第81章

A moment after, M.Rodin made his appearance.According to his custom, he was dressed even more than plainly.With an air of great humility, he saluted the bailiff and his wife, and at a sign from her husband, the latter withdrew.The cadaverous countenance of M.Rodin, his almost invisible lips, his little reptile eyes, half concealed by their flabby lids, and the sordid style of his dress, rendered his general aspect far from prepossessing; yet this man knew how, when it was necessary, to affect, with diabolical art, so much sincerity and good-nature--his words were so affectionate and subtly penetrating--that the disagreeable feeling of repugnance, which the first sight of him generally inspired, wore off little by little, and he almost always finished by involving his dupe or victim in the tortuous windings of an eloquence as pliant as it was honeyed and perfidious; for ugliness and evil have their fascination, as well as what is good and fair.

The honest bailiff looked at this man with surprise, when he thought of the pressing recommendation of the steward of the Princess de Saint-

Dizier; he had expected to see quite another sort of personage, and, hardly able to dissemble his astonishment, he said to him: "Is it to M.

Rodin that I have the honor to speak?"

"Yes, sir; and here is another letter from the steward of the Princess de Saint-Dizier."

"Pray, sir, draw near the fire, whilst I just see what is in this letter.

The weather is so bad," continued the bailiff, obligingly, "may I not offer you some refreshment?"

"A thousand thanks, my dear sir; I am off again in an hour."

Whilst M.Dupont read, M.Rodin threw inquisitive glances round the chamber; like a man of skill and experience, he had frequently drawn just and useful inductions from those little appearances, which, revealing a taste or habit, give at the same time some notion of a character; on this occasion, however, his curiosity was at fault.

"Very good, sir," said the bailiff, when he had finished reading; "the steward renews his recommendation, and tells me to attend implicitly to your commands."

"Well, sir, they will amount to very little, and I shall not trouble you long."

"It will be no trouble, but an honor."

"Nay, I know how much your time must be occupied, for, as soon as one enters this chateau, one is struck with the good order and perfect keeping of everything in it--which proves, my dear sir, what excellent care you take of it."

"Oh, sir, you flatter me."

"Flatter you?--a poor old man like myself has something else to think of.

But to come to business: there is a room here which is called the Green Chamber?"

"Yes, sir; the room which the late Count-Duke de Cardoville used for a study."

"You will have the goodness to take me there."

"Unfortunately, it is not in my power to do so.After the death of the Count-Duke, and when the seals were removed, a number of papers were shut up in a cabinet in that room, and the lawyers took the keys with them to Paris."

"Here are those keys," said M.Rodin, showing to the bailiff a large and a small key tied together.

"Oh, sir! that is different.You come to look for papers?"

"Yes--for certain papers--and also far a small mahogany casket, with silver clasps--do you happen to know it?"

"Yes, sir; I have often seen it on the count's writing-table.It must be in the large, lacquered cabinet, of which you have the key."

"You will conduct me to this chamber, as authorized by the Princess de Saint-Dizier?"

"Yes, sir; the princess continues in good health?"

"Perfectly so.She lives altogether above worldly things."

"And Mademoiselle Adrienne?"

"Alas, my dear sir!" said M.Rodin, with a sigh of deep contrition and grief.

"Good heaven, sir! has any calamity happened to Mademoiselle Adrienne?"

"In what sense do you mean it?"

"Is she ill?"

"No, no--she is, unfortunately, as well as she is beautiful."

"Unfortunately!" cried the bailiff, in surprise.

"Alas, yes! for when beauty, youth, and health are joined to an evil spirit of revolt and perversity--to a character which certainly has not its equal upon earth--it would be far better to be deprived of those dangerous advantages, which only become so many causes of perdition.But I conjure you, my dear sir, let us talk of something else: this subject is too painful," said M.Rodin, with a voice of deep emotion, lifting the tip of his little finger to the corner of his right eye, as if to stop a rising tear.

The bailiff did not see the tear, but he saw the gesture, and he was struck with the change in M.Rodin's voice.He answered him, therefore, with much sympathy: "Pardon my indiscretion, sir; I really did not know--"

"It is I who should ask pardon for this involuntary display of feeling--

tears are so rare with old men--but if you had seen, as I have, the despair of that excellent princess, whose only fault has been too much kindness, too much weakness, with regard to her niece--by which she has encouraged her--but, once more, let us talk of something else, my dear sir!"

After a moment's pause, during which M.Rodin seemed to recover from his emotion, he said to Dupont: "One part of my mission, my dear sir--that which relates to the Green Chamber--I have now told you; but there is yet another.Before coming to it, however, I must remind you of a circumstance you have perhaps forgotten--namely, that some fifteen or sixteen years ago, the Marquis d'Aigrigny, then colonel of the hussars in garrison at Abbeville, spent some time in this house."

"Oh, sir! what a dashing officer was there! It was only just now, that I was talking about him to my wife.He was the life of the house!--how well he could perform plays--particularly the character of a scapegrace.

In the Two Edmonds, for instance, he would make you die with laughing, in that part of a drunken soldier--and then, with what a charming voice he sang Joconde, sir--better than they could sing it at Paris!"