Rénine interrupted her:
"That's his name also," she said.
"Has he two names then?"
"I don't know ... I don't know anything about it," she said, with some embarrassment3, "and that is why, by Hortense's advice, I came to ask for your help."
This conversation was taking place in Rénine's flat on the Boulevard Haussmann, to which Hortense had brought her friend Geneviève Aymard, a slender, pretty little creature with a face over-shadowed by an expression of the greatest melancholy4.
"Rénine will be successful, take my word for it, Geneviève. You will, Rénine, won't you?"
"Please tell me the rest of the story, mademoiselle," he said.
Geneviève continued:
"I was already engaged at the time to a man whom I loathe5 and detest6. My father was trying to force me to marry him and is still trying to do so. Jean Louis and I felt the keenest sympathy for each other, a sympathy that soon developed into a profound and passionate7 affection which, I can assure you, was equally sincere on both sides. On my return to Paris, Jean Louis, who lives in the country with his mother and his aunt, took rooms in our part of the town; and, as I am allowed to go out by myself, we used to see each other daily. I need not tell you that we were engaged to be married. I told my father so. And this is what he said: 'I don't particularly like the fellow. But, whether it's he or another, what I want is that you should get married. So let him come and ask for your hand. If not, you must do as I say.' In the middle of June, Jean Louis went home to arrange matters with his mother and aunt. I received some passionate letters; and then just these few words:
'There are too many obstacles in the way of our happiness. I give up.
I am mad with despair. I love you more than ever. Good-bye and forgive
me.'
"Since then, I have received nothing: no reply to my letters and telegrams."
"Perhaps he has fallen in love with somebody else?" asked Rénine. "Or there may be some old connection which he is unable to shake off."
Geneviève shook her head:
"Monsieur, believe me, if our engagement had been broken off for an ordinary reason, I should not have allowed Hortense to trouble you. But it is something quite different, I am absolutely convinced. There's a mystery in Jean Louis' life, or rather an endless number of mysteries which hamper8 and pursue him. I never saw such distress9 in a human face; and, from the first moment of our meeting, I was conscious in him of a grief and melancholy which have always persisted, even at times when he was giving himself to our love with the greatest confidence."
"But your impression must have been confirmed by minor11 details, by things which happened to strike you as peculiar12?"
"I don't quite know what to say."
"These two names, for instance?"
"Yes, there was certainly that."
"By what name did he introduce himself to you?"
"Jean Louis d'Imbleval."
"But Jean Louis Vaurois?"
"That's what my father calls him."
"Why?"
"Because that was how he was introduced to my father, at Nice, by a gentleman who knew him. Besides, he carries visiting-cards which describe him under either name."
"Have you never questioned him on this point?"
"Yes, I have, twice. The first time, he said that his aunt's name was Vaurois and his mother's d'Imbleval."
"And the second time?"
"He told me the contrary: he spoke of his mother as Vaurois and of his aunt as d'Imbleval. I pointed14 this out. He coloured up and I thought it better not to question him any further."
"Does he live far from Paris?"
"Right down in Brittany: at the Manoir d'Elseven, five miles from Carhaix."
Rénine rose and asked the girl, seriously:
"Are you quite certain that he loves you, mademoiselle?"
"I am certain of it and I know too that he represents all my life and all my happiness. He alone can save me. If he can't, then I shall be married in a week's time to a man whom I hate. I have promised my father; and the banns have been published."
"We shall leave for Carhaix, Madame Daniel and I, this evening," said Rénine.
That evening he and Hortense took the train for Brittany. They reached Carhaix at ten o'clock in the morning; and, after lunch, at half past twelve o'clock they stepped into a car borrowed from a leading resident of the district.
"You're looking a little pale, my dear," said Rénine, with a laugh, as they alighted by the gate of the garden at Elseven.
"I'm very fond of Geneviève," she said. "She's the only friend I have. And I'm feeling frightened."
He called her attention to the fact that the central gate was flanked by two wickets bearing the names of Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois respectively. Each of these wickets opened on a narrow path which ran among the shrubberies of box and aucuba to the left and right of the main avenue. The avenue itself led to an old manor-house, long, low and picturesque15, but provided with two clumsily-built, ugly wings, each in a different style of architecture and each forming the destination of one of the side-paths. Madame d'Imbleval evidently lived on the left and Madame Vaurois on the right.
Hortense and Rénine listened. Shrill16, hasty voices were disputing inside the house. The sound came through one of the windows of the ground-floor, which was level with the garden and covered throughout its length with red creepers and white roses.
