Chapter XII

It was with convulsive haste that the Baroness² de Thaller went overthe distance that separated the Rue³ St. Lazare from the Rue de laPepiniere. The sudden intervention⁴ of M. de Tregars had upset allher ideas. The most sinister⁵ presentiments⁶ agitated⁷ 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 parlor⁹, in close conferencewith the baroness.

"Bad news." he said with a sheepish look.

"What?""That little Lucienne must have her soul riveted¹⁰ 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 stammered¹¹, "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 Baron¹ 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 ironical⁸ 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 spoke¹². That dirty rascalwas not satisfied with the share allotted¹³ 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 Mutual¹⁴ Credit stock. What can we doto ward¹⁵ 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 tune¹⁶, 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.

"Orphan¹⁷ 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 unravel¹⁸ the true secret.

She managed, at least, to lay hands upon every thing that theBaron de Thaller had hoped to save. That worthy¹⁹ was condemned²⁰ tofive years' prison; M. Costeclar got off with three years; and M.

Jottras with two. M. Saint Pavin was acquitted²¹.

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 debut²² 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 odious²⁴ to both.

Marius and Mlle. Gilberte, who has now become Marquise de Tregars,have taken up their residence at the Chateau²⁵ 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 applied²³ topay off all the personal creditors²⁶ 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!

1 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

2 baroness   

n.男爵夫人，女男爵

参考例句：

• I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you.我相信男爵夫人能够把家里的事替你安排妥当的。
• The baroness,who had signed,returned the pen to the notary.男爵夫人这时已签过字，把笔交回给律师。

3 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

6 presentiments   

n.（对不祥事物的）预感( presentiment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His presentiments of what the future holds for all are plainly not cheering. 则是应和了很多美国人的种种担心，他对各方未来的预感显然是不令人振奋的。 来自互联网

7 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

8 ironical   

adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironical end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• From his general demeanour I didn't get the impression that he was being ironical.从他整体的行为来看，我不觉得他是在讲反话。

9 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

10 riveted   

铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意

参考例句：

• I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
• My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

11 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

14 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

15 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

16 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

17 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

18 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

19 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

20 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

21 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

22 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

23 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

24 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

25 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

26 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》