the
Hunaudaie two days before my husband's death, which he
read of in Scotland in the papers. He told cousin that he
would give us an early call to-morrow."
" To-morrow ! Are you going to receive him ? "
' " Of course ; I have no motive to order the doors to be
closed on him."
" I shall not see him ; I have no wish to see him."
" Are you, then, so little sure of yourself that your fear
is great to face him ? "
No answer from Vivette, whose silence was equivalent
to an avowal. Lady Houlbecq thus took it, and said to
herself her sister might be her most dangerous rival. Alain's
vows only partly reassured her, and his boastful disinterested-
ness might melt away if Vivette revoked and accepted the
general's splendid bequest. In any event, better not expose
Alain to temptation, and the best of all ways to preserve
him was to discourage Vivette's secret hopes in order to
push her into Cousin Olivier's arms. Lady Houlbecq did
not hesitate.
** In fact," she resumed, "you are right to avoid the count,
for I see you are not cured of the silly sentiment troubling
your brain. And you are not wrong, either, in believing he
does not care for you."
"Has he told you so?" asked Mdlle. de Bourbriac
quickly.
"Your question is absurd. On what occasion could he
have stated that he never noticed you and that you are
136 The Condemned Door
perfectly indifferent to him ? I am your sister, and, even
had he divined that you had a fondness for him, he would
not have chosen me as confidante of his sentiments regard-
ing you. But I do not admit that, with his personal
advantage and his rank, the Count of Trigavou could have
kept his heart free up to his thirty-fifth year, abiding
a place to plant it. I am certain he remains a bachelor
only because he is nam cured. You are no girl, and I can
speak freely."
" You mean he is in love with some one whom he will
not marry "
" Cannot marry 1 "
" She is a married woman, you mean ? "
"Probably."
" Do you know who it is ? " inquired Vivette, visibly
blanching.
" Were I to answer yes, you would want me to name her,
and I do not intend to do that. Women ought never to
betray one another, and the count's secrets are no concern
of mine. He has not entrusted this to me, but I am
astonished you never guessed it, as you were at all the
parties where he went last winter. Though you may be
no observer, you have only to call to mind, or to inquire,
easily to learn what you wish to know."
" I long to know nothing, and I am not going to trouble
society," responded Mdlle. de Bourbriac, gloomily.
" What do you mean by that 1 "
"What I gave oat already. I shall retire into Brittany
and only attend to objects of charity."
" What about Olivier 1"
" I cannot prevent him coming down to Trigavou to gather
favourable testimony for Calorguen. But I do not consider
myself engaged to him. The future is under the sole con-
trol of God. Olivier must wait."
Lady Houlbecq frowned with the thought —
" Yivette only half believes me when I assert Alain has
another love. She does not despair of winning him to her.
Her most Dangerous Bival 137
and who can deny she may succeed 1 He also is going down
to Brittany to his farm, not far from the cottage where the
old Caiorguen woman is dying. I must put that dolt Olivier
on his guard. Oh, if I could only speak and tell this love-
sick girl, 'Alain is my darling, and I forbid you even
thinking of him. If he dares marry you I'll kill him with
my own hands ! ' "
The baroness was on the verge of uttering this audacious
and perilous threat. Jealousy filled her heart, and she would
have ruined all rather than let Alain be another's. She
restrained herself, however, thinking there would be time
to act at the extremity if the count paid his addresses to
Vivette.
" And I am going to leave immediately," went on Mdlle.
de Bourbriac.
"Nothing hinders you. You can put up at the castle,
as it is yours," said Lady Houlbecq, not without a sting.
" No. Since I do not accept your husband's heritage, my
first care on arriving will be to have the Dinan lawyer make
out the deed of renunciation."
" Won't you reflect before you despoil yourself 1 "
" All my reflections are made. Until I buy a house I like,
I shall live with Mother Caiorguen."
" You are free to live where you please."
" I regret parting from you, but yesterday you made me
comprehend how necessary it was. Besides, you are going to
leave France for ever, you said."
" Oh, no ; I have altered my mind."
" May I know why ? " inquired Vivette after a pause.
Her eyes and Flavia's met, and the sisters exchanged a
long look. The younger sought to read the elder's soul,
while she forced herself to keep an impenetrable countenance,
and replied rather dryly —
" I am not also free to do as I like ? "
" Completely free. So you remain in town % "
" Not here, though. I have charged some one to find me
rooms, but you are not obliged to stay till I find them.
138 The Condemned Door
"Whether you give up your brother-in-law's succession or not,
you can dispose of the money, his first testament."
" I know that. I shall be off to-morrow."
" Without seeing Olivier ? "
" Without seeing anybody," rejoined Vivette, rising.
Lady Houlbecq did not try to detain her. She was wonder-
ing to herself, " Has she guessed I love Alain ? Maybe.
Well. What do I care as long as he is mine ? She cannot
steal him away, for I shall not let him go into Brittany."
CHAPTEE XXIII
THE MAGNET CITY CONTINUES TO DRAW
At the same time as Lady Houlbecq was cruelly torturing
her sister, Olivier Derquy promenaded the Boulevard des
Italiens on Dr. Avangour's arm, to kill the evening till he
had to go and dine with the Count of Trigavou. Our good-
hearted Olivier was delighted at having so well employed the
previous day. He had found a friend believed dead ; he had
made the proposal so well received by the Yivette whom he
loved since boyhood ; all this was enough to render him
happy and he was radiant with his joy, though dashed a
little with regret at not having been received just now on
calling at the house in Friedland Avenue.
The doctor, met at the corner of Helder Street, appeared
much less gay, and yet Olivier had told him of meeting the
count returned from Scotland, in Monceau Park. Without
trying to hide his astonishment, Avangour heard the relation
out with much attention, and only interrupted at times for
supplementary explanations. He even shook his head in
token of doubt, and he did not feel perfectly convinced that
the hermit of Hunaudaie had wasted a whole month in the
Highlands. This doubt was intensified when the lieutenant
mentioned the man followed by the pair of them to the
corner of Teheran Street and asserted that this was not the
Breton farmer.
" I am certain I am not mistaken," cried he quickly. " I
know Pillemer like his master, or even better, for I have
seen more of him. The count has never called me in, pro-
bably because he is always hale, but his man has come over
to my study at Dinan, not once, but a dozen times."
140 The Condemned Door
"Then how comes it this man did not recognise the
count ? " objected the naval officer.
" It is still more extraordinary that the count did not call
to him."
" He did not see him."
" He must have had eyes ; but you saw him, and you must
have pointed him out."
" So I did. He repeated that his farmer was not in town
and could not have come, and he pretends that you took some
rural visitor for Pillemer."
" Ha ! he knows I was with you when you met that man
in the St. Honore Faubourg ? "
" There's no reason I should keep that back. I even told
him that it was you who picked him out. Do you judge me
wrong ? "
" No, no, my dear sir. Stick to the proverb : ^ Tell the
truth and shame the unmentionable gentleman below.'"
" Still, doctor, I see you are not pleased."
" I fear that the lord of Trigavou will accuse me of med-
dling with what does not concern me."
" Should he say so, I will remind him that when you joined
with me in dogging Pillemer, or whomsoever it was, we were
ignorant that Pillemer's landlord was alive."
"Very true," murmured Avangour. "And. anyway, it is
a matter of indifference to me whether my lord of Trigavou
thinks ill or well of me."
" Not a friend of yours ? "
" No. I have very seldom come in contact with him. I
have met him two or three times at most, whilst he was on
the farm in summer time."
" It strikes me he did not capture you then 1 "
" I do not like men who hide their lives."
" I was not aware he hid his."
" His life down among us was an owl's. Nobody ever saw
him in the daytime, and it was presumed he roved at night.'
" He has much changed. When I knew him, no man wa«
better known."
The Magnet City continues to Draio 141
" So he is still here in Paris. His love of solitude only
rules him in Brittany. But he has the right to live in his
own style. If I do not treat him with all the fairness, let
alone kindness, he may merit, it is because I cannot help my
grudge against his farmer, who is the accuser of that hapless
gamekeeper. I do not say Calorguen is innocent or that
Pillemer is bearing him false witness, but Pillemer is the
reverse of sympathetic to me in the highest degree. He is
still more shady than the master of Trigavou. All the
country people hate him."
" And you cast upon the lord some of the overflow of
antipathy inspired by the varlet ? Well, I assure you that my
dear Alain is no enemy of Calorguen's. Daring the long
conversation of yesterday he never spoke one single word
against the man. He even promised to question his tenant
farmer and hold the whip over him to know if he did not lie
in affirming that he had seen the keeper steal along the park
wall at the hour of the crime."
" What ! Is the count going down to the Hunaudaie
before the trial 1 '^
" I know nothing about it. Bat if he does it will be to
try to be useful to Calorguen. Anyway, I am going down
and should Alain do so, we will work together to demonstrate
the poor fellow's innocence."
" Don't you fear you may damage his case in trying to
strengthen it ? Judges are distrustful, and they may want
to know why you are so hot in defending the man accused,
of General Houlbecq's murder."
" If such an impertinent question is put to me I should
answer the whole bench that my cousin — my wife soon to be
— firmly believes that Calorguen is not guilty. It is quite
natural I should interest myself in him."
"Beyond doubt. But I advise you not to mention Mdlle.
de Bourbriac, who will do wrong to meddle in the sad case."
•' Still, she has decided to meddle actively with it, and I do
not censure her. What has she to fear 1 I do not suppose
anyone will suggest her complicity ? "
142 The Condemned Door
" That would be shameful — aye, and absurd ! It is none
the less true that public opinion would be unfavourable to
her. She would be blamed for interfering on behalf of the
murderer of her brother-in-law."
" By Jove, doctor, perhaps you are right ! " said Olivier,
struck by Dr. Avangour's persistence in denoting an evident
danger. " I know what the country is, and how gossips
thrive. I shall try to calm my cousin and preach moderation
to her."
He did not know that it was too late since, from the night
before, Vivette had determined to push matters to the
extreme. In talking with her he had understood that she
thought of settling down at the castle, or near by, where he
had promised to join her. But he was ignorant that, as the
outcome of a stormy explanation with her sister, she had
resolved to start the next day.
Dr. Avangour was felicitating him on the praiseworthy
intention he announced when a gentleman came out of a cigar
shop near the Opera Passage right upon them and exclaimed :
" Thunder ! The doctor ! Here's a slice of luck ! "
" How are you, commander 1 I hardly expected to meet
you in town."
"Well, I don't run up often," answered the gentleman
glancing at Olivier askant as he was eyeing him.
" Allow me to introduce a fellow countryman and a brother
seaman — Lieutenant Derquy,"
" It seemed to me the gentleman was no stranger, and I
hope he remembers me."
*' Commander Jugon, if I am not mistaken," said Olivier.
" The man himself, youngster, the genuine old Jugon who
commanded the good old frigate Terpsichcore before you left
the naval school. Mightily flattered that you remember
me, spite of damages through time and weather. My
whiskers were pepper and salt before you sailed— now they
are all snow, sir. Excuse me not making you out at the
first squint, but bless you, you have decked your figure-head,
let your beard groWi by jingo 1 "
The Magnet City continue to Draio 143
" It's allowed us on the China station, commander."
"Ay, I know they sail with the old regulations slung
overboard like the pirate's logbook when the cruiser bear
down ; still, under regulations, you do your duty, boy, and
win the bit of red ribbon you wear at your button-hole.
My compliments, lad ! you cut in for it like a brick. Admiral
Courbet logged you down several times. I believe you sailed
on the BayardP
" Yes, commander ; I was wounded in the action of the
30th August and sent home on a year's leave. I got into
Paris day before yesterday."
" Then I hope to have you down to LanvoUon. Fond of
hunting?"
" I'm not afraid of it," replied Olivier modestly.
" That's enough. I can count you in this winter. Mean-
while, I hope we shall meet right often in the city. I have
come up for a month's cruise after ten years' absence. So I
am dropping in on all the novelties. Where do you think I
was bound when I came athwart you ] Why to the Grevin
Museum. Come along with me ! "
" Many thanks, commander, but I "
"Bear me company to the port's mouth, anyhow. Our
dear Avangour will not affront us by steering off so soon. I
am fresh from the daisies and hedgeroses, and am full chock
a-block with news to tell ye."
This sufficed to overcome Derquy and even to attract the
doctor, who recollected clearly how the commander at the
general's funeral, in the graveyard before a throng, had
given his opinion on the causes of the murder and on some
the still inexplicable facts.
The two flanked the old sea-officer, and thus the trio con-
tinued to stroll in the direction of the Montmartre Boulevard.
CHAPTEE XXIV
WHO SOUNDED THE LURE 1
" My dear fellow," began J agon, " I suppose I shall not
have to tell you of my regretted neighbour's sad end. He
was your relative "
" By marriage. Lady Houlbecq is my cousin german,"
" A charming lady, whom everybody pities. I would have
gone to see her on my arrival only I feared being intiTisive ;
but I am sorry for her misfortune and beg you to tell her so."
Derquy bowed. This hearty expression of sympathy
pleased him. He did not believe that his future sister-in-law
could be suspected, but, as a kinsman ought, he was glad to
hear that the general's friends interested themselves in the
widow. This language seemed also to please Dr. Avangour,
more sceptical in these matters than Vivette's betrothed.
" No doubt you know," pursued the old seaman, " that
they've arrested and locked up one of poor Houlbecq's
keepers, an old soldier of the very squadron he commanded
in the war of 18V0."
" I know that and believe they're wrong."
" I coincide. But what you perhaps do not know is that
Houlbecq was at my house at Lanvollon, when he suddenly
shot off home to be killed so vilely in one of his own castle
windows."
" I have been told so without knowing what possessed him
to fly home."
" Just imagine that we were all toasting St. Hubert joUily,
a dozen round the board and the general the merriest of the
crew. After dinner, and before coffee came in, he went up
Who Sounded the Lure ? 145
into his room for a box of cigars for us, brought over in his
dressing-case. We awaited him as the monks wait for the
abbot— drinking lustily till he should come. But we never
saw him more. Without informing me even of his departure
he ordered the horse to be put to his dogcart, and was
rattling away on the Trigavou road in a quarter of an hour.
Mark that he had come over in an open vehicle, and that it
was pouring with rain."
" What had happened 1"
" That's what puzzles us, and what the investigating judge
asked me when I was called before him. I had to reply that
I did not know, for it was not till later the idea struck me
that he must have found some writing in his room which
started him post-haste to Trigavou. Who had brought him
a letter? I hauled my servants over the coals. They said
nobody to their knowledge had gone up to the second floor
where I lodged the baron. Still I learnt that one outsider,
suspicious to me, had come into the kitchen. He had often
done that before. He don't live far from Lanvollon and
knows my men, who let him in and gabble with him. I for-
bade them receiving him for the future, but the tar kettle
had been upset."
" Of whom are you speaking ? " inquired the doctor quickly.
" You know the rascal well ; the farmer of the Hunaudaie
named Pillemer."
" Pillemer ! " repeated the navy officer. " Do you suspect
him of writing to General Houlbecq ? "
" Or at least of bringing a letter which induced the poor
veteran to return abruptly to Trigavou," said Commander
Jugon. " As for his writing, that's another matter, for firstly
I doubt if he is any fist at writing. And then, if, as I believe,
the object of the letter was to decoy Houlbecq into a death-
trap, Pillemer's part would be limited to a messenger's."
" From whom ? "
" Now you have me with my line in a knot. I am knee-
deep in suppositions, for nobody has come across the note
the general probably lit his pipe with it. But I'll bet a.
L
146 The Condemned Door
ship to a shallop Pillemer is a bad lot. Do you know
himr'
" I have heard nobody but him spoken of lately," replied
Olivier, evasively. " But it will be easy for me to know him
from the keel to the ball, for I am to dine with his 'landlord
this afternoon."
" The Count of Trigavou 1 Has he turned up again 1 "
" Yes, indeed ! I met him yesterday."
" I am not taken aback. Down our way they said he was
dead. I never believed it. Trigavou is not a man to love
going under hatches. Well, as you're going to meet him, put
it to him straight : Why does his farmer hang round Lan-
vollon ? And add that I have ordered him to be kicked out
if ever he dares step inside my house."
"No doubt the count is ignorant of what Pillemer does.
But I will pass the word, commander, though there's nothing
agreeable in it. Are you on bad terms with the count ] "
" On neither bad nor good. I never see him, my boy. He'
is a skulker who steers clear of the joskins. He don't care
for sport, only for Parisian pastimes. Bah ! a pretty Breton
— nobody ever saw the like ! "
" Still he does spend part of the year on native soil."
" Because he has not a penny to bless himself with. He
only rusticates in order to save what he does no good with.
I had no idea that you were so fond of him."
" We are not bosom friends, but I saw a good deal of him
in former times, and I was delighted to find him again on
my return from China. Besides, I have need of him just
now, for Pillemer is the very man who accuses Calorguen
the keeper, and Trigavou promised me to question his tenant
to extract the truth."
*' Hem ! I am afraid that master and man are steward
and purser — a pair o' rogues."
*• You are severe, commander," observed Derquy, a little
vexed to hear a man so spoken of whom he called friend.
" Clearly you are prejudiced against your neighbour at the
Hunaudaie."
Who Sounded the Lure ? 147
" I own that, and I may be wrong. But ask the doctor
what he thinks of the party."
" Useless," replied Derquy, smiling. " The Doctor has made
himself plain on that point, not hiding that he does not dote
on the master of Trigavou."
"I gave my reasons," added Avangour.
" Yes, much like the commander's. Gentlemen, I do not
undertake to plead the cause of poor Alain, who, I vow,
is better than his reputation. Besides, I hope you are not
going to accuse him of mixing in with Pillemer's con-
spiracies."
"No," rejoined Jugon, plainly, "and the proof is that
I asked you to carry my complaint about that knave to
him."
" I shall not fail to do so."
The doctor said nothing, and, as silence gives consent,
Derquy took it that he agreed with the naval veteran that
the lord of Trigavou was not to be held responsible for
his tenant's villainies.
" Let's speak no more of such people," resumed the old
seaman, "they're not worth the trouble. Here we are at
the entrance to the Grdvin Museum."
" And here we take our leave of you," cried Jugon's two
compatriots in chorus.
" No, no, I haven't towed you along to drop you at the
haven mouth. I have you fast, and', by all that's blue, I
shall hold on. You must come in with me. It will not
take long to inspect the show, and I'll cast off my grapplings
when we come forth. I have a dinner appointment with an
old friend of the service at six in the Palais Eoyal."
Olivier consulted his watch, and saw that he had time
enough for meeting the Count of Trigavou at his club. The
commander's talk interested him, and he did not despair of
obtaining further information. So he dragged Dr. Avangour
along, who had some hints to pick up in the same quarter.
The commander was already at the ticket office, paying
for the party.
148 The Condemned Door
Derquy was a little astonished at the curiosity of this
navigator, who had traversed every sea and yet went out of
his way to see a waxwork show. He exchanged a smile
with the doctor, no less astonished than himself. But
Pillemer danced before their eyes, and as they had nothing
better to do they followed Jugon. They reckoned to get
him to discourse on the enigmatical farmer of the Hunaudaie,
but they reckoned without their host. Sixty-six years old
was this man-o'-war captain, but having always lived in cabin
or counting-house, he was not used up on Parisian exhibi-
tions, and his admiration was easily affected.
Scarcely had he entered the first room than he cried out
with surprise at the groups of theatrical and literary celebri-
ties unknown to him, and almost as much to the country
Galen. Hence Lieutenant Derquy had to name them.
Though coming from China last, he had often stayed in the
capital, and was sufiiciently well informed to play the
cicerone, though against his taste, for his thoughts were else-
where. The delighted son of Neptune made laughable com-
ments on the figures, and finally fell into ecstasy over that
of a celebrated actress whose eccentricities, pictured in the
papers received at LanvoUon, had often entertained him. In
his enthusiasm he declared that she was almost as handsome
as Lady Houlbecq, whom she did not resemble in the slightest
feature. Dr. Avangour tried to seize this opening to bring
the conversation back to the incidents preceding the general's
death, but failed. The old sea-dog did not listen, and would
not omit a single character.
When the hall had been visited in every turn and corner,
the two friends thought the long-drawn agony was over, but,
lo ! the remorseless drag exclaimed :
. " Now we have still the Chamber of Horrors to see, modelled
after that in Tussaud's Waxworks at London."
" What is that 1 " demanded the doctor.
" Don't you know 1 The cavern where they picture all the
celebrated crimes — the most curious of the collection. Come
along, my lads ! "
Who Sounded the Lure ? 149
He pushed them, remonstrating, towards the staircase
which leads down into the basement, tricked out to impress
the lovers of tragic spectacle. Only twilight was let in? and
that gave the models a more life-like eifect. At this period
was shown the fishing up of a murdered man from the river
and the Czar, Alexander II., on the state deathbed — some-
thing for all tastes.
"These city chaps make money out of everything," said
the commander, leading the march. " Some of these days
they'll do the crime of Trigavou Castle."
"If ever they dared," began Derquy, angrily.
" You would beat in the dolls' heads with your cane !
And quite right you'd be, my lad. But, bless you, it'll never
come to that. Anyway, first the trial must be over and
Caorguen condemned, to say nothing to Lady Houlbecq's
right to oppose their putting her on the stage. She was by
when her husband was shot down. But there'll be no need
for her to interfere to prevent an exhibition which the police
would certainly not allow. What I said just now was only
in joke— an idea that went through my head as we came down
into the cellar, so nicely set out to frighten youkers. Now,
let's inspect these sanguinary villains."
Derquy and Avangour had no desire, but they were too
far advanced to withdraw. Putting the best face on, they
followed th e untiring commander as he examined a series of
compartments where were represented in life-size the degrees
of crime ; the murder, the arrest, the preparation of the con-
demned men for the march to death — all were represented,
as was also the guillotine, which was visible in a well-painted
background.
M. Jugon could dwell on the scenes, as there was no crowd
this day. Before the last tableau, that of the scafibld, only
one man was stationed, leaning on the railing, completely
absorbed in the interesting sight before his nose. His back
was to them, and he did not budge if even he heard them
walking up.
150 The Condemned Door
" Is that the guillotine ? " exclaimed the ancient marinei .
" I had altogether another idea of it. It looks for all the
world like the side view of a sewing-machine painted red ! "
At this singular comparison, not without some foundation
the spectator lifted his head and showed his countenance to
the speaker, who, to the great stupefaction of his companions,
sprang at him, grasped him by the collar, and dragged him,
under a gas jet at the entrance of the Chamber of
Horrors.
" What are^ you doing here, eh ? " he cried, shaking him
roughly.
The answer to this and other more sinister mysteries
will be found revealed in the second part.
THE CONDEMNED DOOE.
VOLUME TWO.
CHAPTER XXV
AN AWKWARD ENCOUNTER
On seeing the stranger's face, both the doctor and the lieu-
tenant knew it. He recognised them too, for he turned pale.
"What am I doing here? Looking about me," he
stammered.
" Looking upon the machine by which your head will be
cut off, rascal ! At last I have got you ! I've been looking
out for you long enough."
" Am I not easy enough to find ? I don't live a great
stretch from you."
" I never want to go inside your caboose of the Hunaudaie,
and you have the sense not to steal up to LanvoUon since my
men have the word to sling you out of the door. But as I
have my grapnel on you, you'll account to me now."
" Account to you I Why to you 1 You're not my master."
" Lucky for you I am not ! And what pranks you play on
your master don't fret me. But I mean to know what you
were doing in my house St. Hubert's Night."
" Me 1 Nothing ! You know I am friendly with all the
folk at Lanvollon. Well, I was alone on the farm that day,
for master had gone away the evening before, so I came over
for good company — to eat a cake and swallow some cider —
and I took myself back home."
" At what time ? "
152 The Condemned Door
" As nine were a-striking. I left your place at a quarter
to eight, and I did not go to sleep on the road."
" Good, so far. When you were at my place you kept to
the kitchen ? "
" I am certain sure I did. Ask any of your folks."
" They saw you go out, but did not notice when you
came in."
" And what for should I steal in underhanded-like ? Do
you think I would act the thief ? "
" I believe you are Jack of many a queer trade."
" Me ] How can you say so ? Me, that's been over thirty
year in the service of the old masters of Trigavou ; me, that
were borned on the land the count that's dead — long rest
him ! — sold— more's the hardship ! — to Baron de Houlbecq !
Go to, your honour ! Ask a bit about me, that's well known
up hill and down vale, aye, and along the ridge too."
" Very fine ! but I am not a police magistrate and do not
want to know such things. What I do say is that on St.
Hubert's Night you did not come into LanvoUon House
purely to refresh yourself. You sneaked in with a letter for
General Houlbecq."
" Lord love us ! Me, that never knowed he was in the
house at all ! "
" At least you do know he was killed next day 1 "
" In course I does. Aye, and I know by who — in token of
which I named the villain and he's locked up."
" Calorguen — a better man than you."
*' Anyhow, I see him a-prowling along o' the park wall five
minutes arter the gun went off. It were the honest truth I
up and told the judge."
This dialogue might have run on long in this strain without
coming to an end, the one asserting, the other denying, for
the commander had no proofs. Meanwhile Derquy scruti-
nized the man he had " shadowed " the previous evening and
pronounced his face that of a rascal. He was astonished that
the Count of Trigavou gave his confidence to him, but he
forbore intervening in a discussion upon facts not known to
An Awkward Encounter 153
him. The better-informed doctor saw that Jugon was on the
wrong track and stepped in to turn the interrogatory.
"Look ye, Pillemer," said he, with a coaxing air, " I do not
accuse you of anything, but I can ask you what is your busi-
ness in Paris 1 Is your farm left to look after itself alone ? "
"Asking your pardon and, eke, your excuses, good Dr.
Avangour,Ihave left my ploughman, Jacquot, and Nanon,the
dairy wench. As for the why and wherefore of your honour's
seeing me in the big city, I don't mind telling ye, provided
you promise not to let it go no further, because, look'ee, it's
all a bit o' downright foolishness on my part. Yes, I were a
fool not to stick to the Hunaudaie. But who can help some
o' these here things ? Why, any day these twenty year I've
been itching to go see Paris. I am e'ena'most the only man
round the village that's never seen 'un, and the lads chaff and
jeer me awful. Whereupon I screwed up my mind that I'd
see un', but I would no' let anybody know I was doing it. I
told Jacquot I must 'tend to the fairs in the Mayenne
District, and it 'ud keep me away nigh a week. Thereon, off
I starts with what clothes I had to my back, crossed the
Kance at Port St. Jean, walked to Dol, where I got me a
third-class return ticket, and here I be at your honour's
service."
" Come up simply for a stare about ? " said the commander.
" Do you think I shall swallow that ? "
" It's pure truth, anyhow, sir. This here trip be going to
cost me, at the least reckoning, all of fifty crowns, but it'll
satisfy my longing. I am able to afford it, too ; that's the
best consolation. But what a monstracious town this Paris
be ! I haven't any legs to go up and down the no end of
streets, saying nothing of them making you pay stiff for
every mortal thing. They plundered me of twenty pence to
let me in here, and I could 'a' seen the same waxen dollies
at Dinan Fair for a penny."
" What hardihood you have to say you came away without
changing your dress. Bubbish ! As long as I've known
you, I never saw you rigged out in such toggery."
154 The Condemned Door
" Don't be hard on me 1 It's rough enough to be forced
to flower out like a Parisian. When I stepped out of the
railway station in my drugget waistcoat and my broad brim,
blessed if the little boys did not ' guy ' me like a beast in a
show. So I was druv to hire this here outfit of a second-
hand dealer, who 'grees to take 'em back and hand me my
own, d'ye see 1 "
Dr. Avangour had let Pillemer ramble without check.
He hoped he would mire himself, and deemed this the nick
in which to thrust the only question interesting him,to wit,
the relations of this disguised clown with Trigavou's lord.
" Where are you stopping ? " he abruptly demanded.
"In any inn that comes handy," replied the farmer,
without being disconcerted ; " it depends on what part I am
in at the time. For instance, last night as is, being out to
see the city slaughtering-houses at the Villette — a whacking
big little town — why, 1 had a bed there."
" Seen your master yet % "
" The count ? Oh, there's no fear of my going near him,
even if he were in Paris, seeing as how I left the farm
without his leave and license. Lor' ! what a trouncing he'd
give me ! By the same token, if any o' ye gentlemen meet
him, let me beseech ye not to tell him I frisked over the
hedges."
" If he is not in Paris, where would he be ? "
" Would I did know ! " sighed Pillemer. He left us the
eve of St. Hubert's — which it is the Day of the Dead —
mighty unlucky that same ! and never a word ha' I heerd
o' him sin'."
" How singular," remarked Derquy, " that you should have
been driving through Morceau Park yesterday "
" True enow that I were in a hackney coach," mumbled
Pillemer. "Very expensive that — but I never did that
before. So your honour saw me ? "
" Yes, and the Count of Trigavou might have seen you, for
he was there beside me."
" Is that so ? Keal true ? Well, I am glad to hear it !
An Awkward Encounter 155
Here's five good weeks without news of him, enough to
make me think somewhiles that he were dead."
"That's what you have been saying down our way,"
grumbled Jugon.
" If I said it, it's 'cause I believe it, sir. But I am of good
cheer now this gentleman has seed him. Did he see me,
sir?"
This question to Derquy was answered negatively.
" But I told him you had gone by."
" Wait a bit," cried Pillemer, ** I can place it all now. It
was you who eyed me so hard when I stopped at a street
corner on the great street."
" M. Derquy is a cousin of Lady Houlbecq," observed the
doctor.
" Goodness gracious ! And I took him for a police spy."
" What'do you dare say 1 " cried the commander.
" Allow me ! Put yourself in my place. Down our way
they say Paris is full of secret policemen. I see a strange
gentleman hovering round me, Very well ; then I got scared
and jumped into a hackney-coach."
" You would not fear the police if your conscience was
clear."
" It is as clear as a whistle, commander. But I have had
no regular lodging since I came to Paris, and I feared that
was wrote on my face, so I cut away in the carriage and
never got out till I reached the Villette shambles."
" Never thought you so timid."
" The sum tottle is that my lord has larnt I am in town. I
shall have to go show myself now ! He would never look
over my keeping away."
" You will not find him at home at present. But I know
where he is, and will show you," said Derquy.
" I can't wish anything more, my kind gentlemen, though
I expect to catch it hot ; but you'll put in a good word for
me, eh, sir ? "
Pillemer seemed quite eager now to be brought before
the Count of Trigavou. He looked at the stairs uneasily,
156 The Condemned Door
as if he feared the coming of somebody who would delay
him.
The doctor took Derquy on one side and said :
" The idea of bringing this man and Lord Trigavou into
contact is capital — on condition you are by — the only means
of making sure neither are lying in asserting that they have
not met in Paris."
" What, do you suspect Alain of playing a part ? " queried
the lieutenant.
Avangour had no time to reply, for Pillemer struck in :
" If it drags your honour out o' your road to see me to
master, just tell me where he is so I can find him by myself."
" At his club. But you would not be allowed in, whilst he
expected me . I will have him called down. Come on."
" I will go along," said the commander, "as I have a few
words for the count. Where's this club of his 1 "
" Corner of Opera Place."
" Very good. I can get to the Palais Eoyal from there."
Pillemer listened silently, in the way rustics have. He lost
not a word and doubtless profited by them. Still his eyes
were on the stairs, evidently anxious to be off.
" I shall go out with you," said the medical gentleman in
Olivier's ear, " but you can drop me on the road ; I don't
care to meet the count."
He led the way up the winding staircase, Pillemer next
and the two naval gentlemen following close, both perplexed,
athough far from incriminating Alain of Trigavou as re-
sponsible for his tenant's words and deeds. They rapidly
traversed the floor above and reached the Montmartre
Boulevard together.
Only a few paces from the museum entrance, before the
Jouffroy Passage, whom should they behold but the lord of
Trigavou coming towards them with long strides, like one
belated for an appointment. The doctor and the young
marine officer glanced meaningly at one another, struck with
the very same thought that the master had come to meet the
man.
An Awkward Encounter 157
Pillemer, really excited, had already doffed his hat.
Blinded for a moment by a group of promenaders, Tri-
gavou came unexpectedly upon the four Bretons and started
back in amaze to see his tenant at the Hunaudaie guarded by
the three. But he recovered very quickly and saluted them
collectively with a " Howdy'e do, gentlemen ? Happy to meet
you." Then buttonholing Pillemer by his hired coat he rated
him roughly, spite of his pitiful air.
"Is this how you keep my property, you delinquent
scamp ? " shaking him too. "Who allow^ed you to come up
to town 1 My friend here told me yesterday that he saw
you in a carriage in Monceau Park, and I could not believe
it. Now I must trust my eyes. It appears that you indulge
in wild outings when I am away. I have likewise heard that
you have been telling the folks that I was dead. But I am
alive — very much alive — to your bad behaviour, and you shall
pay for it dearly. You can hie home to the Hunaudaie, but
only to pack up your things. You are no more my tenant. I
send you away."
Pillemer whined out what he had been telling of his
adventures. He melted in tearful excuses, swore he was
ready to go back and never leave the farm any more without
the authorisation of his lord and master. The observant
doctor thought his emotion was not sincere, and that
Trigavou's ire had not frightened him greatly. On the con-
trary, Derquy took the affair as serious, whilst Jugon thought
it a happy moment to pile the burning coals upon poor
Pillemer.
" My lord," said he, " I have not the honour to be among
your lordship's friends, but we have long been acquaintances,
and I can answer for it that everybody will approve of your
packing off this knave who gets you an ill name. This is the
cause of the general getting killed."
" How so, sir % " inquired Trigavou, coldly.
" He slipped into my house at LanvoUon on St. Hubert's
Night with a note, I believe, that enticed Baron Houlbecq
into hurried departure."
158 The Condemned Door
" Did you do this ? " challenged the count of his tenant,
looking him in the white of the eyes, as the saying goes.
His tone was such that Dr. Avangour did not suspect the
count of feigning anger now. He had turned pale, frowned,
and seemed endeavouring to read Pillemer's inner self, whils
the latter showed indubitable embarrassment.
" Clearly," mused the doctor, " the count did not send his
man to Lanvollon, but nothing will make me think he did not
know his man was in town. I would not be much surprised
to hear he made appointments with him in Monceau Park
and the Grevin Museum. There's a secret tie between this
pair."
Pillemer denied this with much more energy than when he
was excusing his excursion. Commander Jugon's accusation
troubling him greater than all the count's threats and
reproaches.
" My lord," resumed the commander, " I do not care to
meddle with what does not concern me, and I have heard
your farmer's explanation. You are warned about him, and
you will kindly let ine take leave of these gentlemen."