"We can't go any farther," said Hortense. "It would be indiscreet."
"All the more reason," whispered Rénine. "Look here: if we walk straight ahead, we shan't be seen by the people who are quarrelling."
The sounds of conflict were by no means abating17; and, when they reached the window next to the front-door, through the roses and creepers they could both see and hear two old ladies shrieking18 at the tops of their voices and shaking their fists at each other.
The women were standing19 in the foreground, in a large dining-room where the table was not yet cleared; and at the farther side of the table sat a young man, doubtless Jean Louis himself, smoking his pipe and reading a newspaper, without appearing to trouble about the two old harridans20.
One of these, a thin, tall woman, was wearing a purple silk dress; and her hair was dressed in a mass of curls much too yellow for the ravaged21 face around which they tumbled. The other, who was still thinner, but quite short, was bustling22 round the room in a cotton dressing1-gown and displayed a red, painted face blazing with anger:
"A baggage, that's what you are!" she yelped23. "The wickedest woman in the world and a thief into the bargain!"
"I, a thief!" screamed the other.
"What about that business with the ducks at ten francs apiece: don't you call that thieving?"
"Hold your tongue, you low creature! Who stole the fifty-franc note from my dressing-table? Lord, that I should have to live with such a wretch24!"
"Jean, are you going to sit there and let me be insulted by your hussy of a d'Imbleval?"
And the tall one retorted, furiously:
"Hussy! Do you hear that, Louis? Look at her, your Vaurois! She's got the airs of a superannuated26 barmaid! Make her stop, can't you?"
Suddenly Jean Louis banged his fist upon the table, making the plates and dishes jump, and shouted:
"Be quiet, both of you, you old lunatics!"
They turned upon him at once and loaded him with abuse:
"Coward!... Hypocrite!... Liar13!... A pretty sort of son you are!... The son of a slut and not much better yourself!..."
The insults rained down upon him. He stopped his ears with his fingers and writhed27 as he sat at table like a man who has lost all patience and has need to restrain himself lest he should fall upon his enemy.
Rénine whispered:
"Now's the time to go in."
"In among all those infuriated people?" protested Hortense.
"Exactly. We shall see them better with their masks off."
And, with a determined28 step, he walked to the door, opened it and entered the room, followed by Hortense.
His advent29 gave rise to a feeling of stupefaction. The two women stopped yelling, but were still scarlet30 in the face and trembling with rage. Jean Louis, who was very pale, stood up.
Profiting by the general confusion, Rénine said briskly:
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Prince Rénine. This is Madame Daniel. We are friends of Mlle. Geneviève Aymard and we have come in her name. I have a letter from her addressed to you, monsieur."
Jean Louis, already disconcerted by the newcomers' arrival, lost countenance31 entirely32 on hearing the name of Geneviève. Without quite knowing what he was saying and with the intention of responding to Rénine's courteous33 behaviour, he tried in his turn to introduce the two ladies and let fall the astounding34 words:
"My mother, Madame d'Imbleval; my mother, Madame Vaurois."
For some time no one spoke. Rénine bowed. Hortense did not know with whom she should shake hands, with Madame d'Imbleval, the mother, or with Madame Vaurois, the mother. But what happened was that Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois both at the same time attempted to snatch the letter which Rénine was holding out to Jean Louis, while both at the same time mumbled35:
Then Jean Louis, recovering his self-possession, laid hold of his mother d'Imbleval and pushed her out of the room by a door on the left and next of his mother Vaurois and pushed her out of the room by a door on the right. Then, returning to his two visitors, he opened the envelope and read, in an undertone:
you. My friend Hortense and Prince Rénine will help you to overcome the
obstacles that baffle you. Trust them. I love you.
"GENEVIÈVE."
He was a rather dull-looking young man, whose very swarthy, lean and bony face certainly bore the expression of melancholy and distress described by Geneviève. Indeed, the marks of suffering were visible in all his harassed38 features, as well as in his sad and anxious eyes.
He repeated Geneviève's name over and over again, while looking about him with a distracted air. He seemed to be seeking a course of conduct.
He seemed on the point of offering an explanation but could find nothing to say. The sudden intervention39 had taken him at a disadvantage, like an unforseen attack which he did not know how to meet.
Rénine felt that the adversary40 would capitulate at the first summons. The man had been fighting so desperately41 during the last few months and had suffered so severely42 in the retirement43 and obstinate44 silence in which he had taken refuge that he was not thinking of defending himself. Moreover, how could he do so, now that they had forced their way into the privacy of his odious45 existence?
