She staggered on to a couch, and in broken accents went on. "And yet these letters were in an iron casket closed by a secret spring; that casket was in a drawer, the key of which never leaves me.""Good heavens!" exclaimed Hortebise in affected tones, "then Tantaine spoke the truth.""He did," answered the Countess hoarsely. "Yes," she continued, "I am the bondslave to people whose names I do not even know, who can control my every movement and action."She hid her face in her hands as though her pride sought to conceal her despair.
"Are these letters, then, so terribly compromising?" asked the doctor.
"I am utterly lost," cried she. "In my younger days I had no experience; I only thought of vengeance, and lately the weapons Iforged myself have been turned against me. I dug a pitfall for my adversaries and have fallen into it myself."Hortebise did not attempt to stay the torrent of her words, for the Countess was in one of those moods of utter despair when the inner feelings of the soul are made manifest, as during a violent tempest the weeds of ocean are hurled up to the surface of the troubled waters.
"I would sooner be lying in my grave a thousand times," wailed she, "than see these letters in my husband's hands. Poor Octave! have I not caused him sufficient annoyance already without this crowning sorrow?
Well, Dr. Hortebise, I am menaced with the production of these letters, and they will be handed to my husband unless I agree to certain terms. What are they? Of course money is required; tell me to what amount."The doctor shook his head.
"Not money?" cried the Countess; "what, then, do they require? Speak, and do not torture me more."Sometimes Hortebise confessed to Mascarin that, putting his interests on one side, he pitied his victims; but he showed no sign of this feeling, and went on,--"The value of what they require, madame, is best estimated by yourself.""Tell me what it is; I can bear anything now.""These compromising letters will be placed in your hands upon the day on which your daughter marries Henry de Croisenois, the brother of George."Madame de Mussidan's astonishment was so great that she stood as though petrified into a statue.
"I am commissioned to inform you, madame, that every delay necessary for altering any arrangements that may exist will be accorded you;but, remember, if your daughter marries any one else than Henry de Croisenois, the letters will be at once placed in your husband's hands."As he spoke the doctor watched her narrowly. The Countess crossed the room, faint and dizzy, and rested her head on the mantelpiece.
"And that is all?" asked she. "What you ask me to do is utterly impossible: and perhaps it is for the best, for I shall have no long agony of suspense to endure. Go, doctor, and tell the villain who holds my letters that he can take them to the Count at once."The Countess spoke in such a decided tone that Hortebise was a little puzzled.
"Can it be true," she continued, "that scoundrels exist in our country who are viler than the most cowardly murderers,--men who trade in the shameful secrets that they have learned, and batten upon the money they earn by their odious trade? I heard of such creatures before, but declined to believe it; for I said to myself that such an idea only existed in the unhealthy imaginations of novel writers. It seems, however that I was in error; but do not let these villains rejoice too soon; they will reap but a scanty harvest. There is one asylum left for me where they cannot molest me.""Ah, madame!" exclaimed the doctor in imploring accents; but she paid no attention to his remonstrances, and went on with increasing violence,--"Do the miserable wretches think that I fear death? For years I have prayed for it as a final mercy from the heaven I have so deeply offended. I long for the quiet of the sepulchre. You are surprised at hearing one like me speak in this way,--one who has all her life been admired and flattered,--I, Diana de Laurebourg, Countess de Mussidan.
Even in the hours of my greatest triumphs my soul shuddered at the thought of the grim spectre hidden away in the past; and I wished that death would come and relieve my sufferings. My eccentricities have often surprised my friends, who asked if sometimes I were not a little mad. Mad? Yes, I am mad! They do not know that I seek oblivion in excitement, and that I dare not be alone. But I have learned by this time that I must stifle the voice of conscience."She spoke like a woman utterly bereft of hope, who had resolved on the final sacrifice. Her clear voice rang through the room, and Hortebise turned pale as he heard the footsteps of the servants pacing to and fro outside the door, as they made preparations for dinner.