Without awaiting a reply Commander Jugon shook hands
with his companions, gave the nobleman a cart nod, and
stalked off southwardly.
This colloquy had taken place in the street, a most fre-
quented spot, where they had been much jostled. Dr. Avan-
gour had no wish to continue it. He excused himself to
Derquy, who did not detain him, saluted the Count of
Trigavou, and made off, leaving the two with Pillemer.
" To-morrow morning, at my rooms, Miromesnil Street,"
said his master, " I shall expect you to hand in your accounts .
Try to behave yourself properly till then. Now be off. I
have had enough of your company."
Pillemer did not ask a repetition of the order. He whirled
round and glided into the Jouffroy passage, where the crowd
hid him. Trigavou took Olivier's arm, and, drawing him
towards the Opera Square, said :
" Your friends seem rather set against me, but I fret very
An Awkward Encounter 159
little about their opinion. Enough that we should move in
concord. I am starting at once on the work in the aid of
poor Calorguen, who seems to be more than ever innocent
ince I have to believe my farmer a rogue. His trip to Pari s
looks bad, sir, and his sneaking into LanvoUon House, on
St. Hubert's Night, still blacker. I will have it out with him
in the morning If he is playing any trick, I shall not spare
him, I assure you ; and if he bears false witness against the
keeper, I will force him to retract it before the very magis-
trate who received his deposition. But I have a piece of
news for you. I have been officially notified that my turn
has come for jury-call at the next assizes of the North Coast
Department. If I am put in the box to try Calorguen, I
need not tell you, my dear Olivier, that he will have a hearty
defender in me."
" My cousin will be very grateful," returned Derquy, try-
ing to smooth his wits, no little agitated by the incident in
the Grevin Museum and the commander's remarks.
" Now, take my word for it," pursued Trigavou, " we'll cut
all these stories, to dine free from care at my club. I'll carry
you straight to it and you'll meet there some capital fellows
whom you used to know and who will hurrah to see you !
Tell them how you thrashed the long tails in the East, and,
after the dinner, if you like, we'll do the plays. In any case,
we'll have a pleasant evening together, and— devil take
serious affairs ! "
CHAPTEE XXVI
SEEKING THE MAN OF MYSTERY
ViVETTE DE BouRBRiAC never broke her word and never went
back on a determination. Two days after the decisive inter-
view in which her sister had shown herself under a fresh
aspect, Vivette was in the afternoon train for Brittany. She
was off without seeing Lieutenant Derquy, as she had stated,
and without even a farewell to her sister. She went alone,
without the maid, who would have hampered her, rather
than helped her, on this hazardous expedition. She took
little baggage or money, although she might have carried
considerable of the latter, as the general's banker, under the
terms of the first will, held a hundred and fifty thousand
francs at her call.
English and American ladies often travel thus and no one
gainsays it ; but in France single ladies are held in the leash,
and Vivette risked her reputation in this adventure, though
at an age when a woman ought to enjoy the right to do as
she pleases.
But since her final interview with her sister, Vivette had
settled to live absolutely independent even if this freedom
prevented her marriage subsequently — a matter not on her
mind at present.
Wounded by Lady Houlbecq's perfidious shafts, she left
Paris to terminate an irksome position and to occupy herself
with Calorguen's deliverance. Though she had told her
sister the contrary, she deemed herself bound to Derquy,
and hoped to love him yet as she imagined a husband should
be loved, but she first wished to obtain calmness for her per-
Seeking the Man of Mystery 161
tui-bed heart. She did not, therefore, wish her cousin to join
her too soon.
Count Trigavou she tried to forget. She had not divined
he was her sister's paramour, but she did not doubt he had a
conquest in Parisian society, and believed he would not cross
her path down in Brittany.
Vivette had only written to the gamekeeper's mother
about her journey, and instead of going through Dinan,
where many knew her, she went to St. Malo, and thence to
Trigavou by the Dinard boat and a hired vehicle. She
avoided the castle, where many reasons prevented her stay-
ing, and alighted at the gamekeeper's, where her room was
ready — Pierre's room, the only one empty. In a couple of
days her talent for household arrangements made it almost
comfortable. A woman came in to do the work, and she took
her meals beside the paralytic's bedside on the ground floor.
She could never induce little Yvon to sit opposite her. He
preferred to huddle himself upon his stool in the great fire-
place, and at first the guest had much difficulty in drawing a
few words from him. Then he became more sociable, and
she did not despair of sounding him after a while to good
purpose.
Otherwise, in her week of cottage life she had not lost her
time. All the village feasted her, and not one of the honest
toilers believed that Calorguen had slain his master, while
several did not scruple to call Pillemer a false witness.
Up at the castle, old Broladre, the gardener left in charge
by Lady Houlbecq, vowed that the gamekeeper was a victim
of some conspiracy, that the truth must come some day, and
that there were not twelve honest men for a jury in all the
country who would bring Pierre in guilty.
These unanimous protests consoled the 3"0ung lady, but did
not set her at ease so long as nobody pointed out the true
culprit, and the prisoner could not be liberated mereJy by
cursing the public prosecutor, the judges, and Grisaille, the
terrible gendarme officer.
Vivette heard that Dr. Avangour had returned to Dinan,
162 The Condemned \Doof
and wondered no little that he did not come over to his
patient. She wanted to ask him if Calorguen was still in
solitary confinement, as she dared not write to him. So far,
she had not furthered the prisoner's cause, and resting thus
would not serve him.
Yivette had received no news from her sister, though
this silence did not astonish her after the scene which
enforced her departure. It was less comprehensible that
Derquy did not write. He could not be ignorant she had
abruptly left their town-house, and Lady Houlbecq must have
informed him whither she had gone. He ought to guess,
since she had confided her project to him of attempting Calor-
guen's freedom. Did he abstain out of delicacy from engag-
ing in correspondence, or did he intend flying thither without
herald to prevent her asking him not to come ? Whatever
the reason, Mdlle. de Bourbriac did not regret his absence ;
he would have fettered her.
She had gathered much intelligence, but nothing very new.
The hour came for her personal labour, recommencing the
magisterial inquiry of six weeks before. She knew the
facts ; she could not explain the causes. She had seen her
brother-in-law stretched on the red stained carpet and she had
flown to her swooned sister's assistance. The links were not
clearly seen which chained the scenes of the dismal tragedy
together.
Hours before the deed, and after it again, Flavia had
spoken enough to put her on the trail. A man had entered
the castle in the night, and Lady Houlbecq had helped him to
concealment.
Was this man the murderer]
How had he escaped thence, and what had become of him ?
She could not ask this of others lest she gravely entangled
her sister, whom nobody blamed, not knowing her actions
that night. Forced to rely on herself in her task to clear
away all obscurities, she contemplated visiting the scene of
the crime.
The gunshot had come out of the grounds, and the in*n
Seeking the Man of Mystery 163
Lady Houlbecq harboured could only have hidden himself in
the great tower. Vivette would take the grounds first.
Up to now she had only left the keeper's cottage to go to
church and the burial-ground, where the general's body still
awaited the widow's order for removal to the family vault.
The villagers and Broladre had met Mdlle. de Bourbriac ;
some had called, but she had a repugnance to approach the
castle.
The weather was vile and the roads in a very bad state.
Vivette awaited the first fine day — the seventh one. The
pallid sun rose in a cloudless sky when the young lady,
always up with the peep of day, profited thereby for her
exploration.
She was not willing to go alone. Not that she required a
guide on familiar grounds, but since the event she was less
courageous, and prudently chose an escort for fear of some
awkward encounter.
Yvon was at hand, and he loved her now heartily, so that
he was overjoyed to follow her. Besides, she thought that
he could point out precisely the spot where Calorguen put his
gun aside till he returned for it. The two walked through
the woods together. Yvon was little prone to chatter, but the
young lady did not fail to question him on the way.
" You were at home when Pierre got back on the evening
of the day Baron Houlbecq was killed ? " she began.
" No, lady," replied the lad. " I got in half an hour after.
Mother Calorguen had sent me to gather chestnuts on the
Plumoden road."
" Then you were not able to tell the judge that Pierre did
not look like a man who had done a wicked act ? "
" Is the judge that gentleman clad all in black, who came
over from Dinan when Pierre was put in prison ? "
" Yes. He must have questioned you."
" No, lady. He did put a heap of queer talk on Mother
Calorguen ; but he never asked me nothing. And a good
thing too — he'd a' gotten nought out o' me,"
"How's that?"
164 The Condemned Door
"Because I've nought to tell 'un," answered the urchin
after some hesitation. "Besides," he added, "Pierre bid
me not to gabble. No need ; I am used to holding my
tongue."
Much surprised, Vivette looked fixedly at the speaker and
proceeded :
" So Pierre is keeping something back 1 "
" Oh no, lady, Pierre never done no wrong. He told me
that a matter o' three days afore the gendarmes took him."
" Good ! But what did the order apply to ? Did he trust
you with some secret 1 "
" Pm sure he didn't. Only he don't like waggle-tongues,
and if he likes me it's 'cause he sees I'm not that kind."
" But you will have to speak out if you are called to testify
at the Assize Court."
"At St. Brieuc? Oh, will I? Hows'ever, if Pm fetched
I'll go. And glad to go, too, for I shall see Pierre again ;
but I shan't say nothing, 'cause I know nothing — there !'
" You know at any rate that Pierre is an honest man."
" That I do, and I'll tell 'em that without any asking. And
I'll also tell 'em that Corporal Grisaille owes him one — 'cause
Grisaille, when he came back from the wars, hoped General
Houlbecq would take him for head gamekeeper. He would
sooner ha' loafed about the castle than served in the gen-
darmerie ; but, love you, our Pierre got the place, and so
Grisaille nursed a spite agin him — see ? "
" That is as well to know. Has Pierre any other enemies
about here 1 "
" Dear, yes, the folks at the Hunaudaie."
"The farmer?"
"Aye, and the master a-'top o' that."
"What ! the Lord of Trigavou ?"
"Pierre don't like him. I have never seed the count
myself, but I know Pillemer, and I'll take my Bible oath that
Pillemer is a bad lot."
"And he has a grudge against Calorguen?"
" I should think he had, because, once on a time — ever so
Seeking the Man of Mystery 165
long ago — Pierre showed him up to General Houlbecq for
having cut timber on Trigavou land when it had passed from
the old count."
" The judges must hear this."
*' I'll up and tell 'em myself, lady."
The dialogue dropped.
Vivette was reflecting on it, and concluded that Calorguen
was unjustly accused by neighbours who considered themselves
injured by him. But she could not admit that the master
of Trigavou was in their number. A nobleman would not
debase himself to a condition of shame against a poor keeper
whom he probably hardly knew by sight. She promised
herself to follow up the clue afforded by little Yvon.
CHAPTEE XXVII
LITTLE YVON's VOW OF SECRECY
In the interim, Vivette wished to see the place where Pierre
was accused of lying in wait before he shot the baron. Dame
Calorguen had not heard the interrogation of her son prior
to his arrest, but Justice Miniac had come over to see her,
and had told her what went on in the orchard between him
and the keeper, in presence of Dr. Avangour and the gen-
darme. This repeated to Mdlle. de Bourbriac had fully
informed her.
In ten minutes' walk they arrived at a by-road, well kept
and bordered by the woods and the garden wall on one side
and the other.
" Here it is, lady," said Yvon.
The two stopped beneath a colossal oak planted on the
crest of a bank overrun with briars and high ferns. Here
they overlooked the road macadamised with the blue granite
peculiar to Brittany. On the other side the dilapidated
wall built by the former Lord of Trigavou and never re-
paired by the new purchaser. It had recently crumbled
down for a length of three or four yards, just in front of the
tree against which Vivette stood. She had often noticed
this gap and urged her brother-in-law to have it seen to.
Hence to the garden gate was three hundred feet, roundly,
and a fair pedestrian could get there and back in less than
five minutes.
The young lady tried instantly to recall Mother Calor-
guen's story rehearsing the gendarme's imputations and her
sou's justification.
Little Yvon's Vow of Secrecy 167
" So," said she, after her silence, " if Pierre's accusers are
to be believed, he left this place to glide into the grounds
through the gate when he might have climbed in by this
breach, none too high. Under those bushes he hid the gun
and drew it forth to shoot the general. Why did he take so
much trouble 1 He admits he laid the gun down in order to
measure the gap, but denies he used the gun, though one
barrel was found discharged. It is puzzling, if Calorguen
does not lie. Yet, if guilty, he would have loaded up again
or cleaned the gun on getting home. Who will ever know
what really happened ] "
" Why, I know, lady," broke in Yvon, lowering his voice
as if he feared being overheard.
" You know, and never told me ! "
"Never you, nor nobody, not even Mother Calorguen.
And I shan't tell you, unless you promise not to tell it again."
" And why should I not repeat it, if your story may help
to prove Calorguen's innocence ? "
" 'Cause this be not the time for it. Later on all's well,
but if I speak too soon I shall hurt him instead of doing
him good."
" I engage to keep to myseK what you shall tell me."
" Then, lady, I can tell you what I saw. Two days after
St. Hubert's, returning from gathering chestnuts in Plumodan
Wood, I saw from a way off, as I was on this here road, a
man coming out of the garden gates and a-hiding something
under his smock frock. Stooping down, he stole along the
wood the same way I was coming. Before he came up to
that hole in the wall, he leaped on the bank and ferreted
about in the brush. Not for long, for he clambered down
lively on the road and walked away smartly. He had not
seen me, though he passed me close, but I had cowered down
in the hedge. Dusk was on, but it was clear enough to make
out any one. I tried to see who he was, and I did see his
face all plainly, but I don't know his name."
" Well, well ? " cried Yivette, not understanding.
" Well, on he went, whilsti cut through the wood to get
168 The Condemned Door
to the village to buy Mother Calorguen some bread. Pierre
was at the house before me. We never spoke a word. I
never heard the gun to go off, because it blew hard and from
me. Pierre never heard none neither ; more's the pity, for he
would have run to the spot and most like ha' collared the
wretch, and if he'd missed him, at all events he would
not be blamed for it, for he would have run and roused the
castle ."
" The wretch ! Think you the man in the smock "
" He killed the general, and I reckon this is how he done
it. He was hiding in the wood when Pierre laid his gun
on the bank. He saw Pierre pull out his foot-rule
and pass to the other side of the hole, where he stayed
awhile a-measuring. The wretch pounced on the gun and ran
to the gates — not fastened, mind you. He slipped into the
grounds, shot the general up at the window, and scuttled
back at the run to put the gun in its place. Nobody
but me saw him, and I never imagined what he had done
any more nor Pierre. Pierre took his gun and went home
quietly. We only heard of the master's death two days
after."
" But did you not say what you saw then ? "
" No, lady. I heard no gun go off, and could not make out
the game the man in the smock was up to. I did not know
why he rummaged in the undergrowth, only thinking he was
hunting som'at under the thorn. Afterwards, when they took
Pierre, it come into my head. And Pierre does not know the
nasty trick that lad served him by using of his own gun."
" You believe he made use of it, but you are not sure,"
murmured the lady, shaking her head. " Were you to tell
this to the judges, they would believe you fancied it or
invented it."
"And put me in the 'sylum, for everybody at Trigavou
knows I am no conjuror. That is why I am not going to
breathe a word on it to any but you. It's the solemn truth,
though."
" But how about the farmer — this Pillemer, who asserts
Little Yvon's Voio of Secrecy 169
having seen Pierre do all that you say the stranger in the
smock frock did 1 "
" Pillemer tells a lie ! Such a whacker ! Pillemer was no-
where round — unless he were up a tree, which it is like enow
— but he'll be a liar all the same, for he could not have mis-
took our Pierre for the wicked wretch that passed me so
close."
" Pillemer must have been there. If not, he could not have
divined what happened under your eyes."
" Then he was up that tree yonder."
" But if he himself fired the shot 1 "
" Oh, that won't do, lady, though he's the man to 'a' done it.
I know his face very well, and the man in the smock had no
look at all of his."
Mdlle. de Bourbriac sought to sift the truth from the con-
tradictory facts marking this somewhat incoherent recital,
but she could not succeed.
Who was this mysterious marksman, the arch- villain
knowing how to perpetrate his crime so that an innocent man
would be accused ? What motive had he to hate the
general 1 And if events really transpired as Yvon declared,
how could this desperado have foreseen that Baron Houlbecq
would appear at a window on a cold winter's day at the very
moment when he crept into the castle grounds ]
The deeper she reflected, the more persuaded was she that
this child had less common sense than imagination. Cer-
tainly more intelligent than she thought ; that intelligence
was not regulated by reason. She remembered that school
had been no use to him, and that he believed all the country
superstitions about fays, elves, and the like. Mother Calor-
guen often scolded him for stopping out of nights mooning
and star-gazing. She concluded it was wrong to attach too
much weight to the strange narration.
" Will you say all this to the court that will try Pierre 1 "
she asked.
" Faith, I will," answered the lad stoutly, " if I can only
Qatcb thait man in the smock by then,"
170 The Condemned Door
*^ Are you looking for him ? "
^*I just is. Mother Calorguen thinks I go out to tend
Pierre's vermin traps, but I never go nigh 'em. I prowl
about everywhere, on the roadside and in the woods, hoping
for to meet the man that killed our master. N o luck up to
now, and I'm near to b'lieving he don't belong to our
parts."
" If he never is seen will you remain dumb ] ''
" If I speak they'll make me out a liar, and I said so afore,
didn't I, that it 'ud do Pierre more harm than good."
" But suppose I speak ? "
" Why, lady, you promised never to let it out."
" But how if Pierre orders you ? "
" He'll first have to know what I knows, and they won't
Uow me into his jail, d'ye see."
" Others may get the permission."
"You, lady?"
" Or somebody friendly to him and me."
She thought of Derquy for this mission, if he kept his word
to come down into Brittany.
" Then," pursued Yvon, " you must make up some token
with Pierre which he can show me when he wants me to
speak. I only believe what I see."
" You distrust me, eh ? "
" No, lady ; but I vowed to Pierre to be dumb as a stone."
"What made you swear that? You just told me you
never spoke to him of the man in the smock. Did he charge
you with some secret ? "
The urchin hung his head mutely. This significant evid ence
gave Vivette much to ponder upon. Of what secret could the
little peasant be the custodian ? She felt that further ques-
tioning would be fruitless, and, irritated by obtaining nothing
clear, she was going to send him away, when he said,
timidly :
" I beg you, lady, not to worry me no more ; but try to
squeeze me into the court-room on the trial day, where Pierre
can see me. Do that much and there's no need for us to speak,
Little Yvon's Voio of Secrecy 171
Pierre will understand me, and I'll understand him too, with
ne'er a word."
At last it was plain that there was a secret between Calor-
guen and little Yvon, which the latter would faithfully guard
until released of an oath by the man. Mdlle. de Bourbriac
gave up any idea of pressing the boy, stubborn as a genuine
Breton.
" I will do what I can," she said, curtly. " Now leave me
to go on to the castle. You are in my way. Tell Mother
Calorguen I shall be home in a hour."
Yvon made no sound, but turned back on the road they had
used and vanished in the woods.
CHAPTEE XXVIII
THE SECOND ON THE QUEST
After watching the lad an instant, Yivette stepped down
on the road, but, instead of proceeding to the castle gates, she
slowly strolled towards the end of the grounds to make the
circuit. She was in no hurry to see the gardener, who would
scarcely have any news, and it required time for her ideas to
settle after such a stirring-up as this unexpected story gave
them.
Less than ever she doubted Calorguen's innocence, but she
did not yet hope to make the jury share* her belief. She
wondered who this stranger could be, signalized by Yvon,
and, moreover, whether sister Flavia might not have played
some part in the drama rounded off by General Houlbecq's
death. She did not yet dream that Flavia could have con-
nived at the abominable deed — nay, would have spurned such
an idea in loathing. But she was obliged to own to herself
that she was not succeeding in finding her brother-in-law's
slayer, and regretted her cousin was not at hand as a precious
auxiliary.
Why was he loitering in Paris 1 Had his fiery zeal grown
cold? Had Lady Houlbecq stayed his coming down to
Trigavou, and even his writing, by declaring that his betrothed
had gone away without a word on her destination 1
Vivette concluded that the best means of learning how
matters stood was to pocket her pride, and write first to
Olivier to ask him plainly to come to her help.
Absorbed in thought she had walked far without remarking
it^ even to the corner of the wall around the enclosed grounds.
The Second on the Quest 178
She turned it and continued to skirt the stones, approaching
a summer-house jutting out, so neglected as to threaten to
tumble down. It was now a kind of lumber-room or dust-
hole ; its two wooden-shuttered windows were one on each
side, and the country front had a rotten door which some boy
in passing had partly smashed in with a brickbat.
Mdlle. de Bourbriac knew it well, and the question arose if
the assassin might not have used it for his entrance and flight.
This supposition clashed with Yvon's extraordinary tale, but
the lady only partially credited that, and she wished to see
the state of this outlet which the police did not seem to have
examined. She turned its corner without foreseeing the shock
awaiting her beyond.
A man was up in the doorway trying the solidity of the
planks with both hands. His back was almost fully towards
her, but by his garb she knew he was no peasant. It was
composed of a fur-trimmed topcoat, a tasteful hunting-cap,
and fashionably-made gaiters. Though his efforts seemed
intended to break in the summer-house door, a gentleman so
attired could not be taken for a burglar. Vivette, stupor-
stricken, was going to turn back to avoid him, when, raising
his head, she recognised by the profile the Count of Trigavou,
For very little more she would have fled, but that were
ridiculous. He gave her no time to turn away, though, for
he had recognised her and was already bowing with the
readiness of a society man never at a loss.
" I am afraid I frighten you," he said, smiling.
" Small wonder ! You little expected to find me here.
Pray forgive my causing you some emotion — it would be the
first time."
This hidden allusion to the winter's flirtation put Mdlle. de
Bourbriac on her guard. She took care not to notice it and
found enough coolness to reply :
" I was not aware you were down here, sir, and that
explains my surprise at seeing you."
" Just so," said the count." ^' To put an end to it, let me
tell how I came to be in Brittany again — unless you guess it.
174 The Condemned Door
I left my dwelling at the Hunaudaie a couple of days before
the sad event which plunged you all in mourning, and the
news of which reached me in Scotland. Eeturned to town
last week, I presented myself at Houlbecq House, but was
not received. By the visit of a friend of mine, however,
Olivier Derquy, your cousin, I learnt all the details of the
tragic story. He told me that a gamekeeper had been
arrested, whom I hold to be a downright honest fellow and
in whom you interest yourself. I thought I might be useful
to him by collecting testimony to his good character, and
here I am hard at it since this morning. You have caught
me in the act of verifying whether or not the villain could
have entered the grounds by this door, and I am inclined to
believe it."
" Excuse me, my lord, but you uttered Lieutenant Derquy 's
name. May I inquire if he is still in Paris ? "
" Still there, but he is also coming here on the same errand
as my own. We should have started together had he been
fit for travel."
" What do you mean 1 Has he met with some accident ? "
" An accident of his contriving. He has been out in a duel
and got wounded in the arm, but he will be none the worse
after a few days' rest."
" May I learn the cause of this duel ? " inquired Vivette,
deeply affected.
" Oh, a wrangle in a club about some female celebrity, or
rather notoriety — I believe so, for I did not see the affair —
and to my great regret Olivier did not choose me for second.
I might have managed the foolish quarrel and he would not
be wounded ; but, I repeat, it's no dangerous hurt, and I
think you will soon see him "
" A female notoriety, you say ? " murmured the lady.
" Sorry to say so. How absurd I But Olivier is hasty ; and
besides, three years in the China seas makes one forget the
nice notion of Parisian matters, or else he'd never have taken
up arms for some creature who does not justify a man of
honour defending her. However, he will explain the adven-
ture himself
The Second on ike Quest 175
" I have not the faintest wish to hear anything more about
it," said Vivette, drily.
The shot had told, and, receiving it, the count profited by
the occasion to turn the conversation into a more interesting
channel.
" I admire your courage," said he in his most honeyed
voice. " As I know, you come to defend poor Calorguen. It
is heroic to quit Paris in winter and bury yourself in the
depths of Brittany. I should rejoice at it were I selfish, as
thus I owe the pleasure of meeting you here — unhappy I that
has not uttered a word to you since the last ball of the last
season, Lady Sartilly's April hop. I have not forgotten that
ball, where I had three spins with you — three fully counted."
As he spoke this language, where passion was veiled under
society forms, the count watched his partner with his large
blue eyes till she lowered hers to avoid their jet of flame.
She had resolved to close her ears against this man's speech.
She meant to forget him ; but she was not sufficiently sure of
herself yet to prolong without peril an interview with Alain
of Trigavou. One breath is all that is needed to revive a
smouldering flame, and all contributed to render the situation
dangerous. Unlucky chance had brought Yivette into the
presence of the seductive waltzer whom she had fallen in love
with, and there was no Olivier here to protect her against a
surprise of the heart.
The sky was blue, the air warm, and the forest, yellowed
by autumnal rains, wonderfully well enframed this scene,
which was not rustic, for the master of Trigavou was no shep-
herd retailing his woes to a milkmaid. A serpent trailed
under the fair flowers of his speech, and this continuator of
the rou^s of superseded courts had already stung Vivette with
one of those insinuations against her affianced which would
have killed a rival in a mind less steadily balanced than
Mdlle. de Bourbriac's.
" You do not answer me," he proceeded in a coaxing tone*
" No doubt you think it ill becomes me to remind you of an
evening which has slipped your recollection, and you will say
176 The Condemned Door
that it was my own fault that I have not seen you once, as I
spent the summer near your dwelling-place. An unjust re-
proach, because, you know. Baron Houlbecq never received
me willingly. He did not like me, and I was forced to wander
about on the chance of seeing you now and then at that
distance where he kept me. You must do me the justice that
I never tried to intrude upon you. But since my good star
leads me to the very spot where you come, allow me to say — ''
" Say nothing," interrupted Vivette. " I shall not believe
you. Let us rather, if you please, speak of that unfortunate
servant whom your farmer accuses, and whom you talk of
defending, but do not speak to me of the past."
" My farmer ! " exclaimed Trigavou. " Indeed, I learnt
that it was he who denounced Calorguen. The rascal came
up to town without my permission ; I discovered him there
and rated him as he deserved. He has some spite against
Calorguen and slandered him to avenge himself for old
grievances, but I have made him understand to what^he ex-
posed himself by bearing false witness. He asked pardon
and promised me to retract, or at any rate moderate, his first
deposition. If he does not keep his pledge I shall drive him
from my Hunaudaie farm to go get hanged elsewhere. We
have nothing to fear, therefore, in that quarter, but human
j ustice is apt to be deceived, and I think it would be best for
Calorguen not to appear at the assizes. That is why, I can
tell you so, I wish he could escape, and I am going to help
him do so."
" I doubt if he will consent. An innocent man does not fly
— he waits to be justified or dies bravely."
" That's true ; and yet I agree with that eminent judge who
said if he were accused of stealing the towers of N6tre Dame,
his first act would be to run away. I know Dinan Prison
since ever so long, and I affirm that it is not impossible to
escape from it — with one or two devoted friends to help.
Bat still I will abstain, if you forbid my conniving at Calor-
guen's breaking out."
" I have no orders to give you," said Vivette quickly, " and
The Second on the Quest 177
no wishes to express. I am convinced that Calorguen is not
guilty, but I hope in heaven only for his judges to have my
belief. And now, my lord, allow me to leave. I am ex-
pected elsewhere."
This tone permitted no reply. But the Count of Trigavou
was too keen not to penetrate to the feelings dissimulated
under crushing coldness, and too cunning to try to detain her.
He saw clearly that he had made a profound impression on
her, as much as he hoped from a first interview, certain not
to be the last, for he reckoned on bringing about frequent
meetings with General Houlbecq's sole legatee.
" Heaven forbid, young lady," he cried, " that I should
impose my society any longer upon you. I have seen you
now — I have heard you speak, after eight months of cruel
separation — enough happiness for one day. I am goinnr to
the Hunaudaie, but shall be at Dinan to-morrow, wli^io
I shall be best placed to serve the prisoner who interests you.
In any place and on all occasions I beg you to hold me at
your service."
So saying, the Lord of Trigavou snatched up Vivette's
hand, which she had not the presence of mind to hold aloof,
kissed it respectfully, and went away by a road other than
that the lady took to come from the keeper's house. She
was glad he had not insisted on accompanying her, but she
remained more troubled than ever.
CHAPTEK XXIX
THE OLD TOWER YIELDS UP A CLUE
In vain did Vivette affect indifference, she could not quench
the burning memories which suddenly were fanned once
more to a blaze. And, as a climax to the disgrace, she
learned that the cousin who pretended to love her sincerely,
had been risking his life for some ill-famed woman who
would proudly parade his name hereafter. Her betrothed
betrayed her and her sister turned aloof. Ought she to credit
the affection of this Count of Trigavou whom the general's
widow accused of making conquests in the highest Parisian
society ? Her reason told her that life-partnerships were
not thus happily formed without other preludes than
romantic encounters and proposals offered in ballroom
corners or forest nooks.
In one day passion may spring up and grow, but happiness
is a fruit only worth gathering when slowly matured. She
never hoped to taste it again since learning how Olivie
Derquy had so speedily forgotten his engagements. She
doubted, too, the sincerity of the interest put forth by the
treacherous Pillemer's master for Calorguen. Was she
doomed to live always thus alone, friendless, unsupported,
without faith in the future 1 She was habituated to sacrifice
herself for others, but not resigned to shower love on only
objects of charity.
So she strolled along by the garden wall, with a dull eye
and a lowered head, like a lost traveller who hopelessly seeks
a way in the dark and perceives not the slightest guiding
star on the horizon.
The Old Tower Yields up a Clue 179
Tlius pensive and doleful she came to the castle gates,
where she remembered that she had not left the keeper's
cottage merely to examine the covert where the murderer
had paused a moment, but also to visit the castle never
entered since her return.
Entering the open way, she spied Broladre at the further
end of the walk, raking up the dead leaves. He did not see
her, and before accosting him she stopped to look up at the
deserted house.
Formerly this ancient abode, restored by a rich and happy
purchaser, had been gay enough, but now it was as sombre aa
a prison and seemed to try to harmonise itself with the old
tower. Life had fled from the shell and it hung out mourn-
ing for the veteran who had found death creep upon him
there, though he had defied it on so many battlefields. All
the blinds were drawn, all the shutters closed. Not a sound
oozed forth and not a curl of smoke adorned one chimney to
annoy the ravens that hovered over the donjon and alone
disturbed the sinister silence by their croakings.
Such a sight was not calculated to brighten up Vivette,
and her heart ached to see this dwelling mournful now, where
her life had been so sweetly tranquil.
Up rose the vanished past ; the parlours where the county
families flocked in, the dining-room where noisy toasts were
shouted whilst the lord of the castle held up the biggest
bumper. Still higher were her own rooms, lower again the
general's and his wife's, which made her shudder to see.
Absorbed in her sad contemplation, she did not hear the
gardener shufiie up to say, sighing :
" There you are, lady, on the identical spot where the
villain stood to fire up at poor master ! "
Vivette started away a few steps from where the assassin's
feet had trodden the gravel. But it was not precisely true.
He had stood off" a bit, in an evergreen clump by the lawn,
hiding, no doubt, till the mark presented itself. But he had
passed hereby, and, if little Y von was to be believed, he had come
in at the gates like Vivette and followed the same road as hers.
180 The Condemned Door
" No, no," she murmured ; " Calorguen never did this
abominable crime ! "
" He ! " exclaimed the gardener. " A man that would ha'
walked into the fire for his master ! Let 'em say what they
like ; they won't get me to believe that Pierre would ha'
killed our master. It's a parcel o' scamps that have laid their
heads together to get him into trouble, and he is in the
lock-up sure enough, but I defy them to have him con-
demned."
" It's the farmer of the Hunaudaie who accuses him."
" And along o' he — Corporal Grisaille, of the gendarmes, ay,
and, very likely, the son of the dead count "
" The present Count of Trigavou ? Why, Broladre, you
cannot think him hostile to Calorguen, can you ? "
" Well, I have got an impression that way, there ! "
" At all accounts, it was not he who denounced Pierre ; he
was far from here when they arrested the poor fellow."
" If not him it was Pillemer, and Pillemer and my lord,
bless ye, they're the hand and the glove."
Yivette was going to retort that the master of Trigavou
energetically blamed his tenant farmer, but she checked her-
self , as she would have had to disclose her meeting the lodger
at the Hunaudaie.
"Look ye here, miss," went on Broladre, "they accuse
Pierre and they accuse the poachers, but I tell 'e, the scoun-
drel that fired that 'ere shot is a-sauntering quietly about the
country and laughing a good 'un at the stupidness of the busi-
ness. I don't know who he is, but I can say that plaguey
strange things have been a-going on 'round this here same
castle this good while. Lord, they've been making a reg'lar
parade-ground of the lawn and the shrubbery, to say nothing
of their monkeying up the house-wall "
"What have you noticed?" inquired Vivette, deeply
attentive.
"I never catched sight o' the beggar myself, but I am
sure he's been climbing up more than once to the first story
anyway, and mayb<? up to the second too. Just look at that
The Old Tower Yields up a Clue 181
ivy — look close and you'll see they Ve made actual cuttings
like steps."
Mdlle. de Bourbriac went up to the wall and indeed saw
that the ivy stem and branches were worn here and there as
by strongly- shod feet frequently on the bark. On looking
still more closely she remarked more of these imprints on
the detached vines enwreathing Baroness Houlbecq's window.
Thereupon all the memories of that fatal St. Hubert's Night
rushed upon her.
The man whom her sister had besought her to conceal had
entered the house by that means.
After the crime Flavia had not renewed her entreaty.
Hence the man had found means of escape.
Vivette recalled the incident of the metal plate nailed over
the condemned door to the inside of the tower, but taken off
some hours subsequently by the magistrate's order.
" I would like to see my room again and my sister's," she
remarked to the gardener. " Have you the keys 1"
"All the keys to show the place," returned the man,
eagerly, " and I'll be glad to take you round."
Indeed, the bunch was dangling at his waist, as ever since
the absence of master and fellow-servants had made him
steward. He mounted the main steps, opened the grand
portals and stood aside to let the heiress pass. The hall
crossed the house ; in its centre was the staircase.
" Nothing has been touched since my lady left," observed
the old fellow. ** I would not knock in a nail without your
leave, since all is yours here, house and belongings."
" Ah ! who told you so ? " queried the visitor, sharply.