"Take my word for it, monsieur," declared Rénine, "that it is in your best interests to confide10 in us. We are Geneviève Aymard's friends. Do not hesitate to speak."
"I can hardly hesitate," he said, "after what you have just heard. This is the life I lead, monsieur. I will tell you the whole secret, so that you may tell it to Geneviève. She will then understand why I have not gone back to her ... and why I have not the right to do so."
He pushed a chair forward for Hortense. The two men sat down, and, without any need of further persuasion46, rather as though he himself felt a certain relief in unburdening himself, he said:
"You must not be surprised, monsieur, if I tell my story with a certain flippancy47, for, as a matter of fact, it is a frankly48 comical story and cannot fail to make you laugh. Fate often amuses itself by playing these imbecile tricks, these monstrous49 farces50 which seem as though they must have been invented by the brain of a madman or a drunkard. Judge for yourself. Twenty-seven years ago, the Manoir d'Elseven, which at that time consisted only of the main building, was occupied by an old doctor who, to increase his modest means, used to receive one or two paying guests. In this way, Madame d'Imbleval spent the summer here one year and Madame Vaurois the following summer. Now these two ladies did not know each other. One of them was married to a Breton of a merchant-vessel and the other to a commercial traveller from the Vendée.
"It so happened that they lost their husbands at the same time, at a period when each of them was expecting a baby. And, as they both lived in the country, at places some distance from any town, they wrote to the old doctor that they intended to come to his house for their confinement51.... He agreed. They arrived almost on the same day, in the autumn. Two small bedrooms were prepared for them, behind the room in which we are sitting. The doctor had engaged a nurse, who slept in this very room. Everything was perfectly52 satisfactory. The ladies were putting the finishing touches to their baby-clothes and were getting on together splendidly. They were determined that their children should be boys and had chosen the names of Jean and Louis respectively.... One evening the doctor was called out to a case and drove off in his gig with the man-servant, saying that he would not be back till next day. In her master's absence, a little girl who served as maid-of-all-work ran out to keep company with her sweetheart. These accidents destiny turned to account with diabolical53 malignity54. At about midnight, Madame d'Imbleval was seized with the first pains. The nurse, Mlle. Boussignol, had had some training as a midwife and did not lose her head. But, an hour later, Madame Vaurois' turn came; and the tragedy, or I might rather say the tragi-comedy, was enacted55 amid the screams and moans of the two patients and the bewildered agitation56 of the nurse running from one to the other, bewailing her fate, opening the window to call out for the doctor or falling on her knees to implore57 the aid of Providence58.... Madame Vaurois was the first to bring a son into the world. Mlle. Boussignol hurriedly carried him in here, washed and tended him and laid him in the cradle prepared for him.... But Madame d'Imbleval was screaming with pain; and the nurse had to attend to her while the newborn child was yelling like a stuck pig and the terrified mother, unable to stir from her bed, fainted.... Add to this all the wretchedness of darkness and disorder59, the only lamp, without any oil, for the servant had neglected to fill it, the candles burning out, the moaning of the wind, the screeching60 of the owls61, and you will understand that Mlle. Boussignol was scared out of her wits. However, at five o'clock in the morning, after many tragic62 incidents, she came in here with the d'Imbleval baby, likewise a boy, washed and tended him, laid him in his cradle and went off to help Madame Vaurois, who had come to herself and was crying out, while Madame d'Imbleval had fainted in her turn. And, when Mlle. Boussignol, having settled the two mothers, but half-crazed with fatigue63, her brain in a whirl, returned to the new-born children, she realized with horror that she had wrapped them in similar binders64, thrust their feet into similar woolen65 socks and laid them both, side by side, in the same cradle, so that it was impossible to tell Louis d'Imbleval from Jean Vaurois!... To make matters worse, when she lifted one of them out of the cradle, she found that his hands were cold as ice and that he had ceased to breathe. He was dead. What was his name and what the survivor's?... Three hours later, the doctor found the two women in a condition of frenzied66 delirium67, while the nurse was dragging herself from one bed to the other, entreating68 the two mothers to forgive her. She held me out first to one, then to the other, to receive their caresses--for I was the surviving child--and they first kissed me and then pushed me away; for, after all, who was I? The son of the widowed Madame d'Imbleval and the late merchant-captain or the son of the widowed Madame Vaurois and the late commercial traveller? There was not a clue by which they could tell.... The doctor begged each of the two mothers to sacrifice her rights, at least from the legal point of view, so that I might be called either Louis d'Imbleval or Jean Vaurois. They refused absolutely. 'Why Jean Vaurois, if he's a d'Imbleval?' protested the one. 'Why Louis d'Imbleval, if he's a Vaurois?' retorted the other. And I was registered under the name of Jean Louis, the son of an unknown father and mother."
