“Best for him.” Then she turned her piercing gaze on me.
“And best for you … so you think. But don’t be too sure. He’s the devil, he is. No good can come to you through him.”
“You are talking without understanding, Nou-Nou,” I said.
“Please go back to your room.”
“You were awake when I came in here,” she said suddenly, the wildness dropping from her and being replaced by a certain cunning shrewdness which was more terrifying than her hysteria.
I nodded.
“You ought to have been asleep.”
Then I shouldn’t have been able to talk to you. “
“I didn’t come here to talk to you.”
“Why did you come here, then?”
She didn’t answer. Then she said: “I’m looking for her. Where is she?
They buried her in the vault, but I don’t think she’s there. “
“She is at peace now, NouNou.”
She was silent and I saw the tears slowly flowing down her , cheeks.
“My little mignon ne my little bird.”
“Don’t fret any more. Try to be reconciled. She was ill. She would have suffered a great deal of pain in time.”
“Who told you that?” she demanded, shrewd again.
“It was what I heard.”
“His tales … his excuses.”
“Nou-Nou, please go to your bed.”
“Three candles,” she said, and turning blew them out, one after another. She turned to look at me before she blew out the last and I quailed before the venom in her face.
With that she went to the door, holding her hand before her as a sleep-walker does.
The door shut. I was out of bed and saw to my relief that I could lock the door. I did this and immediately felt safe.
Then I lay in bed wondering why she had come to me. If I had taken her draught I should have been asleep. What would have happened then?
Sleep! How I longed for it! How I wanted to escape from my tortuous thoughts that went round and round in my head reaching no conclusion.
My only inference was: There is danger close-and particularly close to me. From whom does it come? And why? “
I lay waiting for the dawn and only with the comfort of daylight could I rest.
III
Three days later the Comte sent for us. Margot and I were to leave for Paris without delay.
I was not sorry to go. The mounting tension in the chateau was becoming unbearable. I felt I was watched and would find myself looking furtively over my shoulder whenever I was alone. I noticed that the servants regarded me oddly. I felt very unsafe.
Therefore it was a great relief to receive the summons.
It was a hot June day when we set out. There was a stillness in the air which in itself seemed ominous. The weather was sultry and there was thunder about.
The city had lost none of its enchantment, though the heat was almost intolerable after the freshness of the country.
I immediately noticed that there were numerous soldiers in the streets-members of the Swiss and French Guards who formed the King’s bodyguard. People stood about at street corners but not in large numbers. They talked earnestly together. The cafes, from which came the delicious smell of roasting coffee, were crowded. People overflowed into the streets where tables under flowered sunshades were placed for their convenience. They chattered endlessly and excitedly.
In the Faubourg Saint-Honore the Comte was waiting for us with some impatience.
He took my hands and held them firmly.
“I heard what happened,” he said.
“It was horrifying. I sent for you immediately. You must not return to the chateau until I do.” He seemed then to be aware of Margot.p>
“I have news for you,” he said.
“You are to be married next week.”
We were both too astounded to speak.
“In view of the state of-‘ the Comte waved his hands expressively everything, the Grassevilles and I have come to the conclusion that the marriage should not be delayed. It will necessarily be a quiet wedding. A priest will officiate here. Then you will go to Grasseville and Minelle will go with you … temporarily … until something can be arranged.”
Margot was delightedly astonished and when we went to our rooms to wash off the stains of the journey she came to me at once.
“At last!” she cried. There was no point in waiting, was there? It was all so silly. Now we shall leave here. My father will no longer be able to command me. “
“Perhaps your husband will do that.”
She laughed slyly.
“Robert! Never. I think I shall get on very well with Robert. I have plans.”
I was a little uneasy; Margot’s plans were usually wild and dangerous.
The Comte asked me to go to him and I found him in the library.
He said: “When I heard what had happened I was overcome with anxiety.
I had to find some way of bringing you here. “
“So you arranged your daughter’s marriage?”
“It seemed as good an answer as any.”
“You use drastic measures to get your way.”
“Oh come. It is time Margot was married. She is the sort who needs a husband. The Grassevilles are a family who have always been popular with the people … though how long’ that popularity will last, who can say. Henri de Grasseville S was a father to his fiefs and for that reason it seems difficult” , to imagine their turning against him.
They might, though,”;
in their present mood. Fidelity is not a noticeable quality among people now. They bear grudges more readily than gratitude. But I should feel happier if you were there. “
“It is good of you to be so concerned.”
“As usual, I think of my own good,” he said soberly.
“Tell me exactly what happened in the lane.”
I told him and he said: “It was a peasant taking a pot shot at someone from the castle and it happened to be you. It’s a step in a new direction for them. And where did they get hold of the gun? That’s a mystery. We are making sure that no firearms get into the hands of the rabble. That would be fatal.”
Is the situation deteriorating? ” I asked.
“It is always deteriorating. Each day we step a little nearer to disaster.” He looked at me earnestly.
“I think of you all the time,” he said.
“I dream of the day when we shall be together. Nothing … nothing must stand in the way of that.”
“There is so much standing in the way,” I said.
Tell me what. “
“I don’t really know you,” I answered.
“Sometimes you seem like a stranger to me. Sometimes you amaze me and yet at others I know exactly how you will act.”
“That will make life exciting for you. A voyage of discovery. Now listen to my plans. Marguerite will marry and you will go with her. I shall visit you at Grasseville and in due course you shall be my wife.”
I did not answer. I kept thinking of Nou-Nou at my bedside, of, Gabrielle LeGrand insinuations. He had murdered Ursule, she had hinted, because he was tired of waiting to marry her, Gabrielle. He wanted a legitimate son. Gabrielle had already given him that son; all that was needed was his legitimization which would be easy if they married. His idea according to her, was to lead me along so that I might slip into the re1e of scapegoat. She would probably suggest now that he had arranged that I should be removed from the scene. What if he had taken that shot at me . or arranged that it should be fired?
How could I believe that? It was absurd. Yet some instinct within me was warning me.
He put his arms about me and said my name with the utmost tenderness. I did not resist. I wanted to stay there in his arms and turn my face away from reason.