"Everybody says so. Eumour runs at Dinan that the
baron left you everything by the will written on his death
day."
" A mistake, and I authorise you to deny it," interrupted
Vivette, curtly.
Broladre stared, saw in her eyes that she was not jesting,
and muttered a "sorry to hear it," which clearly expressed
where his liking dwelt.
182 The Condemned Door
"Let us go upstairs," she said, taking the lead on the
stairs. On the right of the landing were the doors, the large
one to Baroness Houlbecq's rooms, the other direct to her
dressing-room of that suite. On the left a long lobby ran to
the general's rooms, where nothing had happened on the
eventful night.
Since the lady had left for town the official seals had been
removed and the doors were open.
Eirst Vivette entered the dressing-room where her sister
had sprung up to bar her way when she ran in at the out-
cries of the domestics assembled round their master's dead
body. She did not linger there, but, overruling her emotion,
she passed into the chamber, where nothing was changed
except by the removal of the bloodstained carpet. Flavia's
bed retained the impress of her form, and the volume of
Balzac remained on the side-table where the general dropped
it after a glance, whilst his wife pretended to sleep.
Broladre opened the shutters. The light was so clear that
the visitor could include in one glance the whole of the pro-
foundly-affecting picture. Her gaze settled on the leaden
plate remaining after being un-nailed by the roofers under
the magistrate's direction.
" My poor master had better have set the plumbers to
sealing up the windows," observed the gardener. " There
was no danger to come from the other."
It was the contrary, thought Vivette.
" My good man," said she, " will you leave me alone to pray
for the lamented departed one ? Wait for me above in my
room, where I will presently come."
Broladre bowed himself out.
Vivette walked straight to the hangings and lifted them,
so as to see that nobody had closed the door of communica-
tion. She stepped into the place, vaulted like a cavern and
feebly illumined by a loophole. It was only six feet above
the floor, but was much too narrow for a man to squeeze
through, and no refugee in the tower could have left by ihaX
opening.
The Old Tower Yields u^p a Clue 183
Light had dawned on the searcher's brain, and she scarcely
doubted now that, surprised by her husband, Lady Houlbecq
had hidden a lover here who had got in by the window up
the ivy ladder. What had he done to escape 1 His prison,
with the ostensible door condemned, plated over, and guarded,
must have had an invisible issue, for which the new-comer
sought.
She remembered reading of celebrated escapes, where
jDrisoners had saved themselves by burrowing in the thick-
ness of their dungeon walls. Therefore she examined all
the huge granite blocks, one after another, of the tower
masonry till she came to one with its joints free of mortar.
She gave it a chance push, and found it to give and reveal a
large empty space. It was mid-high, so Vivette could have
glided into it ; but, instead of so perilous a venture, she was
satisfied to put in her head and peer into the hollow. It was
up and down, she perceived. Below, a black well without a
perceptible bottom ; above, a chimney ending in the platform
of the dungeon, for daylight was visible, as if some cover had
fallen in, or a hasty hand had removed it and forgotten to
replace it.
Vivette was brave enough to reach out and grope in the
interior of this perpendicular shaft, her hands meeting the
stones ; but some stood out with flat tops from among the
rest ; they were stepping-stones to facilitate ascent and
descent
But she was not yet at the sum of her discoveries.
Still feeling of the rugged layers, her fingers suddenly ran
against a hard round object, so cold as to make her start, but
she regained her courage, grasped it, and drew it forth. It
was a kind of button — properly a stud in gold, such as fastens
those cuff's which no peasant wears. This half of a link-pair
had been torn away by the stoiit^s when the fugitive wearer
was mounting in full flight. By a rare hazard it had not
fallen to the bottom of the pit.
This was a substantial proof that a gentleman had passed
tbi3 way who could be uo less th^-n Lady Houlbecq's lover,
184 The Condemned Door
Vivette was on the verge of wondering to herself if he might
not be the husband's murderer, when she perceived the stud
was engraved with an armorial device and enamelled.
She knew enough of heraldry to hope to decipher it and
approached the loophole in order to do so. Alas ! she knew
that coat-of-arms well from having seen it carved over the
castle front. None but the Trigavous bore " three spread
eagles in silver, two above one, on a black ground."
" 'Tis he ! " she muttered with a shiver, in horror. " 'Twas
he riavia received that night ! And yet, but now, had I not
stayed him, he would have told me he loved me ! And in Paris
she urged me to wed him ! It was merely to test me ; she
was jealous of me ; that is why she wanted to see me no
more ! Well, she shall have her wish, for I will flee so far she
will never hear me spoken of. Yes, I will go ! But no, not
before I save Calorguen. Olivier will aid me ; who cares if
he has been duelling about some bad woman 1 He has not
stooped to infamy like this man ! He is worthy to defend
this unfortunate gamekeeper, threatened with the loss of his
head for a crime he never committed. Help, help, Olivier !
Oh, help ! I will see him, and if he cannot come I will go to
him."
After this outburst, rather thought aloud, however, than
spoken, Vivette flew forth without heeding the displaced
stone, ran through her sister's room, called Broladre down
from the upper floor, told him she deferred seeing the
rest of the castle, commanded him to shut up the baroness's
room and hand her the key, which she carried away with her,
and leaving by the gates, raced away to Calorguen's cottage.
She had gone wild.
Her ideas battled confusedly in her brain till one rose
clearly from the chaos — to put herself under Olivier's
safeguard.
How summon him quickly ? The post was too slow, and
there was no telegraph office save at Dinan. There she
resolved to go, even though the Lord of Trigavou beset her
path.
The Old Tower Yields up a Clue 185
On arriving at the keeper's she found Yvon squatting in
his habitual place, silently watching the slumbering Mother
Calorguen. She beckoned for him to come out into the
orchard with her, where she asked briefly :
" Any letter-out of carriages near here 1 "
" Yes, lady. Two in the village, but the best only has
open carts, and if it be for you "
" I am not particular. Lead me to him."
" Going away, lady 1 "
"Over to Dinan, but I shall be back shortly. Tell the
Sister of Charity to take my place by the patient till I return.
I don't want to wake up the old dame, so steal up into my
room and bring me a locked portmanteau and a little leather
bag you'll find on the chest of drawers."
" What'll I say if the dame asks after you, lady 1 "
" That I went away to help her boy."
" Oh, won't she pray for you ! If you see Pierre, lady,
you'll speak to him of me, won't you now ? ''
"Certainly I will."
" Mind, tell him that I do not forget what I promised him,
but do not tell him what I told you. I haven't come across
that man yet, but I'm still on the hunt "
" You can come to tell me all about that at Dinan, at Dr.
Avangour's house. But run for that bag and make haste."
An hour afterwards Mdlle. de Bourbriac was rolling in a
rattle-trap towards the town where Calorguen was awaiting
the unfolding of his fate.
CHAPTEE XXX
THE SPIES IN THE STRONGHOLD
Brittany is strewn with small towns, nearly all picturesque.
Nodding on creeks or asleep in the woods, all are set in
verdure — forest, mead, or growing heath — but all also have
narrow, dirty streets. Dinan has both these. Antiquaries
dote on it, and the English pedestrians delight here, too, in
the plenty of long pleasant walks.
Since the Revolution, when most provincial towns razed
the monuments of yore, the Dinan burghers have preserved
by utilising the ancient fortifications which once protected
the place from the Earl of Lancaster. The moats have been
transformed into boulevards planted with fine large trees, and
the battlements hold up hanging gardens. The castle, built
in 1388, is the prison, like many another. In the time of the
Terror, refractory priests were immured here, and prisoners
of war under the First Empire. Now it is a house of correc-
tion and stronghold for the prisoners to be tried at the
Assizes of St. Brieuc.
The perfectly intact castle forms part of the unbroken en-
closure around the town, and its imposing mass towers upon
a hilltop above the river.
Here Pierre Calorguen awaited judgment, without seeing
one friendly face there, six weeks. Solitary confinement had
been so rigorously maintained that all Dr. Avangour could
do was to send in a few comforts, without obtaining leave to
see him. But now the ban was lifted and our good doctor
was seeking the public prosecutor for a permit, for he was
^ager to question the hapless fellow. Not to wring out
The Spies m the Stronghold 187
avowals, but to make him understand he ought not to sacrifice
himself from fear of injuring a woman he loved. That he
worshipped Baroness Houlbecq, the doctor was more than
ever convinced, as well as that the lady of Castle Trigavou
had played a still inexplicable part in the tragedy.
Avangour was less interested in her than in the son of his
patient, and he sought to help him best by informing him of
all the doings since he was arrested. He wished chiefly to
relate the suspicious conduct of Pillemer, who had gone to
Paris after accusing him to confer with his master.
In the meantime, deprived of outward news, Calorguen
believed himself totally abandoned. Yet, though he despaired
of help, his courage never weakened. What man he was the
day Grisaille arrested him he was now ; nerved to remain
mute before the jury, as already before the magistrate, and
leaving Providence to display his innocence if so it might be.
On the other hand, his durance was not so vile, thanks to
the paternal kindness of his turnkey. This honest fellow had
served in the marines and had quitted the fleet with the rank
of ship's corporal.
Naturally he felt for an old soldier, and refused him none
of the favours which he could grant within a warder's duty.
First, Mdlle. de Bourbriac had come to live at Dr. Avan-
gour's, in Dinan. He was a widower of sixty, and occupied
a huge house on Duguesclin Square, near the castle.
Second, came Count Trigavou, leaving the farm to dwell
at the other end of the town in a lodging he took by the year,
to be handy when he did business at Dinan, though that was
not often.
Third, was Olivier Derquy, arrived last night by the rail-
way, at the nearest hotel to the station. He had made an
appointment there with Trigavou, who had not kept him
waiting, so that a couple of days after Vivette so abruptly
departed from the keeper's cottage, the two friends were
walking along the outer boulevard leading to the castle.
Since Mdlle. de Bourbriac's flight, Olivier had been
thoroughly ensnared by Alain's blandishments. Alain had
188 The Condemned Door
clean won over the naval lieutenant ; his skilful remarks had
scattered any suspicions in his mind, entangled him and
finally led him to conclude an alliance to save Calorguen.
By a singular hazard, Olivier being involved in a quarrel
at the club on his first visit, with a strange gentleman, had to
fight a duel with him, when he received a thrust in the wrist.
This compelled him to keep indoors a few days, and hence,
in the impossibility of presenting himself at Friedland
Avenue, he charged Alain to go see Lady Houlbecq, and
tell her and her sister that her cousin had had a fall.
To fulfil this errand, the count had no need to put himself
out, as Flavia had come to see him at his lodgings. She
announced that Vivette had set out for Brittany, and then
they concocted a plan which simple Olivier was to help exe-
cute without knowledge that he was working against his own
interest. Lady Houlbecq feared Calorguen would speak, so
she wished him out of the way — how managed she little cared.
If he escaped — well, if he did, so much the better, for dead
men tell no tales.
Trigavou aimed to wed the general's sole heiress, Vivette.
To attain his mark he must captivate her, and he did not
doubt succeeding by making a merit of defending Calorguen
and employing calumny to prevent the cousins marrying.
The plotters agreed that the lady should remain in the city
whilst the noble went to work without her.
Already there, he believed he had only to congratulate
himself upon his first interview with Mdlle. de Bourbriac.
The next thing was to get rid of Calorguen, and so contrive
t that Vivette would thank him for getting him out of
jail.
After receiving him with open arms, Alain had taken him
in hand. They were going together to study the place into
which they sought to enter for communication with the pri-
soner, and Alain reserved to himself the direction of
operations.
" Did they raise any obstacles at the sub-prefecture to giv-
ing you the leave to visit ? " he incjuired, as they neared the
The Spies in the Stronghold 189
St. Louis gate, which must be passed in order to get ii|jbo
the town and then the f ortalice.
"None," was Olivier's answer. "The only remark was
that it was good but to three o'clock. But it is scarce two
now."
" Oh, we have time enough, through my having sent you to
the office instead of myself going. The clerks there know
me and they would have been astonished at a native asking
to see local curiosities, whilst they could take you for a
tourist."
" I daresay ; but the leave is only for the castle, and the
hour stated is probably that when the prisoners are locked
up."
" I did not imagine they would let us see Calorguen or I
should not have come, for his prejudices against me would
have made him distrustful. We are only a simple scout to
examine the place, draw out the jailer and try to learn where
our man is lodged, and whether we can get anything to him.
I charge myself willingly with this preliminary inquiry."
" Well, will we be much advanced afterwards 1 "
" My dear boy, this is my idea. You see that dungeon,"
went on the count, pointing to the huge tower standing out
from the line over the moat. " Calorguen is there, rely upon
it, and he could get out by filing the window bars and
sliding down a rope. The sole puzzle is to put him in posses-
sion of the indispensable tools, a file and a cord. 'Tis the
traditional style, the plainest and also the best. Eead your
Jack Sheppard."
" I remember some such things, and I know that Dinan
Castle is not as well guarded as a state prison. Still I doubt
that the prisoners will be allowed to receive anything from
outsiders."
"So do I. But let me see how things really stand. Jailers
may be bribed. Let's try, anyway, my friend. It is fully
understood that you are a Dryasdust, travelling to see old
monuments, and have beguiled me into accompanying you.
On the way I'll try to unloosen the warder a tongue. Do the
.190 The Condemned Door
same, and between us we ought to worm out useful infor-
mation."
They returned into the town by the St. Louis gate and
took the little Wicket Street, which name shows it leads to
the prison. To reach it they had to cross a square and a
single-arch stone bridge, preceded by a guard-house, where
a sentinel let them by on seeing their permission. They were
moving towards the bridge when they met a man in a dark
blue uniform who stopped short on seeing Derquy, quickly
doffed his gold-banded cap, and said :
"I hope I see your honour well, lieutenant. Don't you
recollect me 1 " As Olivier looked hard without answer, he
went on with a strong Proven9al accent : " Why, I served
under your honour's orders aboard o' the iron-clad Magenta
what time you were midshipman and I were master of the
ship's police. I am Marius Roquevaire, of Toulon."
" What, is this you, my honest tar ! " cried Derquy " May
Davy Jones' locker be my coffin if I expected to find you
here ! Have you left the navy ? "
" Forced to, lieutenant ; put on the reserve list. But I
was lucky enough to get into the prison department, and I am
head warden at Dinan. Not that I would not sooner be in
my own part, Provence, but I had no choice. Besides,
Brittany is not a bad country. You hail from hereabouts,
I believe, lieutenant 1 "
" I do, and come home after three years' active service in
China."
" What can I do to help your honour, lieutenant — or is
it captain 1 — for since I left the service you ought to have
gained a step."
*' I have shipped the two swabs — right. This gentleman
is with me. Can you tell us to whom we apply to be shown
round the castle 1 "
" I'm your man, captain, and only too happy to show you
all alow and aloft. Th^ door-ward is away and I am taking
his post."
" I have a leave."
The Spies in the Stronghold 191
" Oh, T don't want to see any leave where your honour's
concerned. You have hit it off to a T. The prisoners are
in the workroom. I can take you around in every mortal
place, even the place of execution."
" Thanks, we are not over-eager about that."
" I see ; you come for the antics."
"The antiquities, yes, and for the view off the tower
roof."
" Ay, and that's well worth the trouble of climbing eight-
and-forty steps."
The chief turnkey led them over the bridge, said a word
to the watcher at the door, and the gentlemen followed him
into the stairway.
They passed the doors without entering where the tourists
always go in, and after an easy enough ascent came out upon
the tower top.
Here was an admirable view of town and country. The
old ragged roof -trees bristled on the background and the
wooded slopes rose up opposite along the courses of the
Ranee. But the site has an untamed air not devoid of charm,
a mediaeval landscape where the steam whistle astonishes
the hearer.
" Here we are, gentlemen," said Rocquevaire. " The tra-
vellers think a lot of it, but I stick to it that this panorama
don't touch the view of the mountains of Lestorel seen from
Cannes."
Olivier pretended not to be of that opinion, and uttered
a well-feeling eulogy of the spectacle, as it was necessary he
should pose as an enthusiast to explain his visit to the tower
platform. Naval officers who have sailed round the world
are not usually so curious.
" I don't reckon your prisoners so very unhappy when they
have the belvidere to stroll about upon."
Thus Alain, which caused Rocquevaire to laugh.
" That's not allowed," said he. " Besides, they would
rather have a treat of brandy or tobacco in the canteen. The
chaps here think no more of the beauties of nature than I do
192 The Condemned Door
of an old quid — bar one. He's used to living in tlie open air,
d'ye see, and he's a first-class fellow, though it's a black mark
agin^ his name on the list. I have let him come up here for
a couple of hours daily, but I stick to him all the while."
" What's he done ? " inquired Trigavou.
'^ He was a soldier who became a gamekeeper, and he's
logged down for the killing of his master."
" Stop a bit ! I heard of this — or the newspapers had it —
an old general who lived near here and was shot dead —
quite an event, it appears. So you have that criminal here,
eh?"
" Until shifted for the 'sizes next month. Whether they
let him off or not, I'm sorry he's going. You'll see why,
captain, when I tell 'ee we have a talk every day about the
war through which the pair of us went."
The naval officer fully understood and rejoiced to find the
head warder so well disposed towards the prisoner. For
still better luck, Rocquevaire, not being a native, was com-
pletely ignorant that his former commander was a relation
by marriage of Baron Houlbecq. All he knew was that
Derquy was a Breton, and he could not infer from that that
he thought of saving Calorguen.
" The poor fellow interests you, eh ? " observed Olivier.
" Ay, captain, and more besides. Everybody's sorry for
him, and Dr. Avangour, who is the first doctor in Dinan and
attended the general, of course, often sends Calorguen eat-
ables and drinkables. Catch him a-doing that if he believed
him guilty 1 More'n that, too, he's coming to see him. The
< solitary ' has been taken off these two days and the doctor
must have got the order to visit ; in fact, I wonder he's not
here to-day."
" Quite right of the doctor," Alain said, at the same time, "to
alleviate the fate of a man who has fought for his country.
It's an example to follow. Let us send in a basket of
dainties.'*
" Can we, though ? " asked he directly of the chief turnkey,
who replied lightly ;
The Spies in the Stronghold 193
" Dead agin' the rules and reggylations, but I can shut my
eyes on a present from my old officer."
" I'll take you at your word, old shipmate," said Derquy.
" What do you think he'd like ? "
" Oysters, of course," interposed Trigavou. " I don't think
he's indulged in them in here. They'll make a new man of
him, I'll bet, and a bottle or two of sound white wine to
wash them down. What do you think of that, Master
Warder?"
" No wine, sir. I have had my head dressed because I
passed in three bottles of old bordeaux from Dr. Avangour's
own cellar. He sent them into the canteen and Calorguen
pretended to buy 'em out there. But as for oysters, send
in as many as you like."
" He shall have a full barrel this evening."
" Send in before four p.m. After dark nothing can come
in ; it is the rule and reggylation."
" I'll attend to it as soon as I get back to my hotel,"
said Olivier. " And I hope, old mate, that you'll do me
the pleasure of coming to breakfast with me in the morn-
ing."
" That would be a great honour, captain, but the prison
inspector is expected to drop on us any time, so I cannot
get out. Are you staying long down here 1 "
" Not coming to an anchor. I have got through my
business almost, but I shall come back when we can see one
another. Now I have no time to spare about that k^g of
oysters, and we must put off to the next time visitiug the
halls."
" Have it your own way, captain. But if Calogriien asks
who sent him the treat—"
*' Just say it was a sea officer. Well, yes ; there's nothing
to stay you giving my name."
"That's good enough, sir. Calorguen will drink your
honour's health, and so shall I. "
Eoquevaire escorted the two gentlemen to the guard-house,
where he stopped to light his pipe. The visitors strode away
O
194 • The Condemned Door
smartly till they passed St. Louis gate, where Alain
exclaimed :
" It strikes me, old fellow, that we have done good work,
thanks to you. This comes of beiug under arms ; you're
sure to meet some old comrade everywhere. Did not this
turnkey fall into the snare easily 1 Now it depends upon
Master Calorguen alone to be off this very night ! "
CHAPTEE XXXI
THE doctor's obstinate PATIENT
" I TELL you, Olivier, Calorguen could get out this very
night, but I do not hope for so quick a success, though I
already see how to do it. The shellfish will be packed over
a false-bottomed receptacle, hiding files, hooks, and a knotted
rope of the due length, so the jailers will see nothing."
" How will Calorguen know it, then ? "
" Eest easy as to that. Knowing the present comes from
you he will imagine there is something else among the
bivalves. The sequel is his own affair. He is strong enough
to lower himself down hand under hand and able to find his
way when on the ground. He knows the land, every inch,
and, reaching the coast, can pay some fisherman to transport
him to Jersey. He shall have funds enough, for I will lay a
roll of fifty louis beside the rope and files."
Still Derquy remained unshaken.
" My dear friend," went on Trigavou, " I cannot promise
all will happen as I plan. But nothing venture, nothing win
comes pat here. I can engage, though, that if Calorguen
stands his trial he will be sentenced to death, whatever Dr.
Avangour, the optimist, may aver. And Heaven knows
what complications the case will yield, even if there be no
necessity for your cousins to attend. They ought to wish,
if anybody does, for Calorguen to disappear before the jury
is called."
" They have nothing to fear, as they can reproach them-
selves with nothing."
196 The Condemned Door
" Of course not. But a drowning man clutches at every
straw. Calorguen, feeling lost, may try to extenuate the
crime by declaring he had accomplices within the castle."
"What accomplices % My cousins, do you mean ? No one
will credit that."
" An odious assertion, I know ; but don't it occur to you
that people would wonder why they worry about General
Houlbecq's assassin ? Particularly Mdlle. Yivette, who came
down here expressly to raise heaven and earth on behalf of
the man — living at his own mother's house, by the same
token. Whence her excessive zeal ? Shall I acknowledge,
my dear Olivier, this is a question that puzzles me ? It will
rise on others and they will explain her singular conduct
malevolently."
This cunningly- guided thrust hit a tender point. Derquy
did not believe that Mdlle. de Bourbriac had any affection
for the keeper, as Trigavou seemed to insinuate ; but
slander always sticks and the count was a past-master in the
art of sowing suspicions. He had already succeeded in lead-
ing Mdlle. de Bourbriac to believe that her cousin had fought
for some disreputable woman, and now he endeavoured to
embroil both the betrothed.
Derquy finally accepted this announcement, anxious as he
was to be alone to muse over Alain's perfidious speech, a
Parthian shaft that almost accused Vivette of being too fond
of Calorguen.
They separated at about the same time as good-hearted
Roquevaire left the guard-house to go up to Calorguen's cell
to announce an oyster supper. But it was decreed that he
should never go up there by himself that day. Whilst he
was knocking the ashes out of his pipe, who should appear
at the end of Wicket Street but Dr. Avangour, grave as ever
and pacing along solemnly.
" Good ! " thought Eoquevaire. " He has got the leave to
see Calorguen. I'll take him up myself so as to profit by
the chance to tell Pierre he can have a rare junketing this
evening."
The Doctor's Obstinate Patient 197
The doctor politely presented an authorisation signed by
the senior judge.
" Quite right, surgeon-major ! " cried Eoquevaire, eagerly.
" I'll see you up to my lodger, who will jump out of his collar
to see you. I'll leave you alone with him for half an hour.
Not according to the rules and reggylations, but I know a
gentleman a mile off. You would not cause a fellow to lose
his berth."
" Never fear, my honest man," replied Avangour. " I
shall tell nobody you stretched a point, and more than one
will be grateful for your kindness, myself principally. Every-
body's interested in your prisoner, even to the magistrate
who sent him to the assizes."
" Ay, and outsiders too," added Eoquevaire.
The doctor did not take up the remark, for its meaning
escaped him, but followed the keeper up the tower stairs.
He swung a formidable ring of keys as he conducted him to
the third story, where he opened a massive door noisily, as
prison doors are always opened in the old style of jail,
garnished with enormous locks and bristling with bolts.
Calorguen, seated on a stool before a coarse wooden table,
was reading a book lent by his present visitor. He sprang
up quickly and came straight to the one faithful friend
in his misfortune.
" Good news, my boy," said the turnkey. *' To begin with,
you are no longer to be in solitary confinement, in token of
which here's a caller whom I'm going to lock up with you, so
you can chatter away at ease. Next, you are going to have
fivescore oysters, and I'll send you up from the canteen a good
bottle of Yalette, a wine they grow round Nantes — not so
good as Capres, a Provence vintage, but worth drinking,
though."
" I shall not say no to the liquor," muttered Calorguen,
" but before I touch oysters I want to know where they come
from."
" Two visitors to the castle heard you spoken of, and they
thought of doing the kind thing."
198 The Condemned Door
" Not acquaintances of yours, though, eh ? "
" Well, I know one of them. I served under him on the
Magenta, when he was a midshipman. Now he is a first
lieutenant — a captain, as we call 'em — a Breton gentleman
named M. Derquy."
" Oh, I have seen him at Trigavou in the old days. So he
remembered me ? "
" No, he never let out a word of that. But you are a fellow-
Breton and have served under the flag, enough to fetch out
the core of the cable. It would be lubberly to refuse his
offering. Now," concluded Eoquevaire, consulting a huge
silver watch, " you have five-and-twenty minutes to talk of
your affairs with the doctor, who will excuse me not giving
you more time ; but there's the rules and reggylations,
d'ye see ! "
So saying the head jailer stalked forth, banged the door
even more loudly than before, and shot the bolts outside.
The doctor had let him go without asking further of the
other visitors.
"M. Derquy is a kinsman of Mdlle. de Bourbriac,"
muttered Calorguen.
" Her cousin german," said the doctor. " I had no idea he
was in Dinan."
" I thought he was in China. "
"He returned. I saw him lately in Paris, at Lady
Houlbecq's."
" Then you have seen her ladyship too % " exclaimed the
captive.
" In her residence in Friedland Avenue, the first time since
she came to see you at your mother's, an hour before your
arrest."
" Did she speak about m — me ? "
"Very slightly. We were not alone. And if I had
reminded her ladyship of her visit to you on her husband's
funeral day I believe it would have distressed her. So I
pretended forgetfulness of your long colloquy with her in
the orchard."
The Doctor's Obstinate Patient 199
" She ought to bless you for not saying anything.'^
" I don't doubt that ; and I shall continue to keep silent.
But I do not renounce discovering the truth — indeed, I ask
it of you — I come for nothing else."
" I swear to you under God that I am not the man who
slew the general. Were it me I'd tell you so."
" Good ! I believe you. Now, answer with the same pre-
cision to another question I must put to you : Lady Houlbecq
loves you 1 "
"Not that I know of."
"But you are in love with her, at least ? Don't contradict
it ! I am sure, and you would deny uselessly. I have eyes
and I have seen."
" I do not deny that."
" Well and good so far. Have you told her you loved her !
" No, she found it out."
" Then she commanded you to kill her husband ? "
" But I tell you it was not I who killed him."
" Do you know the other ? "
" Did I know I should tell you — when nothing less would
save my head. But I do not know, and Lady Houlbecq does
not know either."
" What did she come to you for, then ? And what did you
want of her that you begged for an interview — not to propose
marriage, I imagine ? Admit there is a secret between you."
Calorguen bowed his head unanswering.
"Come, come," said the physician, "be frank. You dis-
covered my lady had a gallant. She knew you could destroy
her and she came to entreat you to keep still."
" I promised her as much," replied the gamekeeper with an
effort.
" I guessed it. And this paramour killed the husband 1 "
" No, I am certain not."
" How can you be certain ] "
" He died before my master did ; hence it was not he."
" Name him."
" I swore to do nothing of the sort, and will not be for-
200 The Condemned Door
sworn. Besides, what matters that man's name now ? Were
he living and I free I should try to force him to fight me, for
I hate him, curse him ! But I did not betray him before his
death, and out of respect for my commander's memory I will
not disgrace Lady Houlbecq by publishing that she deceived
her husband."
" My dear Pierre, I deplore your obstinacy, but I cannot
blame your sentiments. Guilty though a woman may be, she
is ever a woman ; and besides, this one is Mdlle. Vivette's
sister "
** One I respect and bless. Never can I forget her kindness
to my mother, sir."
" There's more of it than you know of. A week ago Mdlle.
Vivette came to live at your mother's the better to watch her,
and her settling down there was also to defend you better.
She is collecting testimony to your good character, and will
herself try her good word at the trial. But I must know how
you are going to act, and what your answer will be to the
indictment. I hope the jury will be well disposed towards
you, but all appearances are counter. What is your plan of
defence ? "
" None. A man not guilty needs no plots and plans. I
am ready. I should have liked to see my mother, though."
"You well know she cannot be moved, though she is
getting on better. I hope to have her about in the spring.
Mdlle. de Bourbriac wanted to come here with me, but I
made her understand it would not be seemly. You will see
her in the court-room. I shall return once more for anything
you want attended to."
" Do you know if little Yvon will be called as a witness ? "
"That little lad who watched your mother] Really, T
cannot say. I rather think, though, he'll be wanted to tell
what hour you came home on the evening when the crime
was committed. But why the mischief do you think of him ?
Half an idiot, poor child ! His presence cannot be of any
use to you."
"I'd like him to' be there."
The Doctor's Obstinate Patient 201
" Very well, you can have him summoned as a witness for
the defence."
The doctor was interrupted by a crash of iron. The door
opened and the chief warder entered, saying :
" Time's up, sir, and I am called down."
**I was just going," said Dr. Avangour. "Good-bye,
Pierre, till we meet again in three days."
He held out his hand to the prisoner, which he had not
done in entering. Pierre grasped it and shook it with glad-
ness, feeling that he believed him now free of the murder.
"The oysters have come," said Eoquevaire, chuckling.
Your friends wasted no time. There's a bushel basket, boy,
none of your trumpery kegs, and it's coming up with a bottle
of wine. Pll open two or three dozen myself, as you're not
allowed a knife under the rules and reggylations. Better tuck
'em under your belt straight off, for night comes on sharp,
and the government won't run up any tall gas bills for its
guests. Ha ! ha ! "
With this laughing at his own jokes the honest jailer left
the dungeon.
Calorguen resumed his seat on the stool and leaned an
elbow on the table, heeding in no way the banquet. He
thought of Lady Houlbecq coming to St. Brieuc, where he
would see her again. Dr. Avangour had hit it ; the keeper
was not cured of his fatal passion. He cursed the lady of
Trigavou Castle ; he scorned her, yet he loved her. Her
image floated before his eyes. She figured in all the prisoner's
dreams as she appeared under the apple trees supplicating him
pitifully to give up the paper which put her at his mercy. He
regretted not having been able to gratify her wishes. He was
determined to let himself be doomed rather than bring her
into the case, and the doctor's wise counsel had not modified
his resolution.
He was driven out of his broodings by Eoquevaire coming
in with an underling bringing the oysters and wine. It was
no plaything of a keg, but a huge basket filled to bursting off
the lid, and the porter had his strength tasked to carry it.
202 The Condemned Door
" Put that down in a corner and set the bottle on the table,
and sling your hook elsewhere," said his superior. " Now,
then, lad," he proceeded, when the 'prentice warder had gone,
" you must do honour to my old commander's present. Keep
your seat. I will show you how to open oysters artistically.
You notice that I had a glass brought up for me — so fill up
both for a drink."
Calorguen obeyed mechanically, whilst the other pulled out
a large clasp knife and dexterously opened quite four dozen
Cancale oysters, which he arranged appetisingly before the
prisoner — and himself.
" There's enough for this evening," he said. " You can
have a go at the rest to-morrow, and if too many I'll lend you
a hand. I have to swallow going on a hundred before I can
raise an appetite, sometimes ; a lucky thing, as you do not
seem up to much. Here's your jolly good health."
Indeed, Calorguen did not evince great gusto for the
bivalves which disappeared between the other's lips with
startling rapidity, Boquevaire only pausing to drink, so that
when he had engulfed his third dozen the bottle was drained.
" Now, my lad, I am feeling sharpset for my dinner. Oh,
I'll send you up your soup. I'll leave the basket, for you
may care to taste in the night. We'll finish 'em to-morrow.
I'd like to leave you a light, but you know that's dead agin'
the rules and reggylations."
Upon which Roquevaire walked out and the fastenings
closed upon Calorguen, again sinking into his meditation. He
could not help smiling at the frank gluttony of his keeper,
who regaled himself under pretence of treating his prisoner
better.
But Calorguen soon ran on to graver thoughts. Among
Boquevaire's remarks was one hugely suggestive on which
he fastened, that baskets may contain other things than
oysters.
"May not M. Derquy have sent me in tools ?" he thought
to himself. " I never saw much of him when he came to
our place, but then he is a kinsman of Lady Houlbecq and
The Doctor's Obstinate Patient 203
her sisfcer — their cousin, I hear. They have spoken to him
about me and begged him to go to my assistance. There, I
was upbraiding my lady for forgetting me, and maybe I was
wrong — she has every reason to wish I disappeared before
trial. Slie is afraid of my speaking out. I will show her
how wrong was she to distrust me, for I would not escape
if I had the power."
At first indignant against the baroness for the intentions
he attributed to her, he now wondered if they were not
difi'erent from his conception.
Why should not the lady sincerely pity him 1 And why
not have charged her cousin to deliver the man sufi'ering for
her cause ? Whether she believed him innocent or guilty,
she ought to be grateful for his having revealed nothing
at the examination. And if she wished to restore him to
freedom, had he any right to refuse it ? He might reason-
ably suppose that she had everything ready to facilitate his
flight from France.
Then, again, a final fancy, hardly breathed to himself —
might she not receive him somewhere abroad ? This imagina-
tion galloped afar out of doors, but bodily flight was not so
easy.
His cell was at the tower top, with one window of good
size, but cross-barred with iron. It would take a cold
chisel to work them out of the leaded sockets and a rope to
descend. Admitting that these articles were in the panier,
they could not be unburied from beneath the shell fish till
after the jailer's night visit.
So he killed two hours in prowling up and down the room,
once the guard-room for the watch who mounted the roof by
turns. The walls were made of stones, disjointed by time,
and the rain-rusted ironwork did not appear very strong.
Here was hope.
CHAPTER XXXII
THE DEAD SHOT AT WORK AGAIN
Calorguen's warder came up sooner than usual, set down a
bowl of soupj and conscientiously locked up afterwards.
Familiar with " the rules and regulations " dinned into his
ears by the chief guardian, Calorguen knew he should see
nobody till the morning. He threw himself on the camp-bed
and waited. He had no sleepiness and could do nothing
until the castle gates were closed and the watchers all a-bed,
save the one standing guard over the dormitories.
