it was with convulsive haste that the baroness de thaller went overthe distance that separated the rue st. lazare from the rue de lapepiniere. the sudden intervention of m. de tregars had upset allher ideas. the most sinister presentiments agitated her mind. inthe courtyard of her residence, all the servants, gathered in agroup, were talking. they did not take the trouble to stand asideto let her pass; and she even noticed some smiles and ironicalgigglings. this was a terrible blow to her. what was the matter?
what had they heard? in the magnificent vestibule, a man wassitting as she came in. it was the same suspicious character thatmarius de tregars had seen in the grand parlor, in close conferencewith the baroness.
"bad news." he said with a sheepish look.
"what?""that little lucienne must have her soul riveted to her body. sheis only wounded; and she'll get over it.""never mind lucienne. what about m. de tregars?""oh! he is another sharp one. instead of taking up our man'sprovocation, he collared him, and took away from him the note ihad sent him."mme. de thaller started violently..
"what is the meaning, then," she asked, "of your letter of lastnight, in which you requested me to hand two thousand francs tothe bearer?"the man became pale as death.
"you received a letter from me," he stammered, "last night?""yes, from you; and i gave the money."the man struck his forehead.
"i understand it all!" he exclaimed.
"what?""they wanted proofs. they imitated my handwriting, and you swallowedthe bait. that's the reason why i spent the night in thestation-house; and, if they let me go this morning, it was to findout where i'd go. i have been followed, they are shadowing me. weare gone up, mme. le baronne. sauve qui peut!"and he ran out.
more agitated than ever mme. de thaller went up stairs. in thelittle red-and-gold parlor, the baron de thaller and mlle. cesarinewere waiting for her. stretched upon an arm-chair, her legs crossed,the tip of her boot on a level with her eye, mlle. cesarine, witha look of ironical curiosity, was watching her father, who, lividand trembling with nervous excitement, was walking up and down, likea wild beast in his cage. as soon as the baroness appeared,"things are going badly," said her husband, "very badly. our gameis devilishly compromised.""you think so?""i am but too sure of it. such a well-combined stroke too! butevery thing is against us. in presence of the examining magistrate,jottras held out well; but saint pavin spoke. that dirty rascalwas not satisfied with the share allotted to him. on theinformation furnished by him, costeclar was arrested this morning.
and costeclar knows all, since he has been your confidant, vincentfavoral's, and my own. when a man has, like him, two or threeforgeries in his record, he is sure to speak. he will speak.
perhaps he has already done so, since the police has takenpossession of latterman's office, with whom i had organized thepanic and the tumble in the mutual credit stock. what can we doto ward off this blow?"with a surer glance than her husband, mme. de thaller had measuredthe situation.
"do not try to ward it off," she replied: "it would be useless.""because?""because m. de tregars has found vincent favoral; because, at thisvery moment, they are together, arranging their plans."the baron made a terrible gesture.
"ab, thunder and lightning!" he exclaimed. "i always told you thatthis stupid fool, favoral, would cause our ruin. it was so easyfor you to find an occasion for him to blow his brains out.""was it so difficult for you to accept, m. de tregars' offers?""it was you who made me refuse.""was it me, too, who was so anxious to get rid of lucienne?"for years, mlle. cesarine had not seemed so amused; and, in a halfwhisper, she was humming the famous tune, from "the pearl ofpoutoise,""happy accord! happy couple!"m. de thaller, beside himself, was advancing to seize the baroness:
she was drawing back, knowing him, perhaps to be capable of anything, when suddenly there was a violent knocking at the door.
"in the name of the law!"it was a commissary of police.
and, whilst surrounded by agents, they were taken to a cab.
"orphan on both sides!" exclaimed mlle. cesarine, "i am free, then.
now we'll have some fun!"at that very moment, m. de tregars and mlle. gilberte reached therue st. giles.
hearing that her husband had been found,"i must see him!" exclaimed mme. favoral.
and, in spite of any thing they could tell her, she threw a shawlover her shoulders, and started with mlle. gilberte.
when they had entered mme. zelie's apartment, of which they had akey, they found in the parlor, with his back towards them, vincentfavoral sitting at the table, leaning forward, and apparentlywriting. mme. favoral approached on tiptoe, and over her husband'sshoulder she read what he had just written,"affrays, my beloved, eternally-adored mistress, will you forgiveme? the money that i was keeping for you, my darling, the proofswhich will crush your husband - they have taken every thing from me,basely, by force. and it is my daughter - "he had stopped there. surprised at his immobility, mme. favoralcalled,"vincent!"he made no answer. she pushed him with her finger. he rolled tothe ground. he was dead.
three months later the great mutual credit suit was tried beforethe sixth court. the scandal was great; but public curiosity wasstrangely disappointed. as in most of these financial affairs,justice, whilst exposing the most audacious frauds, was not ableto unravel the true secret.
she managed, at least, to lay hands upon every thing that thebaron de thaller had hoped to save. that worthy was condemned tofive years' prison; m. costeclar got off with three years; and m.
jottras with two. m. saint pavin was acquitted.
arrested for subornation of murder, the former marquise de javellethe baroness de thaller, was released for want of proper proof. but,implicated in the suit against her husband, she lost three-fourthsof her fortune, and is now living with her daughter, whose debut isannounced at the bouffes-parisiens, or at the delassements-comiques.
already, before that time, mlle. lucienne, completely restored, hadmarried maxence favoral.
of the five hundred thousand francs which were returned to her, sheapplied three hundred thousand to discharge the debts of herfather-in-law, and with the rest she induced her husband to emigrateto america. paris had become odious to both.
marius and mlle. gilberte, who has now become marquise de tregars,have taken up their residence at the chateau de tregars, threeleagues from quimper. they have been followed in their retreat bymme. favoral and by general count de vil1egre.
the greater portion of his father's fortune, marius had applied topay off all the personal creditors of the former cashier of themutual credit, all the trades-people, and also m. chapelain, oldman desormeaux, and m. and mme. desclavettes.
all that is left to the marquis and marquise de tregars is sometwenty thousand francs a year, and if they ever lose them, it willnot be at the bourse.
the mutual credit is quoted at 467.25!