Calorguen's chimeras haunted his over- excited brain more
and more, so that he was glad to jump off the couch when the
old tower clock struck nine and stride to the corner where the
basket stood. To empty it was an easy, but long, operation,
as each oyster had to be taken out separately, for upsetting
the whole would make a crash and a rattling on the stone
floor.
Calorguen took the prudent course, softly removing the
layers of shells and finally^a bed of seaweed, under which his
fingers touched a wicker lid bending under pressure. Here
was a hiding-place, which he hastened to search. The first
object produced was a candle rolled in a piece of paper. As
that was useless without fire he dived deeper, and fished up
a box of matches. The friend sending help had foreseen
everything.
Calorguen was careful not to strike a light till he had
stopped up the keyhole with the crumb of his supper loaf, for
an active keeper might apply his eye to it. Besides, he was
waxily emptying the basket whilst stooping behind his bed.
The Dead Shot at Work Again 205
At length he lit up and saw that the basket bottom was filled
by a coil of rope, a rather thin but apparently stout one,
regularly knotted. In the heart of the serpentine coil was a
fine, strong file, a pair of pincers and a pair of cutter's shears.
He had the choice of three courses— to file, wrench out, or dig
out the window bars.
His friend, the prisoner thought, could only be Lieutenant
Derquy, and he was evidently inspired by Lady Houlbecq.
Looking closer, Calorguen perceived that the candle wrap
was pencilled upon. He hastened to unfold the crumpled page
and read as follows :
*' A well-wisher, who knows you are not guilty, sends you
means to get out of confinement. The rope has been measured
and tested, being strong enough to bear you and long enough
to enable you to reach the ground when at its end. Lower
yourself at midnight. A guide awaits you on the castle walk
to take you to St. Lunaire, where a fishing smack is ready to
sail to Jersey. Do not put off flight this night, as to-morrow
it will be too late. Burn this."
"A well-wisher," muttered Calorguen, after reading this
invitation with unspeakable emotion. *"Tis she ! and the
guide awaiting me at the tower foot is her cousin, M. Derquy.
And I accused her of forgetting me — she who has never
ceased to think of me ! "
He kissed the paper he was commanded to destroy. He
could not compare the handwriting with that of the terrible
note which Lady Houlbecq had thrown out to him in the
castle grounds on the morrow of St. Hubert's day, but he
believed it was the same, and hesitatingly burnt it in the
candle after having twice more perused it. One autograph of
the baroness was ample keepsake. The other was in safe
keeping, and this might fall into evil hands in case the prisoner
was caught or killed in climbing down. In such a case, the
paper would be found by persons sure to lay it before the
police.
Having parried this peril by destroying the note, Calorguen
only thought of obeying it.
206 The Condem7ied Door
He had two hours to prepare in. He began work by the
longest and hardest task, the dislodgement of the window
bars, too thick for filing. Standing on his stool, he went at
them with his chisel. He soon discovered that the masonry
did not hold them very firmly. Years and rains had rendered
the stone friable and rusted the metal, so he had no great
difiiculty in "unshipping the bars," as Eoquevaire would
have said, by using his tool as a lever after digging out the
cement and lead and enlarging the cracks. In less than an
hour this was done with all but one upright, left intact for
the rope to be fastened to. With a final wrench he turned
the whole grate round on this centre bar like an axle, so that
the horizontal bars stuck out and in, leaving room enough for
a man to pass tolerably smoothly.
The rope, examined minutely, was knotted from end to
end and topped by a steel ring. This he slipped over one of
the bars up to the angle with the cross ; he passed the free
end of the rope through the next space and let it slowly glide
down along the outside of the wall. There could be no give,
though as well-built a man as our prisoner stretched it.
Whilst awaiting the indicated hour he could only employ
the time in smoothing over things.
He pocketed the chisel, shears, and pincers preparatory to
serving the candle the same way ; he stuffed the seaweed
into the false bottom as if it were only a little fraud of the
fishmonger and piled a-top all the oysters.
It is true the displaced grating could not be pushed back
and the rope would remain ; but nothing would show that
the necessary tools had come in the basket, which the keej^ers,
to avoid a charge of connivance, would no doubt kick out of
the way before the governor came to inspect.
All these precautions taken, Calorguen again cherished the
delusions intoxicating his mind since liberty was in prospect.
He reproached himself for even having doubted Lady Houl-
becq's sympathy and did not think to curse her now. He
loved her.
His amorous reverie was cut short by the clang of the bell
The Dead Shot at Work Again 207
striking midnight. Nothing less would have reminded the
prisoner he must be up and doing.
He glanced at the repacked basket, made sure that nothing
appeared about the cell beyond the shells opened and cleared
by Roquevaire, put out the candle, shoved it into his pocket
together with the box of matches, and climbed up on the stool
on his table drawn under the window.
The moon was new in the first quarter, the sky cloudy, the
night black, and a cold drizzle falling, disagreeable weather
made for an escape, by which Calorguen hastened to profit.
He hoisted himself into the aperture and went out back-
wards, after seizing the rope with both hands. It was no
easy task, but he was as agile as strong.
He withstood the shock of swinging himself down outside
and began to lower himself slowly and methodically. All
went well at the start. Hanging close to the wall, the rope
did not quiver much, and the darkness which shielded him
from surprise also preserved him from that greater danger of
giddiness which sometimes perturbs the soundest heads. He
saw nothing save the dark, rugged stonework scraped by his
body, and staring down to see what progress he was making
would have availed him little, for he could not pierce the
gloom.
Down he went and felt no fatigue.
Once, though, he all but let go the cord, startled by the
sudden rush out of an owl from its hole in the wall. The
bird nearly blinded him with a flap of his wings, but he
speedily recovered from the alarm and soon again believed
he was at his journeys end.
As clearly as he could remember, the tower was not much
higher than the spire of the clock tower, where the bell still
hangs, given to the town by the Duchess Anne.
Calorguen rarely came to Dinan, and when he did lost no
lime in measuring the height of steeples and towers. Hence
he was not very certain on the distance still to pass before
landing ; but he need only continue till his feet touched.
Bofore then, however, his hands joined on the rope forced
208 The Condemned Door
out a piece of stone, which fell down into the moat. He
heard it dash on the rocks and rebound, and was astonished
at the number of seconds before the end of the fall.
" I am not so far down as I imagined," he muttered
between his teeth.
He also marvelled that no guarded vocal signal had yet
reached his ears. "A guide awaits you on the castle walk,"
was written by the friendly sender of the basket, probably
Lieutenant Derquy. If he were below, why no token of life
to encourage the wretch dangling in mid-air ? There was no
need to roar out at the top of the lungs. The voice ascends
and a moderate tone would reach him.
For an instant the fugitive paused, and to get a look
twisted himself to be face outwards. He saw nothing and
concluded that the earth was not near. Almost instantly,
feeling for the next lowest knot, his feet could find none.
Calorguen believed he blundered, but a renewal of the experi-
ment had the same result. He was at the end of the rope,
really too short by upwards of eight yards. He shuddered
and involuntarily shut his eyes. But he did not relinquish
his hold. He had the presence of mind, moreover, to haul
himself up so that his feet could rest on the last knot. He
had escaped the peril of dropping so far as to smash his
skull, but the position was not long tenable.
He thought he had best call out.
"Are you there*?" he challenged, risking everything at
so critical a point.
" Yes," answered a voice, apparently afar. " All right —
only six feet off the ground. Let go ! "
Very little more and Calorguen would have obeyed, for
he had no idea it was a snare, but he thought that, without
any evil intention, his friend might have miscalculated and
then any error about the proper length of rope would cost
the fugitive dear. So he decided not to drop before full
information.
"So dark I cannot see you," he replied. •*Come to the
foot of the wall and you can touch my feet if it's only six
The Dead Shot at Work Again 209
feet. Then I'll be sure you were right, and I'll run the
risk."
No answer this time.
Calorguen fell to wondering on the meaning of this call
to chance the space, and on the subsequent silence. Who
was he dealing with ? Was the supplier of instruments to
break jail some betrayer ? He waited still, but as nothing
happened he was constrained to believe with terror that
there was nothing for it but to climb up again to avoid the
fate projected by this false friend.
This was no such easy matter that he could rely on reaching
his cell window. At the first trial he found he had a little too
much presumed on his strength, though not on his spirit.
The rope burned his hands ; his strained arms were stiff ;
the blood flew to his head, and his eyes, fatigued by the
darkness, blinked despite his will.
Yet he ascended somehow by fits and starts, pausing at
every knot to recover breath. He w^-s bound not to perish
at the feet of the scoundrel who awaited his fall. He wished
to survive for vengeance. How he knew not, but he swore
to make the organiser of this odious ambush pay dear for
the criminal scheme.
Indignation gave him power and for a while he mounted
rapidly. Again stayed, he listened, but no sound arose.
Had the speaker quitted his post? Calorguen fancied so
and went on climbing. He felt that this was his last e^ jrt,
but also knew the window was not far. He was eve a
attaining it when he heard a faint report, coinciding witli
the ping of a bullet on the tower stones.
"He sees I am getting out of his clutches and tries to
make sure of me," said Calorguen to himself. " Luckily h
missed me."
Almost instantly a second shot went off. This time the
marksman took better aim. Calorguen was hit 1
CHAPTER XXXIII
THE REVULSION FROM LOVE TO HATRED
At the second shot Calorguen felt a deadened pain on the
thigh, as from a blow with a club. This is the ordinary
effect from a flesh wound by a bullet, as he knew from expe-
rience, having received two at Metz. He knew also that a
stunning sensation quickly spreads and would disable the
limb. Before it refused service he must make the uttermost
effort. So he grasped the bar with both hands to which he
had fastened the rope. He had more difficulty in getting
one knee on the window sill and then the other ; once so
far, he wormed himself forward flat and managed to turn.
Finally, he descended into his cell upon the stool, itself upon
the table.
He limped to the bed, on which he sat to examine his
wound by the light of the candle which he took out of his
pocket to light. He saw that the lead had probably struck
the shears, so as to glance along in the flesh, carrying away
the skin, a long raw wound which would heal quickly.
He washed the flayed spot with water from the jug, tore
up his handkerchief for bandage, and found relief from this
summary dressing. Nevertheless, he had narrowly escaped.
Only by a miracle had he missed breaking his head on the
rocks, thanks to the fall of the stone warning him by its
duration of descent. And the villain who had laid the snare
by sending him too short a rope had tried to bring him down
with his revolver.
Who had conceived so black a design and prepared its
execution with such infernal skill ? This was the victim's
The Bevulsion from Love to Hatred 211
first question. There was no doubt the present came from
Lieutenant Derquy. But it was presumable he did not
know the contents of the basket, and it was not he who
waited to see the prisoner die at the dungeon base. Calor-
guen knew little of him, but he would not accept the sup-
position that the assassin was an officer and a gentleman .
The lieutenant was the unconscious tool of some enemy of
the gamekeeper's, cunning and ferocious. Derquy, desirous
to bestow a token of kindness on the prisoner, had applied
to somebody in the town for oysters, and the basket had
passed through several hands before arrival at the jail.
Whose hands? What made this ill-chosen go-between
hate the recipient so much as to plot his death 1 Calorguen
was next to unknown in Dinan before the tragic occurrence
published his name. And to believe the doctor and head
warder, public opinion was not hostile to him. Therefore the
ambush was not laid by any townsman, but by another.
Had Calorguen but known that the Lord of Trigavou was
not dead, he w^ould have sought no further. But this was not
in his ken, no more than that the count accompanied Derquy
into the jail.
Through many reflections, one bitter memory returned to
the unhappy fellow — his joy at thinking Lady Houlbecq had
tried to help his flight. He had blessed her on finding the
rope and instruments in the basket sent by her cousin. He
had dreamt of seeing her once more ; he had reproached him-
self for accusing her of indifference ; he had striven to per-
suade himself that she was not responsible to man or under
heaven for the crime committed by some stranger, and he
had admired the ingenious means invented by her to deliver
this poor worm adoring a star.
His decision to risk life in escaping sprang from the hope
to meet again out of France the noble dame who pitied his
plight.
And lo ! the help hid a frightful plot ! Did it come from
her, as he believed when making his attempt? Excellent
were the reasons found to convince him she had alone
212 TJiQ Condemned Door ■
devised the evasion — sound reasons now, after the event.
Calorguen poised them one by one, and hurried to the same
conclusion that Lady Houlbecq sent letter and present.
Only, instead of seeking to save the man who sacrificed him-
self for her, she had intended to destroy him. It was the
simplest and surest way to close his mouth and suppress the
sole witness w^hom he dreaded.
Lady Houlbecq was a monster.
The veil spread by mad passion was suddenly rent away.
Calorguen's heart shrank up and he regretted he had not
let himself be killed on the rocks. He cursed her now, and
little cared to know who was this wretch's accomplice wait-
ing at the foot of the tower — some new lover or hireling
assassin, perhaps.
He persisted in believing that Lieutenant Derquy had only
played a passive part and was not really in the plot.
He even purposed preventing evil consequences to the
naval officer, if it were discovered he had been concerned. If
Roquevaire saw the unset grating and the rope attached
thereto, he would divine without trouble that the implements
had come in the basket sent by M. Derquy.
" Roquevaire shall see nothing," muttered Calorguen,
through his grinding teeth. *' Perhaps he would hold his
tongue for fear of getting hauled over the coals for neglect,
but the best course and the surest is to clear everything
away."
He thought no more of his wound, which really was light
enough to be concealed. If it went bad instead of healirg.
Dr. Avangour could be called in and told everything, for he
wanted his opinion. With no more reservations to make,
Calorguen might well let this honourable gentleman into his
confidence about his strange nocturnal adventure. Perhaps
he would have yielded, too, to the doctor's urging him to make
a clean breast of all to the jury.
The gamekeeper commenced putting back things to their
usual state. The basket was already stuffed with the
bivalves. The grating was next to be replaced — not too hard
The Bevulsion from Love to Hatred iil3
a job, as it was only partly unset and was neither filed nor
wrenched away. First he pulled up the rope and took the
ring off the bars. Then he drew the grating inwards on the
pivots of the unloosened upright bar. This succeeding, he
cemented the ends in the socket with bread-crumbs stained
with rust and smeared with the lime-dust.
Now the rope. Hide it under the bed? The sweeper
would find it. Lay it between the mattrass and bed 1 To
be found a little later. Burn it by the candle ? Nonsense !
it would take an age, and the smoke, ashes, and smell would
betray him.
On full consideration, he deemed it best to throw it out of
the window to fall into the ditch, full of mud in winter and
covered with weeds and thistles all the year round. Nobody
would go after it there, and, if found, nothing would denote
it had come from the dungeon top.
Out it went, therefore, followed by the file, chisel, pincers,
and shears. It did occur to him that the rascal who had shot
him might remain on the look-out on the castle walk ; but
even then, his design being bafiled, he would not lumber him-
self with articles purchased by him of some shopkeeper who
would identify him.
The candle alone remained, and not much of that.
He used it to inspect his cell- to make sure no traces re-
mained. He found onl}^ oyster-shells left by Roquevaire, and,
after putting in their places the table and stool, he blew out
the candle and sent it to keep company in the muat with the
other presents.
He kepttheboxof matches as possibly useful, for Roquevaire
let him smoke cigarettes, and he could stand to it they came
from the canteen.
All this done, he closed the movable glazed sash, keeping
out the weather behind the bars, which he had taken off to
allow his passing, and, returning to the pallet, lay down
dressed, so as not to stain the sheets with blood. Useless
precaution, for the wound did not bleed at all ; but Calorgueu
was bent on hiding all clue to the night's events.
214 The Condemned Door
Of course he could not sleep. Wakefulness is a prisoner's
worst torture. The unfortunate man tossed about on the bed,
not filled with rose leaves. Day seemed never coming, and
slumber likewise shrank aloof.
Finally, a faint gleam did steal through the bars and the
cold, grey, wintry day dawned. Calorguen rose and set to
walking up and down to warm himself and invigorate his
stiffened, benumbed leg. At least it would bear him, the
wound was so insignificant, and he did not doubt now it
would heal of itself.
The chief warder would look in about nine and Dr. Avan-
gour promised to return in three days. He had nothing to
say to the former, but he meant to tell the doctor everything
and consult him on his future action. He felt unable to come
to any resolution otherwise, and he knew the assizes were at
hand.
Roquevaire came up an hour earlier than usual, and it was
clear that his humour had changed over-night. He showed
a scowling face, announcing no good, and said bluntly :
" It's to-day."
" What's to-day 1 " asked the prisoner.
*' Your removal to St. Brieuc. I have just got the judge's
transfer order. Get ready for the 10.36 train, to get in at
1.47."
" What ! this morning ! and my trial not before January 1 "
" It will come off immediately ; set down as a special case."
*' I never heard of such a thing."
" Well, you hear of it now. Your business has made such
a noise that they want to get it over. And besides, the wise-
acres think you are not guarded securely here," added the
warder, ill-humouredly. " You have too many friends in this
place and all around here."
" I know only one."
" Dr. Avangour. Oh, he'll behave himself ; but they are
afeared the others will have a try to get you out. As if I
was the ass to let them have the ghost of a chance. However,
they've settled it among themselves. You will be sent to the
The Bevulsion from Love to Hatred 215
chief town. Mind, if they ever learn I let you have those
presents through, I should not get out of it scot free. So, for
safety's sake I'll hurry that basket out of the way and eat the
few oysters you left last night in your honour, my poor lad.
I'll give you my word I am sorry you're going — I was getting
used to you. Come along down with me to the clerk's office
to get my receipt for transferring you. I'll let Dr. Avangour
know that you had to go. That will save him coming here
for nothing."
There was no remonstrance possible, so Calorguen hung his
head and followed Eoquevaire.
" And now, my lady," he murmured, " we two must fight
this out together."
CHAPTEE XXXIV
The Sisters' Conflict
On hurrying out of Mother Calorguen's dwelling, Viviana
de Bourbriac had determined to tell Dr. Avangour every-
thing even to the find in the secret passage within the thick
wall of Trigavou Castle. She meant also to relate how the
master of La Hunaudaie was haunting the countryside and
had been seen by her. But, on the road, she had doubted
her right to defame her sister, Flavia, by revealing she had
loved guiltily, and doubted, too, if it were well to tell of her
meeting and dialogue with Alain.
The doctor was a devoted and incontestable friend, and
Viviana could request hospitality of him; but, after all, he
was none of her kin, and she ought to think twice before
speaking once of family secrets to him.
Her sudden decision to go to Dinan was in order to place
herself under Olivier Derquy's guard. Being her cousin
german, he might be entrusted with a confidential com-
munication, even though they did not become husband and
wife. For him alone would be uttered the blackening story,
so she went to the telegraph office before proceeding to the
doctor's. Her despatch to Lieut. Derquy, Grand Hotel,
Paris, ran : — " Come, much wanted. I am waiting at Dr.
Avangour's, Duguesclin Square." She could not dream that,
at that very juncture, Derquy was near her, having taken
the morning train so as to arrive at Dinan that same evening
at seven, where he put up at a hotel near the station.
Next day, Viviana learnt of that arrival, through the
doctor having hearcl of it from th^ phief weirder— a piece gf
The Sisters' Conflict 217
news that much surprised both. Having no time to receive
the message, he could not know that his cousin was at Dinan.
Hence, what had he come for, and in whose company had
he visited Calorguen's cell ? Mdlle. de Bourbriac, eager to
see him as soon as possible, besought Dr. Avaugour to hunt
him up. There are not so many hotels in Dinan that a new
comer would not be traced. He promised to take up the
quest next day, and passed away the evening in relating his
interview with Pierre Calorguen,
The good doctor had returned wonder-stricken by the
prisoners firmness, touched by his resignation, and all but
convinced of his guiltlessness, but far from encouraged about
the issue of his trial at St. Brieuc. But he took heed not to
weaken Yiviana's greater than ever belief in his acquittal,
and neither raised a word regarding Lady Houlbecq, Alain
of Trigavou, or Pillemer. Before parting, it was agreed that
the physician should seek for Lieut. Derquy during his
morning visits, whilst Mdlle. de Bourbriac should betake her-
self to the solicitor who had received the general's last will.
She was still decided on refusing to benefit by the loss to
her sister, and on renouncing the heritage formally .
Lawyer Plaintel, as everybody called him, lived in Haute-
voie Street, not far from Duguesclin Square, in an old house
of the Old Town, and his person was in perfect harmony with
the antiquated dwelling occupied by him these forty years.
His father and grandfather had lived there before him, and he
worthily represented this long line of solicitors and notaries.
Rising with the dawn, always clad in black and a white
neckcloth, he spent his life in a study crowded with papers,
adjoining his chief office, where, among dusty documents,
scribbled a head clerk almost as old as himself but less care-
fully arrayed.
This survivor of the old-fashioned solicitors in an age when
servants of the law pride themselves on knowledge of lawn
tennis, boat-house management, steam-launch steering, and
society elegances, was an honourable man and a skilful one.
for miles around fglk came to consult hitp, and he had nq
218 The Condemned Door
equal for pointing out good investments, knowing as he did
the^ value of all landed estates about there. He knew, too, all
the families of any consequence, their genealogy, history, and
monetary position. Hence there were few wealthy marriages
made without his preliminary opinion on the real value of
the settlements.
Lawyer Plaintel was a livingbook of information, of which,
however, he made none but good use. His discretion equalled
his obligingness, and the Dinan people called his study the
lock-up of secrets.
M. Plaintel therefore fully deserved all the confidence
given him by General Houlbecq, who had purchased Trigavou
by his intermediation. Later on, when the first purchase
was to be added to, this model agent had no little helped to
bring about profitable bargains. So the general would come
to the good old fellow's offices when he had business with
him, for he never would leave it for anybody. Hence the
solicitor's face was unknown at the castle, both to the baroness
and Viviana, though they heard him frequently spoken of.
On the other hand, the doctor rather often met him to have
his savings^laid out on mortgages, and he knew the lord of
La Hunaudaie ever so long, as his family had been the lega
agents for the Trigavous.
Mdlle. de Bourbriac, informed by Dr. Avangour, felt no
embarrassment on calling on the stranger.
She found the house designated by large scrolls in the old
style, climbed very poorly-lighted stairs and, guided by a
black-lettered label on a deal board, entered a long room
where the mustiness offended her as soon as she took one
step within.
There sat the head clerk on a worn straw-bottomed chair,
at a desk, wearing spectacles and butcher's outer sleeves of
linen. Two younger men were in the corners scratching
their pens over paper with an exasperating squeak.
All raised their heads at once on hearing the young lady,
and stared away at a client so uncommonly pretty ancl
stylish,
The Sisters' Conflict 219
She asked for M. Plaintel, and the chief clerk, without
unlocking his jaws, pointed to a door across the room. The
regulation was to keep quiet or whisper as in a church.
Understanding, the visitor crossed the office, pushed a door,
and all of a sudden faced the master, who was seated at
an old cylinder writing-desk. M. Plaintel had a round,
smoothly -shaven face, kindly in expression, enframed in long
locks of white hair almost to his shoulders. His black eyes
were still lively and his mouth smiling.
He rose politely and pointed to a worn armchair ; when
Viviana gave her name, he fairly beamed.
" I was expecting you," he said with a bow, " hearing that
you had come to friend Avangour's. Bless you ! everything
gets noised in a little town like this. Excuse me not paying
you a call, but my age keeps me in — my understanding is
sound enough, but my understandings are shaky, d'ye see,
he, he, he ! However, there's no need of hurry, for there's
no limit of time in acting on a will."
" It is precisely on account of my brother-in-law's will that
I have come," observed Viviana.
" It is regular, quite regular, and the lamented general leaves
you a magnificent fortune. The land, house, and woods are
worth over a million francs ; the town house eight hundred
thousand at the lowest figure. I have not the exact amount at
hand of the movable property, but I daresay it will top two
millions. As soon as that unfortunate gamekeeper's trial
comes off*, you can claim the entry into possession."
" Excuse me, sir, but did not the doctor tell you "
" He told me that he imparted to the widow the latest
decision of her husband, as I begged him to do, and that her
ladyship took the blow with much serenity. Many in her
place would have been painfully distressed. It is true that
the general settled on her a relatively important sum, and
then, again, there are no children — the fortune will pass lo
you, mademoiselle, her dearly-beloved sister who has always
lived w4th her. Nothing prevents her living with you when
you are wedded ^"
220 The Condemned Door
"My marriage is not before us," interrupted Mdlle. de
Bourbriac, nettled by these untimely digressions. "I
came to "
" Speak about the will, I know," went on the imper-
turbable man of the law ; *' but I must be allowed to wish well
to the descendant of one of the oldest families in Brittany,
for you are of Breton stock, young lady. Your great-grand -
sire voted with the nobles at the Rennes Parliament in 1787.
He and the ancestor of the Earl of Trigavou sat there side
by side. Their posterity have fared differently ; poor Lord
Alain, the last of his name, has only the scraps of his paternal
property."
The name made Viviana start, the more as she had not
expected to hear it from Lawyer Plaintel, and it was dragged
in so by neck and crop that she wondered if the solicitor did
not do it on purpose.
" I know — I very well know," pursued the obstinate old
fellow, " that your late father, the Marquis of Bourbriac, was
as penniless as the father of Lord Alain of Trigavou ; but
your house was raised again, ten years ago, by a marriage ;
and no derogation either, for General Houlbecq came of a
fine Norman family and an immensely rich one to boot.
May the last of the Trigavous fare as well."
This was going too far, and his hearer lost patience.
" Sir," she said, " I beg you to be good enough to listen to
me. I have determined to renounce the inheritance of my
brother-in-law, and my visit has no other end than to ask you
to prepare the form of renunciation as soon as possible."
" Give up two hundred thousand francs per annum ! "
ejaculated the scandalised Plaintel. " You can't think of it !
Was ever such downright folly ! "
" It is my positive will ! "
" But why should you give up this unexpected Godsend 1 "
"Because it belongs to my sister."
''You are in error, young lady: a wife is not her
husband's natural heiress, she only comea in after all the
collateral relatives,"
The Sisters' Conflict 221
*' General Houlbecq constituted her sole recipient by a
previous will, revoked I know not why. I do not mean by
the new one to despoil tny sister."
a Yery generous all this on your part ; but you seem to
believe that your renunciation will restore things to the statu
quo. Not at all, young lady ! Lady Houlbecq will still not
inherit."
"May I know how that is 1 " inquired the much-astonished
hearer.
"Because the general foresaw this event, knowing you
thoroughly as generous — fully capable in consequence of
refusing to profit by his liberality, which he had perfect
freedom to show. So he took his precautions to prevent his
fortune returning to his wife. He appended a codicil to his
testament."
"A codicil?" repeated the other, not understanding.
" Yes, at the close of the act constituting you sole legatee,
the general added this clause : 'In case Mdlle. Viviana de
Bourbriac, my sister-in-law, refuses to benefit by this
present will, I leave all my real and personal estate to the
state, to be employed as it may decree.' You see that your
disinterestedness will not advantage your sister. Whatever
happens. Lady Houlbecq will never have her husband's
money." Overwhelmed, Yiviana let the solicitor proceed.
" In this I see certain proof of a firm resolution to disinherit
Lady Houlbecq. The general reasoned that his sister-in-law
was capable of rejecting the fortune he left her to the
detriment of his widow. If he left it, as an alternative, to
poor cousins or the poor, a hospital, asylum, or any
charitable foundation, she will make the more scruple of
accepting it because she would be depriving the unfortunate
of a blessing. So he arranged to leave it to the Government
if she refused it, an impersonal receiver to profit which she
is not likely to despoil herself. ' Hence she will have to in-
herit from me ! ' very sound reasoning," concluded the lawyer,
" for under these conditions your refusal would almost be an
insult to the general's memory. Everybody would blame you,
222 The Condemned Door
and, moreover, you would cross your own aim, which would
doubtless be to assure ample means to your sister. When you
enjoy the fortune, nothing can prevent passing a portion over to
Lady Houlbecq by deed of gift, or by simply handing it over,
which is safer and costs nothing — ahem ! You can give her
half even, and nobody can make a remark. Then Lady
Houlbecq, who would have sunk from opulence into the
unhappy mean, without your act, will be as well off as your-
self. Nothing better. But to bring this about, you must
accept the heritage, or both of you will become poor, for the
splendid property will melt away to nobody's advantage in
the Public Treasury, What a pity ! "
At least his auditor owned him to be a hundred times
right in not playing Lady Bountiful to a pure loss.
" Are you convinced ? " inquired the orator.
" I shall see what Dr. Avangour says," answered the lady
evasively, not to say like a woman. " He never mentioned
this codicil."
*' Because I did not mention it to him. Where was the
use ] It never occurred to me that you would spurn the
gift. Well, consult him ! I know his answer, knowing his
rectitude, and that no sensible man can have any other
opinion than mine on the matter. So Lord Alain of
Trigavou said to me only yesterday."
" What ! " exclaimed Yiviana, " have you been discussing
this will with him ? How could that come about 1 On
what grounds could Lord Trigavou meddle with my
business 1 "
"Pray do not accuse me of telling tales," returned the
old lawyer, smiling. "Everybody in the town knows by
this how General Houlbecq favoured you. I kept it close,
but the gentlemen on the bench did not imitate my example.
Never a soul in Dinan is unaware that you are sole legatee.
Hence it is quite a matter of course my clients should prate,
when I see them, of the great topic. And, furthermore, do
not accuse our poor Alain of meddling with what does not
concern him, I am his legal agent, as I was his father'^
The Sisters* Conflict 223
before him, and I look after his affairs in Brittany. He is
lacking a purchaser for the La Hunaudaie Farm, and I hope
I've found him one. My lord came to ask how the business
was coming on."
" Is he going to leave these parts ? "
** Yes ; on account of annoyances arising from this un-
happy trial. His farmer will figure as witness, having
played a nasty part in the matter, it appears. Lord Alain
wishes to be rid of the rogue by disposing of the land. So he
came to speak of the sale, and the general's will only
cropped up by mere chance in our chat. He was com-
miserating Lady Houlbecq, but yet was happy to know that
the fortune would fall to one so worthy of it. I must add
that his opinion of you is so high that he almost divined you
would reject it. I showed him how impossible that was, and
he agreed with me you would never commit the folly of
throwing away some four millions to enrich a republican
government."
" So he believes, now, that my sister is almost im-
poverished ? "
" The truth ; inasmuch as in no case, I repeat, will Lady
Houlbecq finger a penny-piece."
Viviana made no comment this time, feeling the full force
of the judicious lawyer's argument, and not being far from
following his counsel, but she comprehended quite well why
Lord Trigavou had pressed her with his suit so sharply.
She had been wondering why he had suddenly declared his
pretended sentiments after having so long concealed them.
She had only partly believed them, but had not wholly
perceived the truth. Now she saw clearly that the
Prince Charming was an impudent fortune-hunter. After
being her sister's choice, he would have married her if,
as he expected, quadruply a millionnaire ; but, on learn-
ing that her husband had disinherited her in favour
of Mdlle. de Bourbriac, he had hastened to change his aim.
As a practical man, he had endeavoured to obtain sure
information, and hence had gone to Lawyer Plaintel before
224 The Condemned Door
carrying the attack further, and he was completely settled on
the financial situation of both sisters. The choice of the
Master of La Hunaudaie was made. What mattered to him
that Lady Houlbecq had besmirched her reputation for him ?
He threw her off without a qualm, and, having learnt from
her of Viviana's inclination for him, he hoped to capture the
heiref^s by it. He had already set about it. The meeting at
the garden walk had been premeditated, and he had pleaded
so well that the lady had heard him out. He flattered him-
self he had produced a deep impression, and he was not far
out on that point. Besides, he had more than one string to
his bow, and the services he purposed rendering Calorguen
were of a nature to win Viviana's gratitude. Therefore he
might reasonably reckon on complete success, and no doubt
he duly waited for a fresh chance to finish a campaign so
well commenced — a chance that he would plot to bring
about.
He was not to know his prize had learnt the truth on the
sincerity of his declaration since she had penetrated the tower
interior. He horrified her, and all she thought of was to
avoid him, after having told him bluntly how she scorned
him, without giving the reason.
" Talking of my dear client," resumed the solicitor,
blundering as to the meaning of his caller's silence, '' T feel
very friendly in regard to him, and should be most happy to
see him rise by a wealthy alliance out of a position painful
to a nobleman boasting one of the finest names in the
peerage of Old Brittany. Lord Alain of Trigavou is almost
a poor man, though he cannot be reproached for squandering
his fortune, since it was his father reduced it so low. He has
managed with what was left him very wisely, and he lives as
sensibly as can be. As for his personal gifts, young lady —
you know all about that — and you must own that he is a
finished gentleman."
This eulogy of the last of the Trigavous so much re-
sembled the overture to a matrimonial request that Yiviana
sprang up from the fear of yielding to the temptation to
The Sisters' Conflict 225
tell the trumpeter what she really thought- of his lord and
master.
" Good day, sir," she said. " I thank you for your informa-
tion, and I shall reflect on your advice."
" Going already ! " cried the lawyer. " Can I have offended
you unintentionally *? "
" Not at all ; but I am in no wise interested about the Count
of Trigavou, with whom I have little acquaintance. Allow
me to take my leave."
Without letting herself be delayed by Plaintel's excuses
and entreaties, the visitor nodded and went forth. He saw
her to the stair-head and returned downcast, unable to
perceive in what point his remarks had displeased the sole
legatee of General Houlbecq.
Yiviana was in haste to speak to the doctor of the codicil,
and to learn if he had discovered Derquy in one hotel or
another. She was more than heretofore bound to ask aid and
help of the loyal friend whom Lord Trigavou had sought to
slander. Whether he had or had not fought a duel on behalf
of some notorious woman, he would not refuse to counsel and
protect his cousin in her thorny situation. And, since Viviana
knew the value of her elder sister and Alain, she gauged
Olivier justly ; he had loved her three years, and not for her
money, since he had urged her to repudiate the general's
bequest. She forgave him all the wrongs that Trigavou
cast up to him ; and if she did not yet love him as he
deserved, at least she was willing to wed him, if he still
desired it.
She did not doubt that the doctor had found him, and she
even marvelled that she had not run up against him, for
Dinan is not a vast city, and she had gone through the most
crowded part on her way to and from the solicitor's. On this
return she had to cross Duguesclin Square once more, the
principal promenade.
What days the garrison cavalry band gives a concert here
the citizens and tourists gather, for amusements are scarce ;
but these helle-assemhlees, as our futher^« called them, only
226 The Condemned Door
take place in the summer, and in winter the place is deserted,
except on Thursdays, the market days.
It is a parallelogram, edged with old trees and surrounded
at a distance by respectable dwellings. At one end of the
woody walk rises the statue of Bertrand Duguesclin, on the
very spot where, in 1350, he fought the English knight, Sir
Thomas of Canterbury.
To reach Avangour's residence our heroine had to pass by
this pedestal, in the midst' of five paths meeting, where the
town board had placed benches. In her haste, Viviana would
not have paid any attention to a woman fashionably dressed
in black and carefully veiled, who occupied one of these
forms ; but the latter leaped up on seeing her, and coming to
her straight said, as she raised her veil :
"What brings you here ?"
*' Flavia ! " ejaculated Mdlle. de Bourbriac, greatly affected.
"Why are you not over at Trigavoul" demanded Lady
Houlbecq.
" I was there, and I am going back. But as for yourself?"
"I came in from Paris this morning. Where are you
staying here ?"
" At Dr. Avangour's ; there, in Dame Calorguen's cottage."
" I am not going to stop anywhere, as I shall take the
evening train after keeping an appointment."
"With whom?"
" There's no need of your knowing it. But I should like
to know how you have spent the time since quitting me."
" In collecting evidence of the innocence of the man accused
of slaying your husband."
" You mean to say you have been scouring the country.
Does that imply you came in contact with Lord Trigavou?"
Yiviana did not feel her former sentiments towards her
elder. Now the latter inspired an insurmountable repulsion.
She hoped never to see her more, for she had at length com-
prehended what happened on St. Hubert's Night in the
castle, and how murder had followed another crime. She
could not forget how Flavia, in their town house, had found
The Sisters' Conflict 227
cruel pleasure in forcing her to acknowledge her love for
Alain of Trigavou ; she guessed now that Alain was to meet
her in Dinan ; but she had not foreseen that the sinner would
show such impudence as to talk of the villain. This was
going so far beyond decency that the younger lady deter-
mined to put an end to it.
" Yes," she replied, coldly ; " I have met Lord Trigavou —
and he managed it."
" Then he spoke with you i What did he say]" challenged
Flavia, white-hot with rage.
" He strove to make me believe he loved me."
"You lie!"
" I have never done so in my whole life, and I scorn de-
ceivers above all. Lord Trigavou did not pause there, but
went on to say that he came to Brittany merely to save
Calorguen in help of me."
" What was your answer?"
" That I required no aid to defend an innocent man. I
feigned not to understand the rest."
" And you have not seen him since ?"
" No ; were I to do so, and were he to dare address me, I
should forbid his repeating the insult."
" Dear me, have you quite got over the passion you enter-
tained for his lordsjiip 1 " inquired Lady Houlbecq, ironically
" Lord Trigavou is a villain. He sought to wed me because
he knew my brother-in-law left me a fortune. He made
sure of the fact by questioning M. Plaintel, who holds the
will."
" Your intention was to annul that gift. Changed your
mind, it seems ? "
" Whether I accept or not, you will not receive it. Your
husband added a clause which excluded you, a clause which
Lord Trigavou knows. Are you still amazed that he should
betray you ? "
" Betray ! What do you mean 1 "
" I know everything. Do not oblige me to speak more
plainly."
228 The Condemned Door
" But I do require your fully explaining. "
" Eequire ? Do you 'force me to remind you that on the day
of misfortune, a few hours before your husband was slain,
you begged me to help you save a man — a man you secreted
in the tower ? Am I to name him, and tell how he left the
tower ] "
"I want you to tell me how you learnt all this."
" What matters ? I do know, and the proof is — a certain
one, irrefutable ! but, never fear, I am not going to use it to
destroy you. T promise you I would have forgiven you,
deeply guilty though you be, for all your sinfulness at the
castle, but in Paris you tried to cheat me — you ventured to
advise me to marry Lord Trigavou. That I can never
pardon."
'"Twas only to test you. I was jealous and burning to
know if he was fond of you. You have just asserted that he
is so now. Let me be but sure of his treachery and that day
costs him dear. I suspected it already. On leaving town to
go to Dinan to arrange about Calorguen's acquittal, he vowed
not to go to Trigavou and to write me every day. But I
received no word after his departure, and so, unable to en-
dure it, I left last evening. I know his dwelling-place here, and
I went there on leaving the train : he was not at home — not
in at seven in the morning ! I left a note making an ap-
pointment here, and so I am here awaiting him."
" In that case I shall leave you. I have no wish to see
him."
" On the contrary, remain . I would like to question him
before you, and confound him, for, if you have spoken the
truth, he would not dare deny it in your presence."
" I — stand by at a colloquy of you two ! never ! it is too
much to know he is your guilty partner," said the young lady,
bitterly. "You do not understand all my suffering at
having to utter such a word to my sister — 1, Viviana de Bour-
briac ! Have you, then, forgotten when we lived at our
father's 1 I was but a child then, and you a young lady, but
we loved one another dearly, and shared joy and sorrow*
The Sisters* Conflict 229
Then you held nothing back from me, and, even after you
married, we had no secrets ; at least I thought so, and I never
dreamt of parting from you. Dreadful has been my awak-
ening. If you only knew what I felt when you told me, *I
have a man concealed in my rooms ! ' a stab to my very
heart. Had I foreseen what would ensue, I believe I should
have died of grief."
Her voice failed her, she was so choked by sobs. Emotion
is catching, and Flavia had tears well up into her eyes.
"You weep !" exclaimed Viviana, "I may hope that you
repent. It is never too late to redeem faults, and yours you
may redeem."
" How so 1 " faltered the guilty one.
" By spurning the scoundrel who was your ruin. You
will tell me you have not enough courage — well, go leave
France, as was your intention."
" Any one can see you have never been in love ! you fancy
tliat by sheer will a burning passion can be plucked from
the heart. Can't you understand that I am enchained to this
man and must go on loving him though I despise him ? "
" Your remedy is flight. And if some remnant of affection
for me still dwells in you, flee, I beseech you ! flee without a
glimpse of him and not a line on your whereabouts. Heaven
will guide you. Your suffering will be your expiation until,
in the end, you forget."
" Will you come with me ? " inquired Lady Houlbecq,
abruptly.
" I would if I could, but it is impossible. I have promised
to defend that unjustly accused man to the uttermost, and
Olivier would reproach me for abandoning the cause he has
espoused."
" Olivier, do you mean to marry him ? "
^' Yes, if he will have me ? "
" Do you doubt that ? "
" I may well do so. He fought a duel in Paris for the sake
of a notorious woman."
" That's not true 1 he fought with some fellow who spoke
230 The Condemned Door
slanderously of me. "Who told you a notorious woman was
the cause ? "
" Spare me the pain of naming the calumniator to you."
" Ha ! 'tis Alain, the scoundrel ! he told the lie to embroil
you with your betrothed j I believe you now ; he is after
your money ; and to clear the field he accuses Olivier of per-
fidy. All he looks for is to get him out of the way — if he
could send him to the dock like Calorguen, he would not
falter."
" At last, you see the devil in his true blackness. Courage,
Flavia ! hearken to your sister urging you to flee ; she will
receive you back with open arms. Leave the wretch under
the belief that I am keeping your husband's fortune. He
does not know that I only accept it in order to restore it to
you — not now, not yet lest he return to you and you are en-
snared again by one of the deceptions he practises so f eatly.
But it is yours, and I shall keep it for you, certain that
Olivier will approve my action."
' Ay, he loves you for yourself alone," sighed Lady Houl-
becq, bitterly. " But how does the fortune matter to me,
now my life is over ? "
"No, no, since I am still beside you. I pledge myself that
we shall meet again, to part no more unless you cause the
parting. But haste away ! I have unsealed your eyes. Profit
for flight by the moment when the man's unworthiness
is apparent. You said you awaited him here, but, for-
tunately, he has not come, so do not waste another instant
but return to Paris. There is an express in an hour. Let
me accompany you to the station."
There was no answer and Flavia was gazing elsewhere.
"Alas !" sighed the younger lady, "I see I have not con-
verted you : you hope to meet him."
"Even though what you assert were true," cried the
baroness. " But I want to be sure he has deceived me. You
say one thing, he may say another. "Why should I condemn
him unheard ? If it is distasteful for you to see him, get you
hence — I can question him without you by."
The Sisters* Conflict 231
Love is incurable in these tropical beings. Flavia could
listen to reason intermittently, but her consuming flame
blazed up more furiously afterwards and her good resolutions
vanished in smoke. She had heard Viviana out with im-
patience, and now the blood flew to her brain where anger
and jealousy seethed ; this jealousy turned her as much
against her sister as her lover.
" I thirst to know which of you speaks the truth," she
resumed. " There is no proof it is you. Your trying to drive
me far away implies that you wish to retain him. You did
love him, and may love him still. You feign to resign your-
self to marrying Olivier, but he is not the mate you dreamt
of. Marry your Olivier as the only means of showing
me that you have no underhand reason to drive me out of
France ; do it at once and let me act in my own way with
Alain. I want neither your advice nor your pity.''
Mdlle. de Bourbriac's heart fired up at this. She raised
her head indignantly, looked the speaker in the face, and
thus answered her : —
" This is too much. You dare to accuse me of loving this
villain. Only let him come and show me how far his
audacity can go, and I shall tell him what I think of him.
But bear in mind that henceforward you will be a stranger
to me. I no longer have a sister."
"As you please. Mark that you proposed it. But
begone 1 and let me never see you more."
" Farewell," said Viviana, painfully. " I grieve for you
and shall pray for you."
To reach the doctor's house she had only to cross the
square. She turned her back on her sister, who watched her
with a tearless eye, though it might be a departure for ever,
and she quickened her pace in fear to relent, so little would
have turned her back to try anew to tear the unfortunate
woman from the odious Alain's entanglement. She was
about to raise the knocker over Dr. Avangour's door-plate,
when, lifting her eyes, she beheld Alain of Trigavou a few
steps from her. He came along, skirting the houses closely
232 The Condemned Door
like a skulking wolf approaching the fold. He had spied
Viviana from afar, and he had his hat off already, and a smile
on his lips.
" You here 1 " he began. " When we parted at Trigavou, I
little expected to see you again so soon.'*
Mdlle. de Bourbriac coloured up, but she did not attempt
to evade him. He did not frighten her now, and she resolved
to end the affair.
"What do you desire, my lord?" she demanded in a
ringing voice.
" I bring you news of Calorguen ; and I "
"You forget you are awaited yonder," she interrupted,
pointing to the trees around the statue.
" I ? Who should be expecting me 1 "
"The person who left a note at your lodgings this
morning*"
" I have not received it. I went out quite early, and have
not been back. But — I — I know nobody here."
" Ask her whence she comes," said Viviana, still looking
away in the direction in which the other glanced, whereupon
he saw Lady Houlbecq step forth from under the trees
towards the doctor's residence. He turned pale. He was
caught between two fires, and the decisive game was to be
played.
CHAPTEE XXXV
BETWEEN TWO FIRES
Trigavou never lost his self-command. A less cool hand
would have hurried away ; but he had played Lovelace too
long to elude a perilous explanation. He may even have
delighted in facing the emergency. Great generals are more
proud of winning a battle against odds than when they have
all the heavy battalions that ensure victory.
" What ! " said he, without emotion, " did you allude to
your sister ] I could not divine that, but I am only too
happy to see her. Shall we go and save her half the distaace,
eh ? I see some people on the street ; we can chat more at ease
in the square."
Without staying for a reply, he crossed the street, followed
by Viviana, decided to brave all in assistance of her sister in
this dangerous interview, and to sustain her if she weakened,
and to give Lord Trigavou the lie if he durst deny his
treachery. Elavia had lifted her veil, and she advanced with
glittering eyes and a lofty head. The Master of La
Hunaudaie accosted her ceremoniously, as he would do if they
had met in a public place in the capital.
" I never expected the honour of meeting your ladyship in
Dinan," he began in his society voice, the unemphatic, in-
flexible voice, in a grave key.
"You might have foreseen that I should rejoin you,"
returned Lady Houlbecq in quite another tone. ** You did not
write me after your leaving, and I know why."
This reply, in a familiar way, equalled a declaration of war,
and Trigavou, feeling that something new had happened.
234 " The Condemned Door
prepared to be guarded. He felt the eyes of the younger
lady upon him too, standing near as she did, pale and
still.
" I am astonished, madame, that you did not divine the
reason for my silence," he said. " You and your sister are
interested in the unfortunate keeper put in prison. I learn
that my tenant, Pillemer, accused him, and I waited to
question him before writing you. Now I have done so, and
have the certainty that he much exaggerated matters, and
will moderate his deposition."
" You lie ! You came here to meet my sister, and you have
contrived to do so."
" I did meet her — quite by chance — for I hope you do not
imagine that I pre-arranged it with Mdlle. de Bourbriac."
"No," interjected Viviana, coldly, "my sister does not
insult me by believing I arranged to meet you in this part of
the country, where I found you in my path."
" Insult ! " repeated the nobleman, with a forced smile.
" That's a hard expression. I see that I am unlucky enough
to displease you, and I should be much obliged by learning
in what way % "
" I am going to let you know," returned Yiviana, bent on
disentangling herself from the dilemma.
She guessed that the nobleman sought to escape under
evasive replies, and she feared that Flavia would accept them.
" You led me to believe that you loved me," continued the
younger lady, "and you would have plainly declared your-
self, had I allowed it. Do you deny this % "
" I should be an ill-bred fellow to defend myself as for a
crime, for letting you perceive the sentiment you inspired,"
rejoined Lord Trigavou gaily.
" Enough subterfuges, my lord. Have the courage to
acknowledge that you proposed to me because I am rich, my
brother-in-law having left me his fortune. You knew this
on coming to Trigavou, but to make sure there was no
mistake, you went this morning for verification to M.
Plaintel, who has General Houlbecq's will. You are assured
Between Tico Fires 235
now, and you need hesitate no more. It depends on me alone
whether I am or not the Countess of Trigavou."
This outspoken language in the gentle, timid Yiviana's
mouth disconcerted the Master of La Hunaudie. Little
expecting such plain speech and confiding in her love, he had
relied on her wavering before Lady Houlbecq. He had
never foreseen the two sisters would confront him together.
"Confess whilst about it, too," proceeded Viviana, "that
you have defamed Lieut. Olivier Derquy, my cousin and
betrothed. To prevent him marrying me you told me he
had been duelling on account of some woman of bad repute.
You knew very well that his duel was on behalf of my sister
libelled in his presence."
" Young lady," returned the noble, not yet unsaddled, " if
you will be good enough to reflect, you will own that I am
less to blame than appears. You asked me what kept Olivier
in town. My answer was that he had been hurt in a duel —
the truth — and I believed I was excusing your cousin in so
saying. Then you wanted to know what brought him on the
field of honour. Had I told you he silenced an insolent
fellow maligning your sister, I should not have acted
properly. I gave you the first explanation that came into
my head, without thinking whether it was well chosen or
not, and I believed afterwards that Olivier would readily
justify himself. My call on M. Plaintel is explained by his
being my local legal agent. He is a talkative fool, as you must
have perceived, and if he mentioned me to you, it is not
because I questioned him on your concerns, pray believe me."
Lady Houlbecq listened, frowning, to this defence rather
bold than plausible, but Yiviana could read on her face that
she was prone to credit it, and so she determined to push her
interrogation to the end.
"My lord," she said, eyeing Lord Trigavou steadily, "I
beg you to answer me plainly if I consent to be your wife,
will you marry me — yes or no 1 "
This blunt question did disconcert the nobleman. There
was no evading the point. He began to understand that the
236 The Condemned Door
bold persistence was the outcome of a conference between the
sisters. Where would Yiviana have found the power to
speak in this strain if Lady Houlbecq had not given her the
inspiration 1 But what had incited the elder so far against
him ? Had she revealed her jealousy and irritated Yiviana
into unmasking the double-faced cavalier? Remote as his
conjectures reached, he fell below the truth. He would have
asked nothing better than to reply with a burning declara-
tion ; but Flavia had her large black eyes fixed on him, and
he knew what she was capable of in the way of avenging
treachery. So he sought to escape by a jest.
" The world is upside-down, it meseems," he said, laughing.
" Really, young lady, you are popping the question to me,
ha ! ha ! Fortunately there's nobody to overhear you."
" I am here," intervened Lady Houlbecq, suddenly," and I
ask your reply. You can speak freely. My sister knows
how intimate are our relations."
At this impudent speech, Mdlle. de Bourbriac turned pale
with shame though she herself had brought it about. Flavia,
in parading her sin, uttered no news, yet the sudden phrase
was revolting. Alain blanched too, but with rage. Down
came all the castles that he had reared in the air since the
general's death. He saw the state of things at last, and that
his matrimonial projects were annulled. Mdlle. de Bourbriac
could not be prevailed on to accept him now, and there
remained no prospect of recouping on the other side, for he
could not 'fancy that Yiviana would give up the money
to enrich Lady Houlbecq. There remained a woman of whom
he was weary, and whom he detested already since she had
run counter to his schemes and baulked them. But, in the
first place, he must try to march out with the lionours of war
from the tight corner.
"Mademoiselle," he said in the stinging tone he used to
wound a woman, " the spontaneous avowal you hear absolves
me from teaching you that you have taken seriously mere
polite commonplaces. I do not know about your inclination
for me, but I do know that I hare never sought to please
Between Tivo Fires 237
you. Your sister would not have forgiven me, or Olivier
either. Marry him, and I hope you will both be happy. As
for the gamekeeper you are so much interested about, I
shall continue not to be hostile to him. In return, I hope
you will keep to yourself solely the confidence Flavia has
made you."
This way of speaking of the general's relict was an insult,
and Viviana felt it so. Trigavou might just as well have
said : " I need no longer be particular. This creature is in
my power and you are her sister." The woman thus
treated coarsely was rather pleased at it ; it seemed to set
the seal on the claim she believed she enjoyed over him. She
thought to herself : He means to marry me." At that very
moment Alain was considering how he should shake himself
free of her altogether !
Mdlle. de Bourbriac saw that this was no place for her.
She had expected her sister to take her hand and there she
was on her gallant's arm. It was the last straw. She turned
away with a bruised heart, whilst they also departed without
turning their heads. Indeed, now she had no sister. She had
tried to save, but she could not save one who rushed back to
the abyss whence Yiviana had snatched her.
The doctor's house was a shelter against such encounters.
She ran there, and the servant who opened the door told her
she had just admitted her master and a gentleman in his
company.
"Thank Heaven !" breathed she, " he has brought home
Olivier. I only hope they did not see me in the squaie with
Flavia and that man."
It was not without reason she was thus alarmed, for she
could not tell of her sister's disgrace, and any other reply was
not forthcoming if they questioned her. She was wrongly in
fear. The doctor and the naval officer had come up the side
of the square animatedly conversing, and had paid no atten-
tion to the trio in the square.
They were all happy to meet in the parlour — just the
reception-room you look for in a country physician's housse ; a
238 The Condemned Door
well-waxed oaken floor, velvet-seated armchairs, a clock
of the First Empire pattern under a glass shade, and the
inevitable engraving of Hippocrates rejecting Artaxerxes'
gifts. This almost imperative plate does not suppress the
contribution-plate, of course ; and the doctor would not have
attained a tolerable income without taking fees, but he was
nevertheless a disinterested man who served the poor gra-
tuitously.
" I had quite trouble enough in hunting up your cousin,"
said he merrily. " Just imagine that he put up at a third-
rate inn, where I should never have sought for him. How-
ever, I did find him, and I brought him along."
Olivier appeared somewhat embarrassed, not yet venturing
to look the lady in the face.
" What do you think I have found out besides 1 " went on
Dr. Avangour. " This fine fellow has given way to his warlike
fury and caught a sword-thrust. Just show your wrist out of
that ulster sleeve — a healed wound, but the last dressing is
still on it."
" Don't blush, coz," said Mdlle. de Bourbriac. " I know now
why and for whom you fought."
" In that case you know more than I do," remarked the
medical gentleman. " But never mind this old story of the
duel, whilst I acquaint you with fresher matter of interest."
Viviana dreaded that Lady Houlbecq was going to be
discussed — of all subjects the most painful to her, especially
in the presence of her intended. But she was speedily
relieved.
" To begin with," pursued the medico, " Calorguen has been
transferred to St. Brieuc by superior order ; gone in a special
carriage this morning. I saw two gendarmes march him into
the station, and two warders receive him sent over purposely.
He walked lame, and — "
" Did you speak to him ?"
" I couldn't, the warders not allowing me to get near. I
went over to the hotel opposite the station, and there found
M. Derquy. I acquainted him with what I had seen, and he
Between Two Fires 239
told me what be had better repeat himself, for it is rather a
mixed-up story/'
" By my fay, cousin," said Derquy, "I confess that I hardly
know where to begin. I want to unload what's on my heart
about not sending you word of me after you left town ; and
here's the good doctor steering me into telling you of recent
facts, perhaps of a string with the measures taken against
poor Calorguen."
*' Commence by clearing yourself of having forgotten me,"
rejoined the lady, smiling. " I authorise and entreat you."
" I ask nothing better. Know, then, coz — stay, you know
already — since our solitary interview at your sister's house,
I came to words with somebody, and had to go out, and got
wounded. Well, I charged Lord Trigavou to tell you and
your sister that I had sprained my ankle, which would keep
me indoors a few days. I did not care you should know
I had been duelling. I daresay Alain blundered in the
tale."
" Worse than you imagine."
" That's no odds, so long as you are not vexed at my going
out. Whilst I was in my room, Alain told me that you were
going to lodge at the gamekeeper's mother's ; as he was off
that way as weli.^ he offered to meet me at Dinan, where we
might be useful to Calorguen. I let him persuade me, though
I would have preferred joining you at Trigavou. I was a
little ashamed at having fought and being beaten like some
pert middy. A man engaged to be married ought to have
no other engagement without his betrothed giving him
leave."
" I should have granted it on demand. But I am eager to
know what you have been doing here. Not even a call on
Dr. Avangour ! Had you looked in you would have found me,
or at least have gained news of me. And you cooped your-
self up in a pothouse ! "
a We're coming to the point. I wanted to bear you good
tidings. Trigavou had the intention to help Calorguen break
jail. I offered objections, but came round and joined in with
240 The Condemned Door
him. I was convinced that it would come off last night. The
Count had everything ready, a rope to slide down the wall, a
boat at St. Lunaire to cross the Channel. Judge of my
astonishment and disappointment when our friend Avangour
announced that Calorguen had just gone to St. Brieuc under
guard. The attempt has failed, that's clear. I told the doctor
about it, and he concludes I am in a scrape. The head turn-
key is an old sailor, who knows me, and that a basket of
oysters was sent in to Calorguen in my name ; in it were
hidden the rope and other implements by Trigavou, of which
the prisoner could not have made use, and the warder will
find them if the basket be examined."
" Oh, cousin, cousin, what have you done 1 " cried the
young lady. " What possessed you to follow that man's
advice?"
" Whom do you call * that man ' ? I was talking of Alain."
" I will inform you later on what I think of him. But
how is it you did not see that Calorguen would only injure
himself by escaping ? Flight is equivalent to confessing guilt*
What he ought to wish, and what I do wish, is his acquittal.
But Lord Trigavou has other aims than ours."
" My dear Yiviana, you appear prejudiced against him.
Allow me still to stand up for him."
"You can defend him hereafter, my dear Derquy,"
interposed the doctor. "Meanwhile, be pleased to come
with me. I am going to the castle to see Eoquevaire on the
pretext of asking why his prisoner was taken from him. He
will tell me if he found prohibited articles in the basket. If
so, I shall urge him to keep them close for his own sake. I
shall assure him anyhow that you had nothing to do with
them, and lay it all to Lord Trigavou, whom he does not
know, and whose name I shall not give him. He must be-
lieve that the gentleman who visited the keep at the same
time as you, was some chance-met tourist. At any rate,
there's no use in Eoquevaire seeing you," concluded the
doctor. "You can go to wait for me on the outer walk
whilst I see him at the guard-room,"
Between Two Fires 241
" I shall accompany my cousin," said Viviana determinedly.
" Very good ; but let us lose no time."
This arrangement suited the lady, intending to remain
under the sea-officer's wing, and most anxious to entrust to
him what she did not dare to state in the doctor's hearing.
So the three went out together, though they parted almost
at once. Avangour proceeded straight to the castle, and the
young couple took the opposite road in order to reach Duclos
Place, where the Lesser Moat Boulevard commences. There
they were to meet their friend. They walked on side by
side for a time without speaking, one as much embarrassed
as the other, or Olivier rather more than Yiviana, but he
broke the ice.
" Coz," he said, " I will never more keep anything back from
you. Pray have no secrets from me. What has our poor
Alain done ? "
" Do you believe me capable of speaking against my real
feelings or judging a man lightly ? " inquired she.
" Certainly not."
" Then — whilst unable to tell on what I base my appre-
ciation — I must affirm that Lord Trigavou is a wicked man,
capable, I believe, of the basest deeds, and impudently making
a fool of you, me "
She stopped as she was about to add " and my sister."
" Is this possible ] " stammered the stupefied lieutenant,
" I tell you the truth. I shall cite one act of his ; speak-
ing of your duel, he tried to make me believe it was about a
notorious woman of Paris."
" Then he's a rascal ! that makes me remember he tried to
—to "
" Go on. Nothing that man can do will surprise me."
" He pretended you were too fond of Calorguen."
" I am astonished he said nothing harder. Now, my dear
Olivier, I have one favour to ask you — the first, but it will
not be the last, I daresay, for a woman is always pestering
her husband—*"
" You havt i9ttied I shall be yours, eh ? '»
Si
242 The Condemned Door
" Whenever you like, my dear. As soon as Calorguen's
fate is decided we shall fix the wedding-day. But promise
me to cease relations with Lord Trigavou forthwith."
"I promise. Yet it will come hard to drop him so
sharply."
" I do not believe he will try to keep friends with you. If
he does, I rely on your repulsing him."
" I will. If he demands a reason, I shall give him none^
for the very good one that "
" You are ignorant what I reproach him with. I shall tell
you when we are man and wife. Let's speak no more of him.
But Heaven forbid that he has inveigled you ! The rope sent
to Calorguen, you say, went in your name ? His taking such
care to keep this back persuades me that he had an evil design
under all. He does nothing without a motive, and he had
none in helping the prisoner to get free."
Olivier made no remark, deep in regrets as he was that he
had so trusted a man whom his beloved condemned without
appeal.
The pair had walked as far as the donjon.
" Is it there he was imprisoned 1 " queried Viviana.
" Yes — almost directly under that flat roof. The grated
window you see overhead is his cell's. Look, the bars are
untouched. He made no effort to break out. Hang it all !
the tools and rope would remain in the bottom of the basket
and Roquevaire will find them."
" Not so," said Yiviana, laying her hand on the speaker's
arm, "for look in the depths of that ditch among the nettles
— see that gleam ! "
" Ay, and the hempen snake among the brushwood — a rope
— a seaman is not to be taken in on that. Calorguen flung
it out of the cell window."
" I am not surprised at his refusing to go. But that cord
must not be seen. Go, get it, I beg you, while nobody is
about."
Derquy scrambled down to the spot, and she saw him
stoop and successively pick up a chisel and pincers which he
Betiveen Tivo Fires 243
stuffed in his overcoat pocket, and a rope, which he dragged
behind him up on the macadam of the walk.
" I've them all," he said, " as Trigavou promised, except a
file which might take too much trouble to find. But, say,
dear Yivie, where am I to stow away this rope ? "
" Roll it round you like a sash under your coat."
" Dash it all, I — I shan't be able to make it meet with all
that coil — it's such a long rope, eh 1 not so long as I believed.
Hillo, coz," he continued to Viviana who was aiding him, " io
scarcely goes a dozen times round me, and I am no elephant.
How queer ! by the eye, I would have taken that wall to run
twenty odd yards up to that cell."
"It is some thirty."
" Then I can't it make out. Trigavou told me he had
measured the height. How could he have been so far out in
his reckoning ? "
" He made no mistake."
" Then we have."
"No, Olivier, understand the man better whom you calJed
friend. He sent a rope too short purposely, believing that
Calorguen would let go on coming to the end and be killed
by the fall."
" Oh ! that would be worse than murder, and, after all,
Trigavou is a nobleman. Besides, what interest has he in
destroying a humble gamekeeper who never did him harm ? "
" If I told you, you would not believe me ; but hereafter
you shall learn. But here comes Dr. Avangour — button up
your coat and say not a word, I entreat you. The doctor
would put the same questions as you, and I do not wish to
answer."
Derquy obeyed as best he could. Luckily his topcoat was
so easy that the new-comer, who had no reason to scan him
closely, did not notice he had doubled in bulk.
" Be of good cheer," he said on arriving. " I found
Eoquevaire swallowing the last dozen of oysters, and the
empty basket by his side. Evidently my Lord Trigavou had
put nothing in, and I was worried vainly."
244 The Condemned Door
" So much the better ! " cried Vivette, looking at her lover
to impose silence. " What did he say about Calorguen ? "
"That the Public Prosecutor's order was brought over
by a gendarme officer. The 'sizes open next Monday, ex-
ceptionally. This sufficieutly explains the removal as Cal-
orguen had not appealed. But he appeared ill, and I myself
remarked he walked lame. Boquevaire thought that they
were afraid to leave him here among so many friends, but he
suspects nothing."
" Then I can go and live over at St. Brieuc without fear 1 "
asked Derquy.
" And go into court too," added the doctor. " We shall
all meet there, for I am summoned as a witness. Mdlle. de
Bourbriac also, and Lady Houlbecq "
" She will not appear," observed Yiviana.
*' That would be wrong. Lord Trigavou is down on the
jury list ; but, in his place, I should get Calorguen's lawyer
to challenge me. I daresay he will go into the box, though,
if called."
" He may be sorry if he does," muttered the lady. " Well,
I shall go over to-morrow with my cousin. By the way, he
will be my husband in a month."
" Bravo ! " exclaimed the good doctor. " All's well that
ends well."
CHAPTEE XXXYI
THE SPECIAL TRIAL
The great day dawned. It was such for a third-rate place
like St. Brieuc, where distractions are few. The opening of
assizes in the country is always an event. But this was no
common session when vulgar malefactors were judged, but a
celebrated case. Nothing was lacking, neither the interest
attached to a victim of the upper classes, the mystery
enveloping the cause of the crime, the sympathy inspired by
the accused, nor even the romantic colouring of a judicial
tragedy.
The whole county took up arms for or against Calorguen,
and the Parisian dailies sent down special correspondents.
The chief judge was unable to satisfy the clamour of the
notables for reserved seats. The Hall of Justice was, how-
ever, a fine large one, in so lovely a garden, that the
spectator imagines none, but laughable breach of promise
cases should be heard there. Quite otherwise, for this part
of Brittany is fertile in black crimes.
The hotels swarmed with unusual guests. Viviana de
Bourbriac, Derquy, and Dr. Avangour engaged rooms in the
one most frequented by the old county families. The two
former had been over here since a few days, but the doctor,
having his patients to attend to, did not arrive till the eve of
the trial. None of them had seen Count Trigavou, or heard
news of Lady Houlbecq.
Her sister believed she would not put in an appearance,
and as one believes what one wishes, she deluded herself that
the guilty woman had fled abroad after her advice.
24:6 The Condemned Door
Derquy, edified on Alain's real character, had no longing
to see him, but was determined, if they did meet, to tell him
his opinion of him.
The doctor, less interested, and more philosophical than
the loving couple, merely wished the prisoner a happy
deliverance, without being too hopeful, and wondered
whether the general's widow had better testify or not for
Calorguen's welfare, for he knew that there was some secret
between her and the keeper ; he suspected, moreover, that
she knew who was her husband's murderer, and did not
denounce him for potent reasons.
Viviana and the doctor had to go into the witnesses'
waiting-room. Derquy had a reserved seat behind the
bench, the presiding judge being a friend of his father's, and
not requiring twice asking for the favour.
All three reached the law courts half an hour before the
opening, to find the entrances besieged by mixed throngs,
peasants and townsfolk, tradesmen and middle-class ladies.
Among them the doctor and Yiviana recognised some Triga-
vou farmers and labourers. At the witnesses' doorway they
met Commander Jugon, called back from Paris, the general's
servants, and the commander, the plumbers who had
fastened the metal plate over the condemned door, and,
lastly, Pillemer, the tenant of La Hunaudaie, whom every-
body shunned. At this point Lieut. Derquy quitted his
friends to enter the court by the privileged seat-holders'
door. There was a mob there, and he was a late comer, but
the senior judge had particularly recommended him, and he
was led to a place where only important personages were
admitted.
The hall filled up rapidly, so that ere long there was not
only no empty place, but there were more in than the oblong
space, half of it devoted to the public, ought to have held.
Sufibcation impended over the compressed throng, and ladies
fanned and snified at smelling-bottles.
In the middle of the gap before the judges, according to
usage, a large table displayed the pieces of evidence —
The Special Trial 247
Calorguen's fowling-gun, the scarcely flattened bullet whichhad
slain Baron Houlbecq,and his waistcoat perforated by the same.
Our sea officer, never in a court before, deemed this ex-
hibition useless and disgusting, and, turning his eyes aloof,
he reviewed his neighbours, who noticed he was not one of
their circle, and wondered what gave him the right to be
there. There was not one acquaintance of his in the whole
hall. He began to doubt the propriety of his coming, where
his presence would probably confuse his cousins when they
gave evidence ; but it was too late to leave, and all he could
do was promise himself to keep close. As for Lord Trigavou,
if he were called on the jury, he would be challenged, of
course ; they would never allow him to act in a case where
his farmer was the principal accusing witness.
Suddenly an usher's voice rang out : " Hats oflF, gentlemen!
The court ! "
The first judge to appear was the presiding one, in scarlet
robe, followed closely by two juniors in black gowns, with a
blue sash, following the tradition of the Rennes High Court.
Then came the Proctor of the Republic, in black, like the
junior judges, to take his place on the right of the bench.
All this was managed solemnly, as was proper, but with some
pompous bustle. When silence fell again, the chief judge
ordered the bringing in of the accused, whereupon all eyes
were riveted on a small door which almost instantly opened.
Calorguen came forth, accompanied by two gendarmes,
between whom he was allowed to sit down, with his advocate
directly below him.
A favourable murmur ran through the audience at the
appearance of the strapping fellow of military bearing and
sympathetic face. He looked very well indeed in his game-
keeper's uniform, the only clothes he had, and instantly pleased
the gentler sex, who composed one-third the assemblage.
Derquy remembered having seen him at the castle, and
judged that he had not a murderer's mien. It was simple
and becoming. Some prisoners are downcast and enfeebled
others try to brazen it out. Calorguen bore himself finely
248 The Condemned Door
between weakness and audacity, and calmly scanned the
court and spectators. Derquy fancied he was looking for
somebody, and even fixed his attention on one group on the
foremost seats, but he could not distinguish the object.
The drawing for the jury now began. In this case the
challenges fell so thick, especially from the defence, that its
dozen good men and true were quickly ruled out.
The accepted jurymen went up into their box, the first
selected becoming the foreman.
Calorguen looked impassibly and indifferently on this
gradual formation of the fateful group near him. He had
given his defender full scope about the challenges, so little
troubling himself as not even to glance at the list of the thirty-
six sent the prisoner a few days before the trial. His ad-
vocate, slightly informed about the local personages, had been
rather too hasty in his killing-ofF work, so that there were still
four names to leave the urn to complete the jury when his
shots were spent.
" The Count of Trigavou," said the president.
That name made Lieut. Derquy start in his place
among the audience. He had forgotten, for the time being,
that his once friend would be called, and had not remarked
him in the party.
"I hope he will be struck off," thought Olivier, but not a
remonstrance was raised and Count Alain of Trigavou went
into the box.
A tempest was unloosed in Calorguen's brain at this first
aimouncement to him that his hated rival was still alive, and
his calm face changed altogether.
" He fears him greatly," reasoned Lieut. Derquy. " I am
astonished, too, that Pillemer's master should be harboured
in the jury-box."
It never occurred to him that Calorguen was unaware
Trigavou was living. Since the general's death, he had not
heard the nobleman mentioned, even by Dr. Avangour in his
calls. Having vowed to avenge himself on Lady Houlbecq
for sending him the short rope, Calorguen had softened in his
The Special Trial 249
purpose to show her up in the court-room. Not that he par-
doned her, but he reasoned that Heaven had adequately
chastened her by striking down her paramour whom she
would nevermore see to adore and whom he evermore would
execrate. Hence, where was the good in destroying her by
the public declaration that she had ordered him to kill her
husband ? Pity and unending affection urged him to hold
his peace when, all of a sudden^ his rival arose again. This
noble of her preference might wed her and the pair enjoy the
fruits of their crime in peacefulness.
" Am I to endure this ? " mused Calorguen. " No ! I shall
expose them mercilessly, at the moment she appears. Face
to face I will remind her of her written order to kill the
general, which order I can place before the judges' eyes.
Cited as witness, she must come forward. In pity for her, I
have not had Y von called, who keeps the paper, but I can
have an adjournment till the morrow and give him time to
arrive."
Meanwhile the session was proclaimed open, and the
clerk set to reading the indictment.
In sum, it said : an atrocious crime had been committed,
which we impute to the prisoner in the dock. The evidence
should enlighten the obscure points in the case, and the rest
is left to the jury. Generally a verdict of not guilty is deli-
vered, unless something unexpected comes up in the course of
debate, to modify the prisoner's position. This is what the
lovers of accusation look for.
Derquy had listened to the cautious document attentively
and drew a good augury from it.
" Calorguen's defender must be a blunderer if he cannot
demolish so flimsy an argument,*' he thought. " But why
does the accused look so prostrated ? A while ago he was
quietly gazing about him, but now he is staring at Lord
Trigavou. I can understand his not liking him among the
j ury, but what's the use of trying to stare him out of coun-
tenance? he had better get ready to answer the leading
judge, who seems anything but friendly."
250 The Co7idemned Door
" Eise, prisoner in the dock ! "
This order from the bench startled Calorguen out of his
absorbing thoughts. He obeyed and answered in a firm
voice to the obHgatory questions.
" Name ? " " Pierre Calorguen."
"Age?" "Thirty-five."
" Profession ? " " Gamekeeper."
"Born?" "AtTrigavou."
" Place of abode ?" " With my mother, in a cottage built
by General Houlbecq, near the castle."
** Do you know what you are accused of ? "
" Yes, of killing my colonel, as he was when I saved him
out of the press at Gravelotte."
" The prosecution does not underrate your military services.
But fifteen years have elapsed since the war with Prussia."
" During all of which General Houlbecq overwhelmed me
with kindness."
^* True, and beyond your power to deny, as everybody in
the district knows that you owe all you have to him. Hence
the crime of which you are accused is only the more
shameful."
" But I did not do it."
" That must be proved and this trial will no doubt show it.
I ask you to account to the gentlemen of the jury for the way
you employed your time on the evening of November the
3rd, and all day of the 4th."
Without confusion and in no hastiness Calorguen repeated
the explanations given to all the legal ferrets and badgers
who had had their worryings at him. He spoke of his round
by order of his master, on the night of the third, of his visit
during the next afternoon to his traps laid over-night in
Plumodan Wood, of his return by the park, where he stopped
to measure the hole in the wall, and on his arrival home,
where he found Mdlle. de Bourbriac. All this being clearly
and simply uttered, the impression was excellent.
But the chief judge proceeded ;
" The indictment does not dispute the accuracy of the first
The Special Trial 261
portion of your statement, but the conclusion is belied by a
witness who saw you steal out of the grounds after having
fired the gunshot, which you deny having even heard."
" Yes, Pillemer, the farmer of the Hunaudaie. Well, he's
a liar."
"You impute false testimony to him ? An easy means of
defence. The gentlemen of the jury will hear this witness
and will see which tells the truth. You have asserted on the
preliminary investigation that Pillemer bears you a grudge
because you informed against him for cutting timber unlaw-
fully upon General Baron Houlbecq's property. Nothing is
less substantiated ; and besides, that would not be sufiicient
motive for a respectable farmer to risk being punished for
bearing false witness."
" There may be others."
" State them ! " cried the chief judge, rather surprised.
" Find them out yourselves," returned Calorguen, roughly.
" Prisoner, I must remind you of the respect due to justice.
Your tone in reply to the bench is unseemly and cannot be
allowed."
" He's wrecking his chances," muttered Olivier.
Calorguen had sense enough to keep silent and the presid-
ing judge went on less severely.
" It is for your own good that I recommended calmness.
You allege that Pillemer feels malice against you for reasons
unknown to us. Your course is one I advise you to alter.
Understand me fully. Your position is that of one accused
who denies everything but explains nothing. The jury will
naturally believe a witness who has no interest in deceiving.
Your position will be changed greatly if you enlighten the
court. General Houlbecq was murdered. You deny it was
by you. This will not suffice. But, if you know the culprit —
if you only suspect somebody and name him, search will be
made for the real assassin."
" Keen, this judge is," thought Derquy, " but I doubt he
will get Calorguen to answer his decoys, though Calorguen
must know more than has come out."
252 The Condemned Door
Indeed, the prisoner said nothing.
" I grant with pleasure that there are blanks in the indict-
ment," proceeded the judge. " The cause of the crime is
not clear. But it must be attributed to enmity, by whom-
soever committed. Now, you have been ten years dweller
at Trigavou, after having served in the general's regiment,
and it follows you may be able to point out somebody he
oifended."
Calorguen made no answer, but he frowned as if constrain-
ing a strong inclination to speak.
" Make no mistake about our intentions. The court does
not lay snares for prisoners. On the contrary, it seeks to
arm you against a tendency noticed in exceptional cases.
Persons accused submit to a feeling of delicacy, unfounded,
however — for instance, they hold back the truth lest it should
injure, say, a woman."
Here Calorguen blanched and lowered his head ; he had
to struggle against rising emotion, under all eyes fixed upon
him. A revelation was expected, and the ladies present
would not have given up their seats for a bushel of Kohinoors.
Chancing to be watching the jurors, Derquy saw that Triga-
vou was more pale than the prisoner, and, for the first time,
he feared that Flavia might be in danger from the keeper's
statement. Since he had learnt her criminality with the
count, he was ready for anything.
" You hear me, prisoner, and you have understood me,"
continued the chief judge. " If you stand as I suggested, I
enjoin you not to keep silent. Tell all you know without
concerning yourself as to the consequences. It is the best
means of justifying yourself."
At this moment a pin could be heard to drop, as the saying
is, and a sound did rise in the depths of the hall where the
vulgar herd were standing. There was a scuffle and a cry,
deep if not loud, of *' Turn him out ! "
Derquy fancied the cause of the disturbance was a boy,
who, having stolen into the hall, tried to work his way to the
forefront amidst the auditors, who resisted him with threats
and kicks.
The Special Trial 253
" Ushers, remove any person making a disturbance," was
the command from the bench.
But order now already re-established, the officers had
not remarked the lad who had gained his end. There he
stood between the reserved seats and the amphitheatre
occupied by the jury, over against the dock, and looked wist-
fully at the privileged spectators, seeming to say : " Don't
drive me away. I'll behave myself." So the ladies at hand
would not betray him. They thought him interesting, and
he was so, though clad as a mere crow-scarer.
Derquy, nearly in front of him, gave him no further heed,
on finding he was a stranger ; yet he believed Calorguen had
exchanged a glance of intelligence with him.
" We await your answer, prisoner," said the mouthpiece of
the bench.
" I have not clearly understood your question," returned
Calorguen after a fresh pause, as if he were trying to gain
time, as the lieutenant, for one, conjectured.
" You are asked," continued the scarlet-robed judge, " if
the crime of which you are accused was committed by one
whom you scruple to denounce. You see that we treat you
leniently, as if you might not be guilty of firing the fatal
shot, or, if you fired it, but of being instigated. My
duty is to observe that you would be less guilty, in this latter
case, and the Public Prosecutor would himself claim a con-
demnation mitigated by extenuating circumstances."
" Had I been the death of my benefactor, I would not
deserve it."
" So you continue to maintain that you did not kill him ?
I return to the question already addressed you — if not you,
who was it ?"
" How am I to say ? Others than I would profit by my
old colonel's death. My wish was for him to live as long as
possible, for I wanted no other master."
" The only person who would benefit by that decease is
Mdlle. deBourbriac, her sister-in-law, whom he constituted
his sole legatee in a will executed two hours previous to his
death. Do you assert that this lady— ^"
254 The Condemned Door
" She is as innocent as I myself."
" You do well to declare so. The lady has been summoned
as a witness, and if you should accuse her, she will have no
trouble to defend herself against a shameful and absurd im-
putation. I suppose you do not accuse the Baroness of Houl-
becq, who has lost everything through the death of her
husband, whose mourning still she wears 1 "
"Ask Lady Houlbecq if she believes me guilty!" in-
terrupted Calorguen, whose eyes were fixed on the jury
box.
" Lady Houlbecq will not appear before us. But her
written deposition will be read during this trial, in which,
we may remark, your name is not even mentioned. It is
restricted to what she actually witnessed."
" I daresay my lady has good reason not to go beyond
that.*'
This unexpected retort raised a prolonged sensation, one in
which Olivier Derquy shared largely. He foresaw that
Calorguen was about openly to accuse the baroness, and she
interested him less than before, since what had lately
happened at Dinan. Still Lady Houlbecq was Vivette's
sister, and Yivette herself was waiting in the witnesses'
room. What a pain and what shame to have the bench dis-
cuss the evidence of Calorguen before her, evidence which
might be supported by proofs that would be overwhelming
to the veteran's relict. Calorguen had said enough to make
one fear what he withheld. The chief judge did not fail to
press him home.
" Prisoner," said the judge, " you seem inclined to follow
the line we pointed out. I entreat you to continue, but en-
join your uttering nothing but the truth. Hold nothing back,
but offer no venturesome assertions. I must remark that in
all the preliminary examinations you never uttered a word
bringing your master's most honourable widow into the
question. Your fresh allegations will have to be considered,
and, as Lady Houlbecq must be heard in reply, the whole
case will have to be referred to the next session. Eeflect on
The Special Trial 255
your words before you put forward an accusation which may
harm you rather than serve you."
"I have thought it over," responded Calorguen, keeping
his gaze fixed upon the Count of Trigavou in the front row
of the jurors. " I know quite well that I may ruin my case.
If I did not, my lawyer would tell me, for I see his signs
to me."
His advocate, indeed, was telegraphing to him and bidding
him stop, in an undertone.
" I also foresee that I may not be believed, but my con-
science supports me and I shall be doing only my duty in
helping justice to punish the real criminals."
" You have talked round the point enough — name them ! "
" Oh no ! I did not see the deed done. I received an
order to do it, but I did not obey. Whoso gave it me found
a villain to carry it out."
*' A villain ! That's too vague," rejoined the judge. " "Why
do you not speak plainly 1 Do you still hold your peace ?
Confess that you waver because you cannot furnish proofs in
support of your declaration."
*•' On the contrary, I only hesitate because I promised to be
silent, and I hate ^venging myself."
" Avenge — on whom and for what 1 "
" On them who tried to kill me."
" When 1 "
" In my prison in Dinan."
" Eh ? how can you hope that to be credited ? You were
in solitary confinement and nobody came near you but your
warders and Dr. Avangour. But, letting that pass, was this
order to kill the general given you verbally ? "
" No ; in writing."
" Can you produce that writing 1 "
" At once."
There were murmurs of surprise immediately suppressed
by ofiicers of the court, and everybody redoubled atten-
tion.
'' I can hardly think you mean you have it upon ycu ? You
256 ' The Condemned Door
must have been searched on arrest, as well as at Dinan and
here."
" I knew that would be done, so I took care not to keep
the writing ; I entrusted it to somebody."
"Name this custodian and I will write a summons for
attendance."
*' He is here already, sir."
" Ah, in the witnesses' waiting-room ? "
" No. I did not have him called, because I intended to
hold my tongue. But I have changed my mind during the
trial. He has come without being called, and somehow has
got in."
"Point him out.''
Calorguen beckoned, and to the stupefaction of the ladies
on the reserved chairs, up sprang the little boy who had crept
among them and stood forward. Yvon faced Calorguen.
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE LITTLE PIN ON WHICH THE TRIAL TURNED
At this theatrical surprise, everybody sprang up to see the
boy who possessed the key to this mysterious affair, excepting
the judges and three or four jurors who had gone asleep or
were hard of hearing. Count Trigavou, however, was among
the seated ones, twirling his moustache as if trying to hide
his face.
" Silence, gentlemen ! " shouted the ushers.
" Let that boy come nearer," ordered the judge in red, as
soon as calmness prevailed again.
The lad had advanced a step, but with his eyes ever upon
Calorguen as if he obeyed none other.
"Who are you, my little friend*?" asked the presiding
judge.
" My name's Yvon."
" That's only your Christian name. What was your father
called?"
" Langrolay ; he is dead."
" Where do you live 1 "
" In Mother Calorguen's cottage in Trigavou."
" Oh, the prisoner's mother's 1 In her service ? "
*' I take care of the sheep and I go into the woods when
Pierre sends me."
" So I said. Gentlemen of the jury, you will properly
appreciate the declarations of a sheep-boy who lives with the
prisoner. What brought you here 1 St. Brieuc is very far
from Trigavou."
" I walked it, though I I knew Pierre was going to get
tried,"
258 The Condemned ^oor
" Well, tell us what else you know."
Yvon consulted Calorguen with a look.
" Keep your eyes on me," said the chief, sternly. " Th6
prisoner says he handed you a paper."
"That he did, master," rejoined the boy, after a fresh
exchange of glances with his friend.
" Do you know what is written on this paper ? "
*' Oh no; master ; I can only read print ; and besides, Pierre
bade me not look at it."
" When did he give it to you ? "
" Ever so many weeks ago, about eight."
" On the day the gendarmes arrested him ? "
" Oh no, afore that ; the evening of the day our master
was shot — as we were having supper."
" What did Calorguen say in giving it you ? "
" Not to show it anybody and stick to it till he asked it back.'^
" Then you have it in your pocket ? "
"Yes, I've got it safe enough, but not in my pocket."
" It matters not where it is — show it to us."
This time, without heed of the dignitary's injunction,
Yvon turned boldly round to the dock, waiting for Calorguen
to confirm the request. At this juncture, Derquy, en wrapt
in the scene, saw a lady in the second row of chairs raise her
half veil and fix her eyes on Calorguen. He shuddered, for
he recognised Baroness Houlbecq.
How came she to be at the trial after beseeching and
obtaining leave not to appear, and what was she trying to do
here ? He was not slow to comprehend, the only one so to
do, for nobody noticed the dumb parley of the accused and
the lady, whom neither her neighbours nor the judges knew.
Count Trigavou could not spy her from his position. On the
other hand, Derquy, in an elevated situation, could study
both her and Calorguen.
Yvon was standing at the entrance to the clear space and
looked only at the prisoner, who looked only at Lady Houl-
becq. |The youngster's eyes questioned ; the lady's implored ;
Calorguen's threatened.
The Little Pin on which the Trial Turned 259
" Well ? " persisted the judge. " That paper ! "
Yvon never budged. But Derquy saw the gamekeeper
dart a withering look upon the baroness and not to the urchin
as one would say : " Show the writing."
"Here it be, master," replied Yvon, thrusting his hand
under a woollen garment serving as overshirt and waistcoat.
It took him some time to rummage out the note in the pouch
common to folk scantily clad, and meanwhile Flavia continued
to supplicate the impassible Calorguen. She seemed to say :
" Will you not have mercy on me ? " and genuine tears rolled
down her cheeks.
Yvon's hand clawed forth a small leaf folded in four — the
leaf on which Baroness Houlbecq had written : " Eid me of
him."
Court, jury, audience— privileged or not — watched the
boy who grasped the solution of the trial. With poignant
anxiety Derquy followed the play of features in Calorguen
and his temptress. She wept and her suppliant gaze would
have melted a tiger. Profoundly moved, Calorguen visibly
blanched.
" Usher," said the judge, " bring me that paper."
For the last time Yvon questioned Calorguen ocularly, but
he replied with an energetic shake of the head, as " No ! do
not obey." Yvon understood it and was about to thrust the
note back again under his frock.
" Seize it ! " commanded the judge.
A gendarme stepped forward to reinforce the court
officials. Yvon was not in condition to defend Calorguen's
trust, but he had an inspiration. Up flew his hand to his
mouth with the note, he champed it into a pellet — presto ! he
had gulped it down. Outcries uprose from every quarter and
the chief judge lost his self-command.
" Arrest that little rogue ! " he called out.
The gendarme collared Yvon and was going to lug him out
of the hall.
" Stay," said the scarlet-robed judge. " Put him on a bench
there and guard him closely. In virtue of my discretionary
260 The Condemned Door
powers, I order that child to remain during the audience. I
shall question him myself in due course and have his evidence
taken down."
Yvon, nowise appearing daunted, let himself be shoved
upon a stool near the very spot where he had been crouching
before he made himself prominent.
Lady Houlbecq had already dropped her veil. The ladies
at her side had perceived nothing, their whole attention being
concentrated upon the scene passing in the midst of the
court-room. Everybody had seen the mute colloquy of
Calorguen and the urchin, but none divined the cause of the
prisoner's hesitations. They all thought he had cast away
his life. Such was Lieutenant Derquy's opinion, though he
had only a glimpse of the truth.
" Gentlemen of the jury," began the presiding judge, "you
will fitly rate the system of defence adopted by the accused.
It consists in hinting that he was urged to the crime by a
person whose honourable character has never been impugned.
The piece of jugglery which you have witnessed was prepared
beforehand, and the pretended order which this child seemed
to put away was never written on the paper. Before the end
of this hearing we will return to this reprehensible farce. In
the meanwhile the witnesses will be heard. The accused
man may now be seated."
Calorguen profited by the permission to rest his elbows on
the spiked edge of the desk, holding his head between his
hands, doubtlessly to resist the temptation to look any more
at Baroness Houlbecq, and listening absently to his counsel
whispering to him. Visibly he felt no interest in the debate
where his head was at stake.
The judge stated the case briefly, and mentioned the fact
of General Houlbecq revoking his will by a fresh one,
enriching his sister-in-law, and his having the tower door
nailed up. On these incidents gossip had expatiated at length,
but the bench attached no weight to them in connection with
the case, and left the jury to draw their own conclusions.
Allusion was then made to Calorguen's sudden and recent
The Little Pin on which the Trial Turned 261
accusation of an attempt on his life in Dinan Gaol. It is
true the prison surgeon of St. Brieuc had remarked on the
new-comer the fresh wound from a firearm of small calibre ;
the wounded man would not give any explanation, and now
he refused to attribute the act to any one.
Here the clerk read Lady Houlbecq's affidavit. It merely
repeated facts already known, and could not interest the
generality. None but Derquy and Calorguen knew that the
writer was listening to it without her betraying her identity.
The procession of witnesses began in an order arranged by
the bench, and Mdlle. de Bourbriac took the lead.
Derquy eagerly awaited her coming, and his heart beat
hard to see her, pale and trembling, reach the witness-stand
without a look at a single soul, even for him. She recovered
at the judge's first words, and her examination was abridged
by his kindness. She had seen nothing from arriving home
after the crime, and she was not obliged to volunteer what
she knew about the Count of Trigavou. Without gravely
drawing the baroness into it, she could not mention her find
in the old tower. She wished to save Calorguen, but not to
^ betray her sister, whom she little dreamt to be close by her.
Her replies were so much to the purpose that she was not
cross-examined, and she was soon politely asked to retire, of
which permission she instantly availed herself, not without
bestowing a little nod of encouragement upon the accused.
She left the place, without having remarked Derquy, or
Trigavou, or even little Yvon, half-eclipsed by his gendarme
guardsman. She was going to wait outside for Dr. Avangour,
whose examination directly followed hers.
The worthy doctor came equipped at all points, having
prepared his professional statement in foresight of all queries.
The judge told him that he need not stay any longer from
his anxious patients.
Plaintel was next questioned about the will of General
Houlbecq and Vivette's intention of renunciation, from which
he dissuaded her, as in no case would the fortune go to the
widow.
262 The Condemned Door
Justice Miniac and Corporal Grisaille came then, the
former rather favourable to the prisoner, the other bluntly
inimical. Both, having played an active part in the investi-
gation, were only called to confirm the proceedings in the
early stages.
In short, nothing yet altered the prisoner's position, and
but for the little Yvon incident Derquy would have hoped
for acquittal.
Commander Jugon was called and marched to the witness-
stand with an assured step and haughty head, and took the
oath in his most sonorous voice of issuing orders to a man on
the highest spar. He was not intimidated, and Derquy,
having the remembrance strong of their visit to the wax-
works, thought that the old sea-dog would bark pretty
savagely at the most dangerous accuser of Calorguen, and he
was not wrong.
M. Jugon related his meeting with Dr. Avangour and
Lieutenant Derquy on the Boulevard des Italiens, and their
meeting Pillemer in the vault of the Grevin Museum. He
concluded by asserting that Pillemer must have come into
his house at LanvoUon on St. Hubert's evening in order to
give the general a letter as he left dinner, inducing him to
return instanter to Trigavou Castle. Upon this, the bench
styled it sheer supposition, inasmuch as no such letter had
been found on the general or in any of his desk drawers, and
that, over and above this, the fact if proven only indirectly
link itself with a crime committed twenty hours after
General Houlbecq's leaving.
The judge paid no heed to Pillemer's run up to Paris, no
doubt because it was news to him, and it would not do to
deem it of any consequence.
The gallant commander put so much heart in belabouring
Pillemer that judges and hearers smiled more than once.
But the veteran was highly esteemed in the entire country ;
the chief judge heard him out politely, and when he was
done begged him to remain in court.
*^ Greutlemen, you are going to hear this man, and you can
The Little Pin on which the Trial Turned 263
rectify his testimony on occasion, commander. Call the
witness Pillemer."
Pillemer entered from the waiting-room. Derquy, who
had not seen him since the Paris trip, hardly knew him again,
his rustic habiliments not much better becoming him than
the ready-made suit he wore in Grevin's Museum. He
appeared much less embarrassed than then, and reached the
stand with a steady step.
All eyes were fixed upon him, amid a profound hush. He
took the oath without stammering.
" Ugh ! As many lies as there are words," muttered the
prisoner.
On the night of November 3rd, Pillemer kept to his farm,
he said, going to bed early, as he always did, particularly
when his master was away, and his master had left the
previous evening. In the evening, though, he had been over
to Lanvollon, where he was used to hobnob with Commander
Jugon's lads. That was on his way home, and he had some
cider with them, sitting in the kitchen, where there were a
lot of folk, servants of the gentlemen out for the hunt. They
were all drinking " luck " together, and he joined in. But
he only rested a quarter of an hour.
*' Commander Jugon affirms that you pretended to leave,
but stole up^o General Houlbecq's room to leave a letter
there to induce his immediate departure," broke in the pre^
siding judge.
" Law ! Do'ee want to make out that I got the poor
gentleman killed 1 Why, bless him, he ne'er done a wrong
to me ! I hardly know him by sight, come to that ! "
"Then you maintain that Commander Jugon is in
error ? "
" Pm afeared he is."
" Anybody can deny," growled the commander from his
corner.
" You admit at least that you went up to Paris ? "
" I did that, and a huge heap o' foolishness I did. My
joaster pitched into nje strpng, and I spent as much silver as;
264: The Condemned Door
would make a parcel as big as me ! Howsoever, I have seen
the capital."
This reply was underscored by a heavy sigh, which made
the coarser public laugh. These Bretons — the Shylocks of
France — were entertained by the confession of one of their
fellows having actually paid in hard cash to gratify a senti-
mental longing. Derquy more and more suspected that
Pillemer had gone to Paris to confer with Lord Trigavou.
The latter remained unaffected in his seat, as if nothing
concerned him. But the judge-president, less well informed
on the count, continued without thinking of that inter-
view :
"It littl^ matters, in any case, that you should have
absented yourself during the investigations. Your testimony
was recorded. You had the right to go and come as you
pleased. Now, repeat to the jury all you declared to the
judge who examined you at Dinan."
Pillemer promenaded his fingers in his hair like a lout, not
knowing how to begin a tale.
"Do not be confused. Tell us what you saw the day but
one after St. Hubert's Day ^^
" Well, then, I were going to the cow-doctoress at Plouer
to ask her to come over to the Hunaudaie for to see one of
the beasties that was sick — ay, and he died of it — a pig, if
your honours will excuse me naming such a thing "
" Stick to the case ! "
" Yes, your honour, we had to stick it, in this case, but it
was a narrow squeak. It did just bleed, and we could run
the carcase into market, but I would not eat pork for a
month. Well, she wasn't in, being called over to Taden
about a calving, so I returned all alone by myself to the
Hunaudaie. My road was that skirting the end of Trigavou
Castle Park. I spied, away off, a man coming out of the
ground by a break-down in the wall, who takes a gun under
the briars at the edge of the woods and creeps stealthily
along up to the gates. There I lost sight of him, and the
next instant I hears a gun go off. I thought he had knocked
The Little Pin on which the Trial Turned 265
over a rabbit, or an owl, and I went my way without stopping.
But I had recognised Pierre Calorguen."
" What distance were you at 1 "
"A hundred or a hundred and fifty paces — I can't tell
'zactly."
"What time was this?"
*' About a quarter to five — maybe a little more."
" On the 4th of November the sun set at 4.33," interposed
the counsel for the defence, holding up the Almanac of the
Bureau of Longitudes. " Hence it was dark at the time when
you assert you recognised Calorguen."
" You'll excuse me, sir ; it were not as bright as broad
day, though one could see clear enough. But I may be
wrong in a few minutes. I do not wear a watch."
"Prisoner," said the judge, "having heard the witness,
what do you say 1 "
" That at the utmost he might have seen me take my gun
from the bankside, where I placed it because it was in my
way in measuring the breach just inside. This strikes me
as very strange, for if he saw me I must have seen him — and
I saw nobody at all. However, that might be so ; but what
cannot be is having seen me slip into the grounds by the
gates, for, after taking up my gun, I struck off straight home
through the woods by the shortest cut. And it is not possible
he heard the gun go off, for I never heard it, yet I was
nearer the spot where it was fired than he."
" And I never heard it neither ! " cried a shrill voice.
CHAPTEE XXXVIII
DENOUNCED AS THE ASSASSIN
The fine shrill voice had been raised behind Pillemer, who
turned round quite confounded, but few hearers had under-
stood the purport of the outcry.
" Who dared to interrupt ? " queried the' judge-president.
" Please your honour," said the gendarme, having Yvon in
custody, " it's this here little rascal."
" Bring him forward."
The boy was shoved out beside Pillemer, who looked
down on him resentfully. Yet ifc was plain that he did not
know him. He must have run across him somewhere about
Trigavou, but he did not remember him. Curiously enough,
Calorguen, though knowing him so well, was just as much
astonished.
" Little friend," said the high judge, " you already dis-
turbed the order ruling here by pushing within bounds
where you had no business to be, as you were not called as a
witness. Then you went through a farce no doubt made up
between you and the prisoner. And now you interrupt
without being asked to speak. My duty is to have you
arrested."
Yvon made a submissive hanging of the head and arms.
" Do you understand me ? I am going to send you to
jail to begin with, and then into a house of correction."
Yvon did not heed ; he was looking at Calorguen.
" Come, come," proceeded the judge, astonished at the
bearing, "you are a mere child, unaware of the misbehaviour
you hav^ done. Why did you add to the prisoner's yepi£i-rk ;
Denounced as the Assassin 267
' And I never heard it ' ? Would you have us believe you
were by when Calorguen took his gun off the bank ? "
" 'Course I would ! I was there, but Pillemer wasn't."
"Then you mean to give evidence? Very well; do so.
You are not old enough to take an oath, but in virtue of my
discretionary power your statement shall be received. To
begin with, What brought you near the castle, on the 4th
day of November, at the hour when the crime was com-
mitted ? Did Pierre Calorguen have you along with him ? "
" Oh no, master ; Pierre was out on his duty. I was
coming home after picking up chestnuts. I stopped on the
edge of the woods, over agin' the gap in the wall, and I see
a man come out of the gates."
"Come out?"
"Yes, master. Pillemer says as how he see him go in.
'Tain't so at all, and that shows he wasn't never there."
Pillemer was going to rebuke him, but the judge silenced
him by saying :
" You will have your turn to speak. Well," he went
on to Yvon, " what did the man do whom you say you
saw ? "
" Just the other thing from what Pillemer makes out. He
poked the gun under the brambles where he took it from and
went away towards Plumodan. I was hiding in the thicket,
so he passed close by without seeing me ; but I had a fair
look at him."
" And this man was not Calorguen ? "
" Law, no, master. Calorguen was inside the grounds
then, as I knew after. Calorguen had on his keeper's
clothes, just as you see now, and that man wore a smock
frock and a broadbrim. And he had nothing of the look of
Pierre."
" So you had time to scan his face 1 "
" Rather ! I remember that first-rate, and shan't forget it
in a hurry. Why, I'd know him again anywhere, and after
never so long, if he'll only show himself."
From the opening of this unforese^iU exan^ination the
268 The Condemned Door
tenant of the Hunaudaie lost countenance and all the coolness
exhibited up to the entrance of little Yvon on the judicial
stage. His embarrassment attracted the judge's attention,
who began to believe that all this tale might not be the lad's
fancy. At the same time the idea struck him to put an un-
expected question to Yvon :
" Do you see this man anywhere in the court at this
moment ? "
Yvon shook his head.
" Look at the witness Pillemer."
" Oh, it wasn't him I see there," answered the urchin with-
out hesitating. " I've known Pillemer ever so long, and I
didn't know the other. He's young and good-looking, and
Pillemer is old and ugly."
There was a smothered laugh, for the comparison was
amusingly blunt ; but the crisis was so painful that silence
was quickly re-established. Everybody felt that the knot of
the trial lay in this boy's statement, a chance witness, but
probably a true one, as he was not old enough to learn a lie.
" Nay, nay," continued he, " Pillemer was not there."
"If he was not there," took up the chief judge, "how
could he have divined that a man took up — or laid down — a
gun near the border of the woods ? You yourself state it so.
Therefore, Pillemer did not invent the fact. Only he draws
a different inference than you. Still he saw what happened."
" He was up in a tree, then, for I should have spied him
anywhere in the woods."
" I am sixty years old," interposed the farmer. " A pretty
time o' life to be swarming up a tree, I don't think ! It's
much more in your way, you naughty boy, to perch in the
boughs to pry about honest folks."
" Silence ! " said the judge, imperatively. " None but I
have the right to address this child."
" Oh, I am not afeard o' Pillemer," remarked " this child ''
coolly.
" I see that,'' pursued the presiding judge, " and I doubt
your full comprehension of your own words.] Your statement
Denounced as the Assassin 269
completely traverse3 that of the witness Pillemer. Conse-
quently one of you two lies, and to lie at the justice seat is a
crime punishable with penal servitude. My duty is to com-
mit whichever of you is guilty of perjury for trial. And I
mean to discover which it is. Witness Pillemer, do you per-
sist in your statement V
" Of course I do, your honour. I have sworn to all that
once already."
" And you, Yvon r'
" As true as the good God up above hears me I am telling
the truth."
" Mind that your affection for the prisoner does not carry
you too far. Better confess that you made this up between
you since — awhile since."
" Why, I never said a word to him of what I see while he
were in the grounds. Look at his face now ; he's as much
astonished as you, sir, at what I am a-saying."
*' But you may have hatched this unlikely tale all alone of
a man hiding a gun— a man nobody knows — and never seen
again by you "
" 'Tain't for the lack o' hunting for him, though ! "
" Come, come, my boy, think this over again. Nobody
here believes you. I read in the faces of the gentlemen of
the jury that they think like myself that you are telling
this story to save your friend. Turn round and you will
see "
Yvon mechanically turned round as directed, looked at the
twelve faces idly, and then suddenly shouted :
"That's the man there!"
The lovers of strong mental liquors had already had
several draughts since this trial opened, but this was a
quencher.
With glittering eyes and arm outstretched, Yvon pointed
at one of the jurors on the lowest row in the box.
From the nook where he had crouched till called forth by
the judge the boy could not see the juryman whom he pre-
tended to identify, and hitherto he had not looked in that
270 The Condemned Door
direction. Now he saw the man in a front view, and
closely. By moving more forward he might have touched
him.
The audience quivered, the judges were startled out of
their dignity, Calorguen was stricken with surprise, Pillemer
dismayed, and the counsel for the defence, shooting his cuiFs
out of the sleeves of his gown ere emitting a torrent of eloquence
upon the incident — all this formed a picture worth preserving
on canvas.
Of all the players in this strange scene apparently the least
affected was the juror singled out by Yvon. Sitting erect,
with a haughty head, he disdainfully eyed the child, and
smiled in opposition to the insolent gesture pointing him
out.
This juror was Count Trigavou.
The agitation produced by the denunciation would have
been still greater if the master of the Hunaudaie had been
known to the majority present. But he had few relatives in
the county ; his name was on the jury register because by
family tradition he preserved a residence there. But he
almost never came to St. Brieuc, and most of the beholders
had never seen him before, or even heard his name, which, as
a singular feature of this trial, does not figure in it. The
important action he had taken was unsuspected by the
judges. Hence the Public Prosecutor allowing him to elude
the challenge and take his seat.
But still there were some who knew pretty well how he
stood. In the first place, Calorguen, who, after discovering
his enemy was not dead, had perceived that the baroness's
lover had murdered her husband in order to marry the
widow. And Olivier, who saw the man in his true colours,
who had once inspired him with blind confidence. And
lastly, Lady Jloulbecq. She had deceived herself deeply on
the moral value of her beloved, but yet she had not sus-
pected him of having slain her husband at the time when
he asserted he was crossing the Channel to Southampton.
** What do you mean by that ?" asked the judge of Yvon,
Denounced as the Assassin 271
who continued to keep his finger threatening the unwincing
Trigavou.
" I mean that that's the man who hid the gun in the
brambles. "When I see him he wore a smock, and he's
dressed like a gentleman now, but he's wearing the same face
and it's the same man."
Alain shook his head without otherwise moving, and his
proud silence favourably impressed the spectators.
" I am willing to admit that you deceive yourself un-
awares," went on the judge. " That is the only excuse for
your accusing an honourable gentleman so absurdly. The juror
whom you indicate is the Count of Trigavou, whom you must
know, as he has property and spends the. summer on it at the
Hunaudaie Farm, near the house where you live. You must
have met his lordship."
" Never ! Oh, so he's Pillemer's landlord, eh ? And you
won't believe me when I say he fired off the gun ! Why,
it's as plain as the nose on your face ! Don't you see that
he's I'arned his farmer the tale ? Pillemer only says what
the Count of Trigavou ordered him to say, to get Pierre into
trouble. Pillemer was not nigh the castle. Look at his face
— why a mole could see he lies !"
The boy hardly exaggerated. Upset by the turn of
things, Pillemer could hardly stand, and wore such a guilty
look that the judge, who had been harsh towards Yvon,
changed his battery.
" What are you in such agitation for ? " he demanded of
the farmer.
" I — I do not know what you are all at me for," stam-
mered he. " I have never done anybody wrong ; but you are
all down on me. Here's Commander Jugon accusing me of
taking a letter to Lanvollon to decoy the old general into a
trap. I never took no letter, and it's no fault o' mine that
he was shot two days after. And now again here's this little
varmint makes me out a liar."
" And so you are a liar — a liar indeed," Bhouted Yvon, " as
true as your master's a murderer 1"
272 The Condemned Door
Trigavou turned pale, with wrath very likely, but still he
restrained himself.
The judge itched to examine him; but to question in court
a juror denounced by a volunteer witness was so contrary to
the rules of procedure that he abstained from yielding to
temptation. He took the only course open in such an un-
solvable problem. One of the two contradictory witnesses
was a perjurer, and as neither would retract, the conflict
might go on for ever. Whereupon the bench, the Public
Prosecutor, and the counsel for the defence agreed what to
do.
The Public Prosecutor rose to request the adjournment of
the trial to the next Session, and the provisional arrest of
both Pillemer and Yvon.
Calorguen's advocate off'ered no opposition, and after a de-
liberation among themselves, the judges arranged the terms
of a decree which the president promulgated.
Upon the cry, *' The case is adjourned," indescribable
hubbub arose as the warders and gendarmes removed the
prisoners. The audience pressed towards the doors ; the fine
ladies, disappointed at not beholding more than a makeshift
for the last act, flocked into the central reservation ; the
jurors, delighted with liberty, scrambled out of the box ; and
the judge chatted with the dignitaries in the reserved seats
next the bench.
Deeply affected, Derquy remained standing, instead of
mingling with any groups, the isolated beholder of the
breaking-up. He saw Yvon and Pillemer marched away,
and Lady Houlbecq, more carefully veiled than ever, vanish
in the throng. He looked round for the Count of Trigavou,
astonished that he was left free, and saw him climbing up by
the raised judges' seats and accosting the chief judge. A ring
gathered round them, but both spoke in a high enough voice
for Vivette's cousin not to lose a word of an interesting
dialogue.
*' My lord," said Trigavou with a splendid calm, " I must
thank you for not having tal^en seriously the fictions of a
Denounced as the Assassin 273
little peasant wholly devoted to Pierre Calorguen. But I
cannot rest under a slander, however stupid it may be ; and
I heg to request ray being cited as a witness at the next trial
of this man. In the meaAtime, I hold myself at the call of
justice. The jury is discharged, and I intended to go up to
Paris this evening ; but I shall stop at the Hunaudaie, unless
you order me to remain here in St. Brieuc."
^' We need »only have your address for the summons to
reach you when the case comes on again," replied the judge,
politely but coldly. " I shall inform the Public Prosecutor
of what passes between us and leave him to take the measures
necessary to secure the operations of justice. I suppose you
will await his decision ? I shall telegraph your intention to
stay at your house at the Hunaudaie."
" Meanwhile I may retire ] "
"You are perfectly free to retire, my lord."
An emphatic nod with this reply cut short the colloquy.
Trigavou hastened to avail himself of the permission,
descended from the dais, threaded the groups, and mingled
with the people, jostling and elbowing to get out of the hall.
Derquy endeavoured to overtake him for one of those
disputes which end in a duel, but as he meandered through
the body of the court-room encumbered with lawyers, news-
paper correspondents, and natives of both sexes. Commander
Jugon buttonholed him to impart his opinion of the trial.
The old sea-dog did not spare Count Trigavou, and thundered
against the judge's weakness io not having him arrested on
the spot as General Houlbecq's assassin. That was the very
word he used, and Derquy did not remonstrate against the
epithet applied previously by little Yvon.
Derquy managed to shake his brother officer off at the
doors of the hall of justice, thinking only to rejoin Yivette to
acquaint her with the result of the trial and, above all, that
her sister was at St. Brieuc. He knew that the arrangement
was for Yivette to meet Dr. Avangour on the footway outsid e
They might still be there, so he hastened thither as also on
his way to his hotel cjs well.
T
21i The Condeimied Door
The trial had been long and night was closing in. The
throng, still discussing what they had seen and heard, had
gone on from the square into the Valley of the Gouet, a
steep approach to the little port. The boulevard was almost
deserted, and all the persons he noticed were two, the Lord of
Trigavou and a lady in mourning.
" They fixed on the same meeting-place," muttered the
naval officer, "and we all have nearly como. in collision.
What the better shall I be for driving Lady Houlbecq to
confess she is that scoundrel's mate — or, maybe, accomplice ?
If she set him on to shoot her husband, I'd rather not know
it. As for the villain himself, I hope he will flee the country
and never be heard of more. But if he dares to remain, I
must bave it out with him. I will not let him be tried, for
he's just the coward to let all out and Heaven knows what
would become of Vive^tte's sister ! ''
CHAPTEE XXXIX
THE LOVERS PREPARE FOR FLIGHT
Derquy saw correctly. It was really Lady Houlbecq and her
associate upon the broad walk. She had gone thither directly
upon leaving the court-room, knowing he would corneas they
had prearranged everything. They had pretty well foreseen
everything, too, except the interruption of the boy — unknown
to Trigavou, and accounted an idiot by the baroness.
They were obliged now to meet the consequences of this
terrible incident, and they were not in accord on the means.
They mutually hurled reproaches at one another for having
gone near the court.
" What made you take a place among the jury ? " asked the
lady. " Had you followed my advice we should not be in
this dilemma."
" Come to that, what brought you into the court ? " retorted
Alain. " I forbade you coming."
*' How handsome in you to reproach me ! " returned the
lady. " If I had not signalled to Calorguen he would have
denounced you. That little wretch who recognised you a
little later actually held the leaf out of my tablets and was
going to give it to the judge, but I raised my veil, looked at
Calorguen, and he took pity on me "
" Yes, I saw what went on and fully understood that you
only thought of pulling me out of the nasty corner. You
succeeded, but I was out of luck. Before, I was not in the
coils, but, by Heaven ! they are all around me now."
" Your own fault. If you had not come Yvon could not
have recognised you."
276 Tlie Condemned Door
"How could I foresee he would be there ? If T had not
appeared after being regularly called, my absence would have
been remarked, and it would have been conjectured I had my
reasons to keep away. Several persons suspected me without
giving tongue. I may name Avangour, Jugon, aye, and
others — curse them all ! I chose to da.re the danger of some
direct question, but unexpected was the quarter whence it
came. Facts have proved me in error. Now we must come
to some conclusion."
" Do you mean you want my advice ? "
•' Yes, but I shall not follow it unless I deem it good."
"No doubt that implies that you separate your future
from mine. Just what I looked for," observed the bai'oness
bitterly.
" You have nothing to fear ; you are not pointed at."
" Wait till the trial comes on anew — when Calorguen will
speak, or if he does not, Pillemer will. He has no reason to
hold his tongue and he is in prison now."
" Pillemer ! the traitor ! Instead of bothering about the
keeper, I ought to have put a bullet into him ! "
" 'Twas he who betrayed us to my husband ! "
'• I did not wish to believe, but I am sure on that head now."
" So he knew of our intimacy 1 "
" He nosed it out. I had set him to work spying old
Houlbecq, not telling him why, but he's sharper than he
looks. On St. Hubert's eve I sent him over to LanvoLlon.
When he returned he reported the general still at table
before sleeping at Jugon's and going a-hunting in the morn-
ing. That's what determined me to stir out, and luck led
me into the castle less than an hour before your husband
arrived "
" Why did Pillemer betray you ? "
" I daresay because he hoped Houlbecq would kill me. I
paid him liberally for his services, but I was fool enough,
with a view to hold him closer, to intimate that I had him
down in my will for twenty thousand francs. He was in a
hurry to inherit. I know no other reason."
The Lovers Prqjare for Flight 277
" But when you saw him, after the event, you could not
help taking him to task "
" I did not believe it was his work. I was so far oflf that
on my return home I wrote him to come up to Paris to learn
what had occurred at Trigavou after my departure. He
c^me up. He did nothing but blunder. To avoid his meet-
ing me in my lodgings, I told him where I should expect
him ; Monceau Park, the Grevin Museum, and so on, and
everywhere he fell in with people that knew him down here
— Dr. Avangour and Commander Jugon, for instance — two
enemies. I chanced upon the last meeting just to hear Jugon
accuse him of having lured Houlbecq into a trap. It was
only then I began to mistrust Master Pillemer. The day but
one after I hauled him over the coals, but he stood out
stoutly, and I finally believed I was wrong to blame him."
" Yet you knew he had Calorguen arrested 1 " queried the
baroness.
" Yes," answered the count abruptly.
" Did you not see him after St. Hubert's Night ? "
" I daresay I did. Why the question ? "
" Because you told me in Paris that, on the night when we
were nearly caught, you went to St. Malo, merely looking
in at ytnir farm without seeing Pillemer, and embarked two
days after."
" You really want to know, eh ? Well, have it, then !
What I did was this : Wlien I escaped from the old tower I
had no idea of fleeing into England, where nothing drove me,
since nobody could prove I was in the castle. So I simply
went to bed in my farm-house and strictly kept indoors
all next day. But on the next morning I burned to know
what had gone on at Trigavou, and did not care to sond
Pillemer, who did not inspire me with enough confidence. So
I disguised myself as a peasant to prowl round the castle— a
broad-brimmed hat and an ample frock "
" Then it was you Yvon saw ? "
" I can't say the little imp saw me, but I saw nobody but
Calorguen. That was from a distance, stealing along the wall.
278 The Condemned Door
I saw him halt, lay his gun on a sloping bank, and climb over
through the breach. I wondered what he was after and re-
solved to learn. You told me he was in love with you,
remember. I went up the road and passed the breach with-
out his seeing me. His gun was within reach, and I snatched
it up to prevent him using it against me in case he per-
ceived me. It then occurred to me to slip into the grounds
by the gateway and take a peep at your window. I cannot
say why, but I was urged to commit that imprudence. I did
glide in and I stepped to the edge of the lawn, when, on
raising my head, I saw your husband standing at the open
window. He saw me, too, and, what's worse, recognised me,
for he called out : ' What are you about there, you ? Are
you looking for me ? ' "
"That is true. I heard him,"
"And he added, shaking his fist, *You will soon know
with whom you have to do. Just wait till I get down to
you.' Then I thought of you, dear. I saw that if I let him
live he would torture you lingeringly till death, for he
knew by this time who was your chosen and that I had
escaped the dungeon where he fancied I was shut up.
Tit for tat was fair play. I had a right to avenge
myseJf."
"And you fired on him! Well done ! " cried the widow,
brutally, carried away by her passion.
" No, no, badly done, for I shall be found guilty of it, and
you must pay the penalty too. Well, I had time to rush
out of the grounds and put the gun back where I found it.
And I returned to my farm without meeting a soul. It was
then only I thought to leave the country for a month, and off
I went that night."
" What about Pillemer 1 "
" Pillemer knew nothing about it. But he had seen me
come in and I had to explain away somehow why I had dis-
guised myself. He would hear of the general's death next
day and I did not want him to suspect I had slain him. So
I hatched a tale, part true, part false, telling him I had
The Lovers Prepare for Flight 279
donned a smock to go near the castle without being recognised,
I knew well enough he would not inquire what took me
there, being in the secret. I went on to say that when
skirting the park walls I heard a gun go off, that I had
seen Calorguen measuring the hole in the wall a moment
before, and that a moment after I saw a man hide a gun in
the bushes and make off without my seeing his face. I added
that the man may have blazed away at somebody, but I had no
inclination to get drawn into some awkward affair and that
I preferred to go travelling awhile. I thought he might fancy
what he liked, but he had no interest in speaking against me;
and indeed, he took good care not to accuse me. I never
foresaw he would saddle Calorguen with the story of the gun
in the hedge, forgetting he has had a knife whetted for Calor-
guen this ever so long,"
" But when you saw Pillemer again in Paris ? "
" I treated him as he deserved and commanded him to
retract his statement ; but he answered that, if he did so, they
would have him up for perjury and he would not promise m^
anything. Then I thought to help Calorguen escape from
Dinan Gaol. The escape was a failure — ahem ! well, you know
the rest. Pillemer, at the first hearing, stuck to his tale, and
all might have been lovely if he had not meddled and brought
this yarn forward. Now I lay at Pillemer's mercy, and I am
certain he will blab everything. The judge has given me
rope enough, but when he lays his head alongside the Public
Prosecutor's, they will decide to bring me up with a strong
pull. I shall not wait."
" You mean to flee ? "
" Fully determined. But nothing drives you. Calorguen
will be dumb, as he adores you."
" And I adore you ! What do I care that you relieved me
of my husband ? He meant to kill you and you retaliated too
soon for him. I'll go with you, darling — anywhere ! Come
what may, your fate shall be mine."
"You will not taunt me any more with courting your
sister 1" queried Alain, ironically.
280 The Condemned Door
" Don't spaak of her ! I wish to forget everything, and I
shall if you'll take me."
"Even to America] California, even, or the Antipodes?
Though I quit France bent on never seeing it again, even if
I change my name and I am reduced to work for a living %
Even if they condemn me in my absence ? "
" Do you doubt it ] Havel not done enough for you to
believe in my love ? ''
^' I believe that love fades like every worldly thing and
that you will harry me one of these days for having dragged
you down with me in my fall."
" Hush ! and don't you dare hope, sir, to prevent me going
along. I am quite ready. I always foresaw what was com_
ing, for I turned my funds into cash — three hundred thousand
francs — banked securely in London. Where do you intend
to sail from 1 "
" St. Malo. I'll go by evening train to Dinan, for I must
show I was at the Hunaudaie Farm in case I am tracked
from here. But I shall only stay one day. The day after
to-moT-row I shall be in St. Malo."
" Where you will find your loving one by the early
morning."
"Fully determined?"
" Fully, and nothing shall change me, whatever you do or
say."
" If that's so, mark me well ; I must keep quiet. I reckon
on there being nothing against me for a few days yet. But
one must be forearmed, and I am not going to run the risk
of being arrested. Before coming to St. Brieuc I had a pre-
sentiment Calorguen's trial would not end just as I wished,
and that I might find the necessity of putting the sea between
me and justice. What I foreboded has happened. I must
provide for my safety. Just to think, though, that if that
little demon Yvon had not come across me, Calorguen would
be acquitted and no accusation would be overhanging me.
It's enough to drive one wild with fury — dash it ! Oh, it is
a good thing they put him in prison, or else, if he fell
The Lovers Prepare for Flight 281
under my hand, I'd wring his neck, although that would only
be a blunder the more.
" But, to get back to my project of instant departure. At
St. Malo I know an old pilot who owns a pretty little steam
yacht which he lets out at a large profit to lovers of marine
trips. I have more than once put some good things in his
way by recommending him to rich Paris friends. He is a
reliable fellow and I can trust him. He will take me any-
where. I name over to Ireland, where, at one port or another
— Queenstown, Londonderry, where you will — the steamers
touch from England to New York.
" Well, I notified him that I should require his boat
within three days of this. That's settled, and so he's waiting
under steam out of the bay at anchor beyond the break-
water. This captain, named Guevel, lives in Freshwater
Canal Street, corner of St. Barbe Street. You can go to I"m
from me and tell him to be ready to set sail the day after to-
morrow, and even go on board yourself as soon as yoxx like.
It is useless, at any rate, our being seen together. I shall go
to the Franklin Hotel, near old Guevel's house. I will see
him straight and arrange with him. Should you be on
board, he'll take me out in his yawl at night tide to the
yacht, and in two hours we shall be far from St. Malo. Is
this fixed ? All right, then, let's part — our last parting,
since now we are bound together till death comes."
" At last," sighed Flavia in relief, " you are mine own for
ever and ever, without any rivalry."
The farewell was short, for Trigavou burned to shake the
dust of France off his feet, and his temptress was eager to
enjoy happiness so dearly earned.
Both forgot that there is many a slip betwixt cup and lip.
CHAPTEE XL
A BED OF THORNS
In the summer-time all seaside resorts look alike. But in
autumn the town recovers its natural aspect. Trouville be-
comes a fishing village, St. Malo the port which fitted out
privateers. Gay life vanishes from the fine sands, and a
duller bustle reigns in the port and in the docks. The
Newfoundland fishing boats discharge their Grand Bank
catches, the smacks form rows along the jetty, and the huge
English packets load up butter, eggs, and calves for the
London market.
With this relative loneliness as to fashionables ^nd gentle-
folk. Count Trigavou reckoned on meeting no acquaintances
before embarking. As announced to Baroness Houlbecq, he
had arrived by the last train and slept at the Franklin Hotel.
It was then too late to see old Guevel, who went to bed at
nine.
But the count was up with daybreak and ran round to the
enriched pilot's, whom he found smoking his pipe in his
doorway. His first care was about the lady he had sent to
him.
" Oh, I saw her," answered the sea veteran. " She isn't
no stick."
" In what way is that ? " inquired the astonished nobleman.
" I offered her a room till you came, but, bless you, my
lord, she would hardly stay ashore a quarter of an hour, so
hot to be aboard ship right away."
" That was understood between us."
"So she said. But when you arranged that 'ere in course
A Bed of Thorns 283
you never knew what kind o' weather the morrow would
bring for'a'd. Why, yesterday I did have a hard pull for it
to get out in a rowboat to my yacht. We took two hours to
round Little Bey Island, and your lady got soaked like a
biscuit in oyster soup. But she wasn't scared. I never did
see such a heart o' oak in a woman.''
"Yes ; I know the sea would not frighten her. At what
time can you take me aboard ? Some time this morning 1
want to be off."
" Do 'ee, my lord ? Well, now, that don't depend on me,
d'ye see."
" On whom, then ? " demanded the nobleman testily.
" On the clerk of the weather, who sent us yesterday a
stiff norther. Didn't you give the sea a squint as you came t
It's all over the Neck.''
" It don't matter. As the lady got over so can I."
" That don't follow. It blew rough yesterday, but we
could make head again it. But this 'ere day, there ain't a
sea-going boat in all the port able to go out ; she'd go down
a couple of cables' length from the end of the breakwater.
And anyhow, why run the risk of getting drownded ? It's a
goodishbit since the yacht left her moorings where she waited."
" What's that ? Gone without me T'
"Yes, good luck to her! If she had hung on to her
anchor, she would have been tossed on to the shingle of Big
Bey Island and knocked into shivereens by now. I gave the
skipper the order to put to sea, and he had enough on his
hands to clear, I tell 'ee."
" Put to sea ? Where to 1 "
" Nowhere's in pertickler. He's been spending the niglit
tacking to and fro and must have had all the fun he wants
running long and short legs. Yonr lady has had lier
'prenticeship of uights at sea ; but that's no blame to me, for
I warned her. But she was bound to go on board. How-
somever, there's no danger — not a mite. The Gulkving is
well built and has breasted many a blow. The lady will get
off with a little shaking."
284 The Condemned Door
" When can the yacht get back I "
"Sooner than your lordship 'niagines. These here gales
blow 'emsels out in less than forty-eight hours. To-night it
will taper olf and come to a puff and a calm to-morrow."
" Then your boat will resume her anchorage ? "
" Under the Big Bey, my lord. That's understood with
the cap'n, and hes a man o' his word."
" Then 1 can embark to-morrow ? "
" Yes. But the sea won't have gone down, and the yacht
may be obligated to stand off and on under steam, d'ye see,
instid o' mooring under the island. But if you are willing
to wait in the hollow of the Big Bey, why, they'll send a yawl
in for you. As soon as you are brung on deck, she'll stand
for Ireland. Reckoning all in, you'll only lose a day."
" How shall I know the yacht has returned ? "
" I'll come tell your lordship at the hoteJ."
" I would rather you were not seen there."
" I understand. Well, there's a way out of that. All
your honour need do is get out to the Big Bey in the morn-
ing by the Good Help Gate. At nine the tide is a-running
in, but you can still cross without wetting your feet. You
should climb up the island and go along to the headland of
Chateaubriand's Tomb, whence you'll see the yacht as plain
as I see your lordship. She'll be cutting hereaway and there-
away before the island. I shall get out there too, a little
later, and signal the skipper to lower away the boat as soon
as the water is high enough to let her run in shore. There'll
be never a soul there to ask your lordship for his passport,
for this is not the season when the 'scursionists go out to see
the Tomb."
*' Well, be it so. If there's any change during the day,
just stand out in your doorway at nightfall, where I can see
you from my hotel window. I will step out on that balcony
you see from here and you can beckon if you want to speak
to me. If you do not call me, we will meet in the morning
on the Big Bey, where I will cash up for the yacht hire."
Old Guevel replied that he could trust the speaker, and
A Bed of TJwrm 285
was in no hurry ; he loved money, but he wanted to be
polite too.
Nettled at this drawback, which condemned him to spend
a day and a night yet at St. Malo, Count Trigavou thought
of no better way to wear off his ill-humour than to walk
round the ramparts. This constitutional promenade ought to
blow away mental cobwebs, and make it clear that the Gull-
wlng^s proprietor had not stretched a point in calling the
sea unnavigable.
He went to St. Vincent Square, crossed it, and climbed the
stone steps to the broad flagged walk on the old seawall. He
did not linger to regard the docks, the famous swing-bridge,
nor the lofty houses of the rich shipmasters of yore, granite
palaces towering over the battlements. He caught a view
of the sea, only to be had beyond a large bastion covering
the mole protecting the outer port. When above the Good
Help Strand, Trigavou had his wish satisfied.
The tempest was raging in full force. The fog-shrouded
horizon blended with the lowering sky. The north-west
wind drove the rollers in upon the coast and smashed them
on the rocky edges of the roadstead. Big and Little Bey
Islands, Cezambre, and the Conchee disappeared under the
spouts of surge.
Guevel had not exaggerated*; no vessel had ventured out in
the teeth of that gale, and those near enough had scudded in.
Far out, nearly by Cape Frehel, Trigavou fancied he saw
a streak of black smoke across the dirty grey clouds, and he
imagined it come from the Oullwing's smoke-pipe as she
bravely struggled against the landward wind.
The count leant on the parapet to watch the yacht and
query whether he ought not to wish her to go down with all
aboard, or, at any rate, never make a French landing.
Already regretting their fortunes were bound together, he
was eager to scramble out of the game before it was com-
pletely lost with his life and fame, rather than await the
outburst of the tempest which Pillemer's probable confession
would evoke. But this last scion of a noble stem knew
neither scruples nor remorse. Educated by a sceptical
286 The Condemned Door *
father, he had from boyhood looked upon life as a battlefield
where the victory falls to the most powerful and most
skilful. The programme he followed so far inculcated
preserving appearances, trampling prejudices underfoot,
braving men, and despising women. It had worked well
until he forgot the rules and slew the husband of his
conquest. It was the blunder worse than a crime, but one it
was waste of time to deplore.
" The die is cast," he said, still eyeing the yacht. " I shall
go with her and abide events. All will end well yet. At
present there is a substantial danger to elude. The future is
my own and nobody knows what good fortune lies in store.
Meanwhile, to breakfast."
After a last glance at the furious sea to which Ceesar was
going to confide his fortunes he walked along the ramparts
to his hotel, washed when above cover by the briny blast.
When he reached the hotel leisurely enough he was glad to
hear the breakfast-bell as he was sharpset. He dashed in
though he might be running into danger.
His seat at the tahle-dliote placed him between an artillery
officer on detached duty and Sir Harries Harrison, an English
tourist. The conversation unfortunately turned upon the
recent trial, and Lady Houlbecq was smartly castigated by
the general voice. The debate ^o spread that it was shocking
to the feelings of any respectable tahle-dliote. Count Trigavou
and his neighbours alone did not enter into the wrangle.
"Ill-bred cattle," remarked the English baronet in an
undertone, and in good French.
" Quite my own opinion," added Alain.
"And mine," concluded the officer. "It is unseemly to
treat the widow of a general officer in this style. I knew
Baron Houlbecq and met his wife in Parisian society, and
never did I hear a word against her."
This led to a self- presentation, the Englishman giving his
name and title, and the military Frenchman stating he was
Count Jacques de Sacey, colonel. This put Trigavou in a
quandary, for he could not name himself as the late juryman
A Bed of Thorns 287
whom Yvou had singled out. He had shot down Baron
Houlbecq, but he could not give a false name without a
qualm. He whispered that he would acquaint them with his
degree when they left the room. This reservation cast a
a damper on the chat, though Trigavou hastened to show he
moved in the upper circles. He succeeded in effacing the
bad impression of his secrecy, but filled them with curiosity
to know the cause. So they abridged the meal and walked
out to enjoy the cigars Sir Harries offered in the smoking-
room. There was only the courtyard to cross, but in that
space Trigavou almost ran up against Lieut. Derquy,
accompanied by a naval officer in undress, some old ship-
mate apparently.
Neither expected such a meeting.
Olivier, after seeing Viviana to Dinan, had followed Dr.
Avangour's advice to leave her to go over to Dame Calorguen
alone with the news about her son. So the lieutenant had
come to St. Malo to get through the day somehow in company
with a lieutenant promoted from his own ship to command
the government despatch boat at St. Servan. Having invited
him to breakfast, that brought them to the Franklin Hotel.
Trigavou stopped sharply on seeing Viviana's betrothed, the
blood rushing to his head and his hatred for the rival making
him oblivious of prudence.
"I shall join you presently, gentlemen," he observed to
his neighbours, who went on towards the smoking-room. "A
word with you alone, sir," he added to Derquy, who firmly
faced him.
The latter friend understood the matter and stepped over
to the steamboat posters on the wall.
" What's your desire ? " inquired Olivier, coldly. " I have
no words for you, and you ought to know that there's no
connection between us."
"I know that one of us ought to have no longer con-
nection with this world, and I want you to give me
satisfaction."
*' For what, pray ? I spared you whom I might have
288 The Condemned Boor
destroyed. You shamefully slandered me towards Mdlle.
Bourbriac. Which of us is the wronged man, then ? "
" Oh, you can have the choice of weapons*— all I care for is
the fight."
" I could refuse that on the grounds of a man not being
obliged to go out with one who may be in the hands of the
police in a day,"
" Do you mean you will betray me ? I daresay you paid
that little monkey to accuse me of shooting the husband of
your sister-in-law to be."
"Your insults do not touch mc. But you shall know I
hold the proofs of one of your crimes. You tried to murder
poor Calorguen though he was not the man to utter the word
to ruin you. Do not attempt denial. I found the rope you
sent into his prison, and I have measured it. You hoped he
would drop off the end and split his skull on the rocks.
And you shot him as he climbed up the rope. These are
attempts at murder and no palliation."
" You're a liar."
Olivier turned pale but he restrained himself.
"Yes, you are a liar, and you are raking up excuses to
avoid fighting me because you are a coward to boot," said
Count Trigavou loudly enough to recall his late companions
at the smoking-room door.
Derquy's friend bad also overheard and he turned round.
The face of affairs had changed. The lieutenant could not
let things rest after he was treated as a liar and coward.
He had to accept the duel or explain why he refused ; in
other words, inform strangers of the scandalous, sad misdeed
whence sprang the quarrel. Thereupon the nobleman would
not have shrunk from answering saucily and flinging Mdlle. de
Bourbriac's name into the discussion.
" Gentlemen," said Derquy addressing the three bystanders
collectively, " in your presence I have been rudely insulted
and I require satisfaction of this gentleman by arms."
"Just what I require too," rejoined Lord Trigavou
quickly, " and the sooner the business is over, the better."
A Bed of Thorns 289
" Lieutenant AUanic, my mate at the Naval College, will
see your friends this day to arrange the meeting, if you have
any friends still."
" Why not straight away ? "
"Be it immediately, then. Here stands Lieutenant
Allanic ; where are your seconds ? "
Trigavou looked at his two table companions, more suitable
than those to look for farther. If they accepted office, he
would have to tell his name ; but even then they might not
withdraw, once committed.
" Excuse me, sir,^' said the artillerist officer with a quickness
leaving no doubt on his resolve to decline the honour from a
stranger. " I am in attendance on the inspector-general and
am engaged to-day and for to-morrow to visit with him the
coast and island defences."
Clearly enough he had scented mischief in the wind luul
had no inclination to be prominent. But the English noble-
man had no such reasons. He was an independent character,
travelling as he listed and fond of unforeseen adventures.
To be second in a French duel would be something to tell at
the club. So he stepped forward whilst the cannoneer officer
retired, and said to the count :
" If agreeable, sir, I will be your second,"
" I accept gratefully," answered the other, " on condition
that my adversary does not insist on another supporter."
" I have only one as yet myself,'' returned Derquy.
" And that the seconds do not learn the causes of our
encounter "i "
" I pledge myself to be content," said the baronet. " I
have a gentleman as my principal, which is ample."
" I will do whatever my friend assents to," added the sea-
officer.
"Then we can regulate the conditions of the duel at once,"
proceeded Trigavou. " As I said, you have the choice of
weapons, sir."
"My choice is made. You know that I was wounded so
lately that I cannot hold a sword."
U
290 The Condemned Door
" True. We fight with pistols, without delay. To-da)*,
eh ? "
" You forget that it is near noon, and is dark at four.
Besides, we must have a medical man at hand. One second
a-piece may suffice at a pinch, but a medical attendant is
indispensable, particularly as I mean we shall not cease firing
till one is down. It will take time to find this gentleman ;
so we cannot meet till to-morrow morning."
" Be it so— where ? "
** Anywhere you like."
" I suggest Big Bey Island," interposed Derquy's friend.
" Why the Big Bey 1 " queried the count. " There must be
a score of places around St. Malo more suitable."
" None so near," replied the naval ofiicer, " and I cannot go
too far away from my advice-boat because I must go to sea
to-morrow as soon as weather permits. I must look after
fishing craft sure to be crippled by this gale. So I shall run
out at the first lull."
*' The Big Bey," repeated Sir Harries. " Let me see, that's
the headland on which Chateaubriand the poet is entombed.
I have not seen that yet. Very good."
" Yes, a capital chance," added Allanic, smiling. " No place
is fitter. No one will disturb us — especially when the sea is
in, and it will be high tide at noon. I can have my yawl out
and take you by eleven to the Big Bey, if you will come
aboard my cutter. It will hold five easily and my men can
land us anywhere afterwards."
" We shall be but three coming back," remarked Trigavou,
grimly. " We shall be less one whom the doctor will be
attending to or laying out. I do not intend being of your
return party, either, if I survive."
" As you please, sir. Then it is agreed, the Big Bey ? "
" Yes, I shall be there at ten with Sir Harries. Now for
the weapons 1 "
*' I claim the shooting-gallery pistol," said Derquy.
" I have a pair of hair- triggers," said the Briton.
" So have I," added the cruiser's captain.
A Bed of Thorns 291
"That is good," pursued the count. "These gentlemen
will bring their weapons and we will draw for them. Is this
agreed ? ''
" All points are agreed," concluded the lieutenant. " At
eleven to-morrow we meet again on the island near the
Tomb."
He drew his brother-officer out of the hotel instead of into
the coffee-room as they intended. Allanic hastened to ask
some explanation of the scene without any sense except that
Derquy was to fight a duel to the death.
" I can say little," replied he plainly. " You know me well
enough as not a man to risking life in a bad cause. If I die,
Heaven will not be just. If 1 kill that man he will have been
fitly punished. Ask me no more."
" Enough ! I see there's a woman in the case. "
" Whether you hgive hit it or not, be sure that I am doing
my duty. I picked no quarrel, you very well know, as w^e
went there merely to breakfast. Pure chance brought
me in contact with an enemy who insulted me. I would not
shrink. Come what may, I have nothing to blame myself
for."
" I am dead sure of that. Where are you towing
metoV
" To the telegraph office, to send a message to a medical
friend at Dinan."
" Why not call in a local practitioner or the army surgeon?"
" I do not Avish to bring strangers into the affair. My
doctor knows it already. He will come over on getting the
despatch, and I will introduce him in the morning. We will
breakfast afterwards, but not at the Franklin. I am glad I
did not happen to put up there where that man was staying^
Whilst the pair were on their errand. Count Trigavou had
got free of Sir Harries, who had an appointment with a fellow
countryman living at St. Servan. He arranged to be back
in the morning and accompany his brother-aristocrat, for
Alain had made hiitiself fully known. The baronet expressee
his hope that the fortune of war would be favourable to
292 The Condemned Door
his principal, and declared that he was delighted to have a
hand in such an event, as duels are things unknown in his
country.
Trigavou was left to solitary reflection. He was more than
ever decided to embark next day, but it would be glorious to
be revenged on Derquy by preventing him marrying the
fortune of Mdlle. de Bourbriac.
Still it was not without hesitation he accepted the Big Bey
as the field of honour, for that was the island where the
Gulhoing^s boat was to take him on board that vessel beside
Lady Houlbecq. After all, the place chimed in capitally. As
the hour was eleven, high water, he might get there two
hours sooner as he agreed with old Guevel, and settle with
him to have the gig land for him at half -past eleven, when
the combat would be over.
A first-rate pistol-shot, Alain felt sure of killing his man
if they fought advancing and firing at will. As tbe seconds
and doctor ran to his help, Trigavou would slip away, and
that would seem natural enough. He knew a path down to
the waterside where the boat would run in, without being
seen, as the duel would no doubt take place within the old
fort in ruins. He would be aboard before the fallen man
was found dead or mortally wounded.
" The first is best," added the count. " All depends on
the weather. If the wind continue, the Gullwing will have
to stand out. But I shall know the prospect to-night, for I
shall see Guevel at dusk."
Trigavou had to get through the time somehow, and he
shut himself up in a cafe to read the Paris papers, and even
the local ones, which made him ferocious. All were full of
the St. Brieuc trial, but the juryman singled out was desig-
nated only by an initial, and not a word was spoken upon
Lady Houlbecq. This was pretty encouraging, but Alain
could not expect things would stand there, and remained
firm upon leaving France, with a chance of returning in
case things came out well for him and bad for Calorguen,
A little before four he went to find old Guevel. Nods and
A Bed of Thorns 293
becks from an hotel balcony seemed scant, since, beyond
going to rejoin the baroness on the yacht, there wore other
questions than about the weather for the retired pilot. He
met him coming out of the St. Yincent Square cafe and drew
him into a nook by St. Thomas's Gate.
*' Well, my lord, you see I touched the mark," said the old
seaman. " The wind's lulling and will go down altogether
to-night. What's your time for going aboard to-morrow 1 "
" I shall be on the Big Bey by ten."
" Rather late. You cannot pass dryshod."
" I don't care. I reckon on finding you there."
" Oh, I shall be there at half after nine, to give me time to
signal my skipper to send in the boat."
" Let him put off at half -past eleven ; no sooner. I shall
have an English gentleman with me who asked me to show
him the poet's grave, and I must get rid of him before I
embark."
" All right, my lord. You'll find me on the beach at the foot
of the first steps, for I want to get back to St. Malo before
the tide is up. You can walk right up to me under the ex-
cuse that you are asking your way about. I'll tell you if the
Gullwing's nigh and if you can go aboard at your own hour."
" That's first rate. I'll pay you your money then."
" No hurry, my lord. But bear in mind that if you idle
about you won't be able to get away, for the Neck will be
under water."
" Pooh ! we'll manage somehow."
"One thing farther, my lord. Talking with a revenue
oflicer, I heard that a general is down here to inspect the coast
batteries and forts. The boats are ordered for him and his
staff. They may even begin to-morrow with the two Beys."
" There's no works or cannon on the Big Bey."
" That's so, now, but there is talk of putting them there.
The chances are the general will not get to work to-morrow,
but it's my duty to tell your lordship. I've done it. Good-
bye till to-morrow."
Trigavou went into his hotel and shut himself up till dinner,
294 The Condemned Door
which he had in a private room, to avoid unpleasant neigh-
bours. Leaving table, he went on the Neek for a smoke, and
looking along the breakwater which links the mainland with
the rock on which the town is built, he could prove that
Captain Guevel had spoken the truth. The tempest was
going down and there were tokens the wind would change
in the night.
"Huzza!" said Trigavou to himself, "my luck's coming
round. The yacht will be where I wanted it. I shall kill
that beggar before I am taken off the shore, and be far
hence to-morrow night. Poor Flavia!" he muttered
ironically, "she must have had a jolly day and night of it.
However, that will make her the more glad to see me again.
How long will her joy last, though ? We shall see. I am
not pledged to pass my life in her company."
On this flattering conclusion for the baroness, the count
went back to the hotel by deserted streets. Sir Harries had
not returned, and so the noble villain betook himself to bed,
where he slept as soundly and sweetly as Argyle in his last
slumber.
CHAPTER XLI
THE UNINVITED SECOND
The last Count of Trigavou woke before daylight — slow
coming in December— -rose, dressed, and went to the clerk's
oifice to pay his bill.
There he found Sir Harries Harrison, who intended to
run up to Paris by the night train, and wished to employ
the morning till the duelling-time in seeing the lions. He
carried a pistol case containing a brace of the Bishop of Bond
Street's sure-kills. His principal admired them, and was
further delighted at the baronet going his way till they had
to be together. Thus he could settle with Guevel, and
explore the island alone.
So the Englishman departed, after giving his hand a
squeeze that made the marrow ache.
At nine o'clock he went leisurely to Good Help Gate, and
in twenty minutes more was on the walk from the gate to
the beach. Accessible to foot-passengers when the sea is
out, the Big Bey becomes an island at other times, only
attainable by boats. The tide was running in when Tri-
gavou started, but it was just after the turn and the edge
barely lapped the flagged crown of the submergeable dyke.
It was dark and cold, but tlic wind, though northerly
blew less heavily.
He was before time, and could nut see Captain Guevel at
the foot of the hillock where they ought to have joined. He
did not care to wait for him, so he ventured on the still unr
flooded lev^e^ not long to remain so, and safely passed oy^r
296 The Condemned Door
the slippery stones to the rough stairs hewn in the stony
side of the Big Bey. Afar on his left, at the end of a strip
of road, another dam emerged to unite the two Beys and to
serve as landing stage for the Dinard boats when there is not
enough water for them to enter the foreport. Thence would
come the Gullwing^s boat.
Before climbing upon the island, the count looked up and
saw the veteran pilot at the top of the stairs about coming
down. He waved him back and hastened to ascend to
him.
" Well % " he interrogated.
" Well," Guevel made answer, " there's the yacht under
steam, as I promised your lordship. Very proper of the
skipper not trying to anchor. The sea is still rough, and the
fitful wind may rouse up again. I advise ye not to dawdle
on the island, but get off in the lull. The Gullwing's
boat will run into land at eleven, a-lee of the Little
Bey. The master has made out my signals and answered
them."
" Do me the pleasure of coming to the point with me and
showing me your boat."
" Willingly. I don't want to be cooped up here by the
tide, but I have time enough."
Trigavou followed old Guevel, who conducted him along
the old fort walls to the cliffs facing the open sea. Some
thousand odd feet out, the Gulhving was gambolling with
her nose in and out of the surge, towing after her a little
boat that was dancing furiously.
" How did you manage to communicate with your captain
at such a distance 1 " inquired Trigavou.
Guevel showed a roll under his arm composed of different
coloured flags wrapped round a stick.
" In the navy," said he, " there's a code that enables us to
correspond just as you land-goers use the telegraph. Your
lady knows now that you are here, and that you will be
aboard before midday. Want to see her?" inquired the old
The Uninvited Second 297
sea-dog, pulling a stumpy telescope out of his pocket. " Take
that and pull it out till you get the focus correct. It's not
so pretty to look at as your opera-glasses, but it brings 'em
nearer."
Count Trigavou set the instrument properly, and clearly
discerned, leaning on the taffrail of the yacht, a woman in
black, whom he had no trouble to recognise as Lady Houl-
becq. It seemed to him she waved a handkerchief.
" Thanks, captain," he said, " you have relieved me. Now,
let us go aside to settle our little account."
He took the pilot into the bottom of a dip of land where
no one on the yacht could see them, and handed him three
rolls of gold, a thousand francs each, which the other pocketed
unceremoniously, saying :
" Thank 'ee, my lord. I'm at your service any time. Just
now you'll not need me, and it's high time I steered home'ard>
for there's nigh six inches of water on the dam. But how
about that 'ere Englishman you were going to bring along ?
He ain't come."
" He's coming."
" In a boat, then, for he cannot get over there without
filling his shoes. Very well. If I run athwart him along
the strand, I'll tell him you are waiting. Bless you, I shall
know him without any description. Sing'ler thing how all
the British look similar to the same model."
Remaining by himself, the count took to examining the
fighting ground. There was an enclosure, surrounded by a
dilapidated wall, with one opening landward. The visitor
called the ruins a fort, but they might as probably be
those of a barracks or arsenal ; but anyway, that made no
diiference to him. There were all the requisites — space, equal
lights, and assured isolation.
After this inspection, he met Sir Harries, who excused
himself being full a quarter of an hour late, but he had found
it hard to get a boat to breast the still tossing sea, and hia
cruise up the river had been rough. However, he had met
298 The Condemned Door
no mishap, and the pistol-case had not been splashed, though
his cockleshell had shipped some waves.
" I am in time," he observed, " since our adversary and
his companions have not turned up, for I saw a six-oar barge
behind my boat."
" The cutter's," interrupted Lord Trigavou, " with our
party. Shall we go and meet them V
" If you like. Only I wanted to see the poet's tomb."
*' You shall. Chateaubriand rests close here."
He conducted the novelty-seeker to the headland wherein
the illustrious native writer is buried, under a slab and
granite cross. After some surprise at seeiog no name or
date, the Englishman could find no finer eulogium to make
over the author of "Kene" than this :
'^He was Ambassador to St. James's under our King
George the Fourth !"
This made his hearer smile, but not forget that the moment
of his peril approached, and he urged Sir Harries to hold out
for the firing to be at will, the men placed at forty paces with
power to advance each ten paces, and two shots a-piece if the
first fire had no result.
" Do you not fear the repeated shots will attract inter-
ferers"?" queried the baronet.
" Oh no ; there's nobody on the island, and now the sea is
up only boats can come."
" Excuse me ; the crossing on foot is still practicable,
for as I climbed the stairs I saw a woman on the dam —
wading, it is true, rather than walking, but she could get
along."
" A woman l — some shrimper, I suppose."
" No ; a lady, 1 ought to have said, for her hat and dress
were stylish. She was in mourning too, or at least in com-
plete black."
Trigavou started, wondering if this could be Lady Houl-
becq, who had spied him from afar. But it was absurd. To
begin with, the baroness, whom he had seen on the yacht,
The Uninvited Second 299
had not time to be put ashore ; and, even could that miracle
of speed be accomplished, she would have had no necessity of
wading along the flooded Neck to reach the island ; the boat
would have set her ashore under the rocks.
" Strange ! " he muttered. " You say she was not a fish-
girl?"
^' Not by her dress."
"Young?"
" I should think so, by her bearing. Her face was veiled
to the teeth. But we might go and question her on her busi-
ness here."
" Yes, come along," said the Count.
They re-ascended the rising ground overtopping the tomb,
but were scarcely there before Sir Harries cried out :
^' Here's our party !"
They were not twenty paces off.
" Let us rather go meet them," said Trigavou.
They were three in number : Derquy, Allanic, and Dr.
Avangour, whom the count was vexed to recognise. He
guessed how he had been brought to the spot, and he wished
so well-informed a witness had failed to come. But he could
not protest, and made no comment. All saluted with frigid
politeness, according to habit.
" Gentlemen," said the gunboat commander, " I believe we
are agreed on the terms. But I must remind you that my
boat which landed us is ready to take us off. You can all
use it."
" I have my own boat," replied the Englishman. " You
might see it as you came in-shore."
"Let us lose no time," interjected Alain, "This is the
enclosed spot I alluded to. It will take some time to measure
the distances and settle every point."
They were all in haste to have done. They disappeared
behind the dwarf wall surrounding the field, whence one of
the twain ought not to walk forth alive.
At this very moment the young lady whom Sir Harries had
300 The Condemned Door
seen on the dam leaped on the Big Bey Island strand. She
had experienced much trouble to cross, and she sprang behind
the boulders instead of running up the stairs. She had seen
the boat land Derquy and his two friends, and she hid, not to
be perceived by them in passing. This intrepid person who
had risked being drowned to reach the Big Bey could be no
other than Yiviana de Bourbriac.
She wgLS at Dinan beside Dr. Avangour when the Heu-
tenant's telegram arrived, and she had so implored that it
was shown her. It told her that the physician was expected
over at St. Malo by the officer who was going to fight with
the master of La Hunaudaie.
Yiviana fully understood, but she made no remark, and
the doctor left her in the evening, convinced she was resigned
to await his return. But, after being up all night, the lady
took the 5 a.m. train, and got in at St. Malo at 6.45. All
travellers at hotels were slumbering, but she found by a
porter that the two gentlemen arrived overnight at the
Universe Hotel had just gone out. She followed them in
a night- cab over the new bridge to St. Servan, where
they embarked in a yawl to the gunboat on the station
there.
Viviana, knowing that Olivier had gone to meet a naval
collegian of his acquaintance, divined that this M. Allanic
was to be his second, and she remained in the cab till the
boat left the cutter with its passengers for the City Fort.
Then she was rapidly driven to the swing-bridge. Then,
dismissing the vehicle, she crossed to St. Malo quay, and ran
upon the mole. With wind and water against it, the cutter's
boat did not make much way, and the watcher could easily
be sure the Big Bey was its destination. She naturally con-
cluded that would be the duelling-ground, the other Bey
being fully occupied by a fort armed and tenanted.
She reasoned that she might arrive before the boat. Her
heart continued to goad her. She had come away because
she would have died of anxiety at Dinan. She wished to be
The Uninvited Seco7id 301
near Olivier when he fought, and see him, alive or dead. Yet
she felt that she could not stop the combat, and she had too
much good sense to play the part of the stage heroine, who
rushes in between duellists to " bring down the curtain on an
effective picture."
She climbed the stairs some time after the others, and on
seeing the old walls comprehended they enclosed the field of
honour. The party must have entered it already, for there
was not a soul on the parched islet, over which she domineered
entirely. She advanced to the headland, a little behind
Chateaubriand's tomb, and only a few steps from the duelling-
ground.
She divined that the preliminaries of the action would take
some time, and knew that the survivor must come forth under
her eyes. She had the courage to keep her place till fate
decided.
Pale and motionless, she listened, puzzled what kind of
weapons would be used. At that distance she would not hear
the clash of swords, and, with the present breeze, she might
not hear the report of pistols. Still, there she knelt,
paralysed with anguish.
The sea was now beating on the island rocks, and the spray
of its breaking rollers flew at whiles upon her without her
heeding it.
The prolonged, shrill sound of a steam whistle made her
start. Turning her head, she saw a tiny steamer about a mile
away approaching. What was it steering so for ; and was
the whistle a signal — and to whom addressed ? Almost
instantly a little boat was let go from the yacht's stern, and
headed for the island. Four men rowed it vigorously ; and
in the stern sheets, a fifth person, hooded and wrapped in
waterproof, sat by the tiller, but did not handle it.
Viviana wondered why they should lay their course hither ;
not to take in water or vegetables, for there were no such
articles on the barren rock. The figure at the helm attracted
her attention most. Instead of steering, it used both hands
302 The Condemned Door
to liold a large marine glass up to its eyes, and direct it upon
the spot where Viviana stood. If a good glass, it might make
out her features, though the lady could not yet discern those
of the ^azer.
The space between rapidly lessened from the sturdy sea-
men coming on with the rising tide. They soon turned off to
the right, so as to land, not under the cliff where the shore
was inaccessible, but at a distance where a goats' path came
down. All at once the unknown threw back the hood, and
showed her bare head. Viviana uttered a scream, she
recognised her sister.
It was Flavia indeed, blanched, dishevelled. On her part
she had long since recognised the other, for she rose to her
feet and waved her hand as if to bid her begone. With her
tall stature and fier long black hair floating on the wind,
she seemed the spirit of the storm, cursing the world
where men dwelt and commanding the ocean to rise and
engulf it.
" 'Tis she," murmured Viviana. " Now I see it all. She
awaits her accomplice that they may flee together. Forced to
fight with Olivier, he required the meeting to be here. He
believes he will surely kill my darling and can rejoin the
wretched woman whose husband he also murdered. Villain !
and she is another ! To think I still pitied her! prayed Heaven
to spare her shame and punishment ! hoped she would
redeem her crime by repentance. All is over now— I have
only to try to forget her."
Lady Houlbecq could not hear this monologuCj but she saw
that Viviana seemed to take root on the rock, and she said to
herself :
" It is fated she should bear me bad luck. She robbed
me of my fortune, she tried to rob me of my lover, and here
she is, watching to prevent him coming away with me. She
must have bribed the old pilot into betraying the secret
of his embarking from the Big Bey. Who knows if she has
not set the police on his track, to avenge herself ? That is
The Uninvited Second 303
what posts her there. But where is he? This very morning
Guevel signalled his yacht-master to send the boat off at
eleven. That means that Alain has come here, I am sure .
Perhaps he has seen Yiviana, and is hiding till she's gone, I
would do wrong to land while she is there. I ought to wait
till he shows himself. But if I see him nothing shall stop
me. I have come for him, and when we are aboard the
yacht we shall baffle our foes. I am glad I went aboard
among the sailors ; without me they would not have known
what to do. I must give them orders to keep off till Alain
appears."
Thereupon, Viviana, who let none of her sister's move-
ments escape her, saw her take her seat again and quickly
speak to the little crew, who hastened to execute her com-
mand. The boat changed its course ; instead of heading
in-shore it stood off till about halfway to the Gidlwing^ where
they laid on their oars or only dipped them in now and again
to resist the current.
" She still hopes he will come," thought Mdlle. de Bour-
briac. "Does she know they are engaged in single combat?
No. If she knew that she would also know that Olivier has
seconds with him, so that, even if he were to fall, they
would not let the general's murderer escape under their very
eyes,"
Reminded of the deadly encounter, she forgot about her
sister, and strove to divine what was taking place beyond the
enclosed walls. She was astonished it had not come to an end
by this. She knew a quarter of an hour was long for the
crossing of swords, as the general, an expert swordsman, had
often told the story of his duels. But she knew also that the
arrangements take time, and that good fencers stop to
rest. Yet everything has an end, and she waited till twenty
minutes were gone by.
It did not occur to her that pistols had been selected and
that there had been a discussion on Trigavou's claim, per Sir
Harries, for firing at will. Allanic, dubious en his friend's
304 " The Condemned. Door
marksmanship, had proposed simultaneous firing at thirty
paces and at the word of command. The doctor was for the
least dangerous mode, but then he had no voice in the matter.
Olivier cut the knot by giving way to his antagonist on all
points. Then came the examination of the pistols, and, they
being equal enough, the decision that the four shots must
suffice.
Ignorant of all this, Mdlle. de Bourbriac was beginning to
believe the affair would not come off when she heard a single
shot. One of the men, not replying, must have been killed
or severely hurt. She still paused to hear the return shot*
feeling forewarned that Count Trigavou had fired the
first,
But after a minute she ran towards the entrance of the
fort. She almost ran against Count Trigavou coming out
aud passing her by, though he could have recognised her, for
her veil was up.
Whither was he speeding ?
She never thought to ask him, for she had spied in the en-
closure three men kneeling around one extended on the soil —
one of the former she knew to be Dr. Avangour. They were
all turned from her and so surrounded Olivier that she could
not tell his state ; wounded or dead % she feared the latter,
and bewildered, dashed away not to see the dead body of her
lover.
His slayer had not time to go very far. He walked along
the cliff edge in order to reach the dizzy path to the beach.
Viviana now saw him pause and look seaward, shading his
eyes with his hand against the wan sunbeams piercing the
storm-clouds.
The Oullwingh boat was well away, but Alain descried it
and began to beckon to it. Lady Houlbecq did not see this,
for her crew kept dipping in the oar to hold the boat to the
same place.
" He will yet be seen and she will bear him hence," argued
Viviana. " They will peacefully enjoy their guilty bliss ;
The Uninvited Second, 305
and there will be no punishment on the villain who laid
Olivier dead on that blood-smeared sward."
She darted towards the count, not to grasp him, but to
denounce him and curse him.
In passing her, he thought she was hastening to throw her-
self on her sweetheart's breast, and he had not seen her
approach, engrossed as he was in calling the boat. At length
Flavia had recognised her accomplice, and she bade the oars-
men return to the island.
" Murderer ! " screamed Viviana.
CHAPTER XLII.
THE LAST EMBRACE
The count, turning abruptly, lost colour, on seeing himself
cornered. Yet he tried to show a bold face, and to shake off his
accuser by affecting to sympathise with her in her distress.
" I am sorry," he said in a grave, contrite voice. " It was
not in my power to avoid this fatal encounter — and I am
eager to quit this spot where it's my misfortune to wound an
old friend mortally."
" Rather say you are eager to rejoin the woman you beguiled
to her ruin," retorted Mdlle. de Bourbriac. " But no, you
shall not go. Let her flee if she will, for I wish never to see
her ! I shall try to forget her, but it's another matter as re-
gards you. I will not allow you to find impunity elsewhere.
You belong to justice."
"You forget that Lieut. Derquy is dying, and that
your place is beside him at such a critical moment. Pray let
me pass, and haste to him."
" No ! let her come, the wretch who expects you ! I wish to
f.ed her. She knows I am here for she recognised me. Let
her land that I may show her the dead body of poor Olivier.
'Twas you who slew him, but she guided your arm."
Maddened with grief, she was no longer the patient maiden
but the avenger of guilt. She stood and barred Trigavou's
flight, and for a moment he was tempted to end all by hurl-
ing her over the cliff.
From her boat, no longer far from the Bey, Flavia distinctly
saw this scene, which she interpreted contrarily to truth.
Her first view of her sister on the headland had perplexed
The Last Embrace ' 307
her. She imagined now that her lover was compacting with
Vivette to go with her. She had no idea he had been fight-
ing a duel, and she believed they were acting a farce with the
design to disgust her into departure.
Presently she saw them vanish. Count Trigavou, bent on
finishing with this drag, had stepped back from the edge and
Vivette had followed him close. They were screened by a
natural ridge. The baroness conjectured they had taken
flight together and wild rage swayed her.
" What ! Would you be the mate of a murderer 1 " she
screamed, as if her sister could hear her.
She commanded the astonished sailors to leave the shore
waters once more.
"Back to the yacht!" she cried. " Ten thousand francs
among the crew if I am in England to-morrow."
The men needed no further inducement for them to row
away for the Gullvnng ; the four pairs of arms made the yawl
skim the waves, so it would not be long in reaching the
steamer.
Meanwhile Trigavou had chosen the simplest course ; he
took to his heels. The lady had no strength to overtake him,
allowing she would pursue.
And he knew where the path began, shallowly traced on
the rocky side, the down way {devale'e), as the old natives
term it. So he darted away. Mdlle. de Bourbriac would in
most likelihood have started after him, but just then, on the
other side of the island, she saw soldiers appear and gun-
barrels gleam. This small squad was mounting the stairs
opposite Good Help Gate.
Trigavou saw them as well, and perhaps took them for
gendarmes, though in artillerist uniform. He swerved to the
right to near the headland, which he skirted to where it
bulged out. But there, after a brief stay, he dropped
suddenly.
Had he missed his footing and fallen into the void ?
Vivette hastened to bend over the edge, but saw nothing
at the first. Then the splash of a body in the water made
her start.
308 The Condemned Door
Trigavou had found the path and leaped down on it, but when
twenty feet from the strand the spray- wetted soil gave way
abruptly. From that height the fall would have been fatal,
but the tide was high and the rocks overhung it. The
depth of the sea into which he was plunged deadened the
shock, rough enough, however. He came up to the surface
stunned, flung his hands about bewildered, till, comiog to his
senses, he struck out like a man for the small boat.
It was already far, and Flavia, in the stern, could not see
her lover expending his energy in vainly attempting to
overtake it. Against him were wind, currents, and the
weight of his garments. The oarsmen, of course seated con-
trariwise to the baroness, saw him plainly, but they did not
understand much of what was going on upon the island or in
the sea where the stranger was struggling desperately with
death. They were not sorry, either, to have their share of
the round sum promised by the lady passenger and that
quieted their consciences. They continued rowing without
making any remark, and the space between them and tlio
yacht visibly lessened.
" He is lost ! " muttered Yivette, who had a perfect view
of this agony from the bluff.
She pitied the helpless man now : whom she had pursued
to curse she wished to save. She would have lent him a hand
if that could be.
A shriek overcame the thunder of the rollers, a heartrend-
ing call that the north wind flung into Vivette's ears, but
away from Flavia's. The last of the Trigavous appealed to
the woman by her name, for whom he had shot General
Houlbecq, and she did not hear it. But he succeeded in
touching the heart of one of the seamen. He let the baroness
know, who perceived her beloved and instantly ordered a
return.
Now she was sure of him, for she saw Vivette on the brinks
At length she comprehended her blunder, and that, instead
of betraying her so dear, he had leaped into the sea to escape
the younger sister. And the boat that he relied on flnding
The Last Embrace 309
under the cliff was no longer there to receive him by Flavia's
own fatal order, which doomed her darling to an almost
certain death.
" My whole fortune to you if you save him ! " she cried to
the sailors, who asked nothing better than to gain the reward
for they credited the noble lady with being very rich.
They soon brought the yawl round towards the Big Bey,
and in less than five minutes had regained the distance lost
by obeying their passenger.
Trigavou was still swimming, but almost worn out. He
made no progress and he got lower and lower in the water.
Waves that he had easily ridden upon at the outset broke
over his head . Now and again he went out of sight alto-
gether and only came up to go under anew.
But the boat was hastening on.
Lady Houlbecq, standing up, encouraged the men with
voice and gesture, bending at their oars. One pull more and
they would reach the swimmer ; they had to shoot by along-
side him so that one man, shipping his oar, could clutch him
by the collar.
" Pull, port ; steady, starboard," said the bow oarsman,
making ready for the act.
The count, to facilitate it, trod water and managed to
shoot his shoulders well out. Unfortunately, the baroness
leaned forward, which would have capsized a crankier craft,
and spoilt the whole ; she did it to seize the count's hand, but
it brought that side down, and when the men threw them-
selves to the other direction to right the boat, it was out of
A Iain's reach, though he tried to catch it. He fell backwards,
and as he went down hissed at Flavia :
" You're the cause of my death, curse you ! "
But already the men had brought the yawl round and were
pulling for the sinking man. This time they managed to
touch him even as he went down for the last time. The
baroness, kneeling against the gunwale, extended her arms
and succeeded in grasping him. But at the contact of the
fingers with his head he sprung up with a superhuman effort,
310 The Condemned Door
clutched her by the neck and dragged her over down into the
sea, gasping with his moutli full of water :
" You have your wish at last. We shall never be parted
more."
Alone, she was so good a swimmer that she might have
saved herself, but the clenching fingers of her lover com-
pressed her throat. In vain she endeavoured to free herself.
He would not loosen his grip and she vanished from view
with him. The sea closed over them and the long swell of
the great breakers rolled the boat aside.
The two interclasped bodies settled down in the black
profundity.
" O God ! have mercy on them ! " burst from Vivette, as
in awful terror she hid her face in her hands.
She turned to flee, but a man was in her way whom she
had not heard draw near. ' He bowed to her and said :
'' Something seems wrong, madam ! An hour ago I saw
you crossing the dam. I am looking for "
'' The Count of Trigavou," cried Mdlle. de Bourbriac.
" You were his second ! what has befallen his adversary ? —
not dead, not dead I "
''No doubt you are speaking of the naval lieutenant,"
asked the new-comer, tranquilly.
Viviana had never seen him before ; it was Sir Harries
Harrison.
•'Yes, yes— well?"
"He has a bullet in his chest— a serious wound, but he
is still living, and since you are interested in him, I am
happy to tell you his medical man in attendance does not
despair of pulling him through."
Mdlle. de Bourbriac was starting, when the baronet
detained her, saying :
"I see you are fond of him, and no doubt he does not
expect you here. Have a care, madam ! — a sudden shock
may be his death."
Viviana stopped short, at whatever pain it cost her.
" The Earl of Trigavou was so cut up by the sad result that
The Last Embrace 311
he had gone without me. May I inquire if you met him 1
My task is over, and I can go back to St. Malo with him."
The lady pointed to the open sea, but, as he did not under-
stand, she added :
" There he is. God has punished him."
"Do you mean to say he is drowned?" ejaculated the
Englishman. " Bless my soul ! how ? he had no business that
way to get to Good Help Gate."
Suffocated by emotion, the other answered him not. She
was looking at the yacht. The boat was being hauled up
under its stern, and the vessel headed for the port. The
voyage was paid for, but there were no passengers for
Ireland. Then Viviana ran to the old fort, determined at
any hazard to see Olivier, or to question Dr. Avangour, if her
approach was forbidden.
'' How d'e do, my lord," cried a voice.
The Englishman looked around. It was Colonel de Sacey,
the artillerist, who breakfasted with him at the Franklin
Hotel and had excused himself from participating in the
duel. Six ganners whom he had brought, stood at a re-
spectful distance. Trigavou may have seen this party, and
that had spurred him into a fleeter retreat. Sir Harries
extended his hand to Lord de Sacey and expressed his
pleasure in seeing him again.
"Who's that lady?" queried the officer, looking after
her.
" M. Derqyu's sister, or a nearer one yet and a dearer one,
as the poet says," answered Sir Harries. " I do not know
much more than yourself on that head. I met her here and
she wanted to know how the duel resulted. I told her, bad
for the gentleman she was interested in."
"The duel, eh ? so they had a fight — whereabouts?"
" Yonder, behind that wall — an excellent place."
"There ought to have been a sentry here. Somebody
will catch it, for the inspector-general is at hand. He sent me
on ahead from the Little Bey. Is this the upshot of the
quarrel those gentlemen had at the Franklin ? "
312 1 - - - /^^^ Condemned Door
" Yes. I stayed, and have been second to Earl Trigavou."
"What for?"
" On account of some woman. I pressed him no further.
In such cases a still tongue shows a wise head, don't you
know."
"I do not dispute that. But do you know what this
nobleman has done ? You heard the table-talk ? "
"Rather ; about a trial at St. Brieuc. We all disapproved
the chatter."
"Trigavou had private reasons to shut that up. The
juror accused of having assassinated old General Houlbecq
was Lord Trigavou himself — the same man whose second you
have been."
The Englishman started, but, quickly recovering, he
replied coolly, instead of admitting he was wrong :
" As long as he is not guilty, what matter how much he
was accused of 1 "
" I do not say he is, but a police officer came to the
Franklin with a high court warrant for him."
" Whew ! " whistled the baronet.
" For murder aforethought. He could not find Lord
Trigavou, but he took up the hunt for him, and he is bound
to run him down."
"That young lady told me he jumped into the sea, and
she gave me to understand he was drowned."
"A blessed relief for him, and for you. I can hardly
believe this. You would have seen him throw himself into
the sea, whether to escape or to commit suicide."
" No ; I was with the wounded man. It seemed to me
quite natural that Lord Trigavou should step out of it after
the fight, which was fair, I tell you. The two men were to
fire at will, advancing. The earl fired first, and brought
down the lieutenant. His second, his doctor, and I sprang to
him, but Lord Trigavou had no further business there. I
thought he was gone to the other end of the island to wait
for me. I was looking for him when I met that lady."
" I begin to understand matters," muttered Colonel de Sacey.
The Last Einbrace 313
" What^s your opinion, now ? "
"That the count got drowned in trying to swim aboard
that little craft yonder — a well-known pleasure boat, let out
to visitors for long cruises or short ones. It may have been
engaged to take him hence to England, Perhaps he took my
guard for gendarmes ; with a muddy conscience one does not
see clearly. Drowned, eh ? A good riddance ! Had the
police secured him he would only have ended his days in a
penal settlement."
This funeral oration displeased Sir Harries, strongly re-
gretting his assistance to a criminal, and he took the colonel's
advice to leave in the latter's boat before the affair got wind.
They went to offer transport also to the wounded man.
They found him lying down, partly upheld by his friend
Allanic. Yiviana, kneeling, pressed one of his hands in
both of hers, Dr. Avangour had just extracted a bullet.
"Lodged in the collar-bone without breaking it," he said.
Olivier looked at him questioningly, and he added: "You
will be on your legs again in three months, and can marry in
another quarter if you like."
EPILOGUE.
The physician's prediction was only partially realised.
Olivier Derquy was convalescent in a fortnight, but he did
not marry for six months to come, as Yiviana wished to be
out of mourning, and to welcome the innocent into liberty.
When Justice blunders she does not willingly own her fault.
The warrant had not produced Alain, for he was dead this
time beyond doubt.
The sea had cast upon Paramey beach the corpses of the
loving twain. From that tragic end their guilt could be
concluded. This assumption required support in Pillemer's
confession. This was not easy, as he knew the penalty for
perjury. He hoped to get clear by asserting that his master,
not present to gainsay him, had dictated his evidence.
Finally, he confessed he had not left his farm on the day of
the crime, and had not, consequently, seen Calorguen with or
without his gun.
So "no charge" was recorded, and the unfortunate game-
keeper was set at liberty ; he and Yvon, freed the same day
returned to Trigavou, where Derquy and Vivette awaited
them. The old mother still lived and greeted her son.
Mdlle. de Bourbriac wished her wedding to be in Trigavou
church. Dr. Avangour and Justice Miniac gave her away.
Olivier Derquy had chosen as his best man his college mate,
AUanic, and, after consulting Vivette, Pierre Calorguen also,
though but a gamekeeper, who, however, well deserved this
public reinstatement. The justice who had ordered the
arrest signed the register, to the general delight. Now,
Carlorguen is steward of Trigavou.
Epilogue 315
Pillemer was let off lightly with only five years, but he did
not return to Brittany when his time was up. The peasants
would have pelted him, and Commander Jug on threatened to
horsewhip the hide off him.
Vivette entered into enjoyment of the general's fortune.
Under the law she also inherited her sister's property, but
she turned it all over to the poor around Dinan and in it ;
she had offered it to Calorguen, but he refused it ; the
baroness's money would have burnt his hands.
Vivette undertook to make Yvon a man and a soldier, and
he was sent to a school to be prepared for the military
academy.
After having repaired injustice and rewarded devotion,
Madame Derquy had the right to enjoy a happiness dearly
purchased. She and her husband went on the Italian tour
and wintered in Naploe. They returned in the spring.
London: J. & E. Maxwell, Milton House, St. Bride Street, E.G.
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DUKE'S AVINTON. In 1 vol. price 10s. 6d. extra cloth.
By J. R. Henslowe, author of "Dorothv Compton,"
"White and Red," &c.
"'Duke's Winton' is from end to end interesting"
Morning Post,
THE ROMANCE of a MUMMY. In 1 vol. price 10s. 6d.
extra cloth. By Theophile Gautier. Translated by
M. Young.
" The romance carries the reader back to the days of
Moses and Pharoah." — Court Journal,
DARBY and JOAN. In 1 vol. price 6s. extra cloth. By
"Rita," author of "Dame Durden," "Corinna," &c.
" A touching love story combined with a narrative of
unusual strength and tenderness." — Academy.
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"H
FEB 5 1996
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