Prince Rénine had listened in silence. But Hortense, as the story approached its conclusion, had given way to a hilarity69 which she could no longer restrain and suddenly, in spite of all her efforts, she burst into a fit of the wildest laughter:
"Forgive me," she said, her eyes filled with tears, "do forgive me; it's too much for my nerves...."
"Don't apologize, madame," said the young man, gently, in a voice free from resentment70. "I warned you that my story was laughable; I, better than any one, know how absurd, how nonsensical it is. Yes, the whole thing is perfectly grotesque71. But believe me when I tell you that it was no fun in reality. It seems a humorous situation and it remains72 humorous by the force of circumstances; but it is also horrible. You can see that for yourself, can't you? The two mothers, neither of whom was certain of being a mother, but neither of whom was certain that she was not one, both clung to Jean Louis. He might be a stranger; on the other hand, he might be their own flesh and blood. They loved him to excess and fought for him furiously. And, above all, they both came to hate each other with a deadly hatred73. Differing completely in character and education and obliged to live together because neither was willing to forego the advantage of her possible maternity74, they lived the life of irreconcilable75 enemies who can never lay their weapons aside.... I grew up in the midst of this hatred and had it instilled76 into me by both of them. When my childish heart, hungering for affection, inclined me to one of them, the other would seek to inspire me with loathing77 and contempt for her. In this manor-house, which they bought on the old doctor's death and to which they added the two wings, I was the involuntary torturer and their daily victim. Tormented78 as a child, and, as a young man, leading the most hideous79 of lives, I doubt if any one on earth ever suffered more than I did."
"You ought to have left them!" exclaimed Hortense, who had stopped laughing.
"One can't leave one's mother; and one of those two women was my mother. And a woman can't abandon her son; and each of them was entitled to believe that I was her son. We were all three chained together like convicts, with chains of sorrow, compassion80, doubt and also of hope that the truth might one day become apparent. And here we still are, all three, insulting one another and blaming one another for our wasted lives. Oh, what a hell! And there was no escaping it. I tried often enough ... but in vain. The broken bonds became tied again. Only this summer, under the stimulus81 of my love for Geneviève, I tried to free myself and did my utmost to persuade the two women whom I call mother. And then ... and then! I was up against their complaints, their immediate82 hatred of the wife, of the stranger, whom I was proposing to force upon them.... I gave way. What sort of a life would Geneviève have had here, between Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois? I had no right to victimize her."
Jean Louis, who had been gradually becoming excited, uttered these last words in a firm voice, as though he would have wished his conduct to be ascribed to conscientious83 motives84 and a sense of duty. In reality, as Rénine and Hortense clearly saw, his was an unusually weak nature, incapable85 of reacting against a ridiculous position from which he had suffered ever since he was a child and which he had come to look upon as final and irremediable. He endured it as a man bears a cross which he has no right to cast aside; and at the same time he was ashamed of it. He had never spoken of it to Geneviève, from dread86 of ridicule87; and afterwards, on returning to his prison, he had remained there out of habit and weakness.
He sat down to a writing-table and quickly wrote a letter which he handed to Rénine:
"Would you be kind enough to give this note to Mlle. Aymard and beg her once more to forgive me?"
Rénine did not move and, when the other pressed the letter upon him, he took it and tore it up.
"What does this mean?" asked the young man.
"It means that I will not charge myself with any message."
"Why?"
"Because you are coming with us."
"I?"
"Yes. You will see Mlle. Aymard to-morrow and ask for her hand in marriage."
Jean Louis looked at Rénine with a rather disdainful air, as though he were thinking:
"Here's a man who has not understood a word of what I've been explaining to him."
But Hortense went up to Rénine:
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it will be as I say."
"But you must have your reasons?"
"One only; but it will be enough, provided this gentleman is so kind as to help me in my enquiries."
"Enquiries? With what object?" asked the young man.
"With the object of proving that your story is not quite accurate."
"I must ask you to believe, monsieur, that I have not said a word which is not the exact truth."
"I expressed myself badly," said Rénine, with great kindliness89. "Certainly you have not said a word that does not agree with what you believe to be the exact truth. But the truth is not, cannot be what you believe it to be."
The young man folded his arms:
"In any case, monsieur, it seems likely that I should know the truth better than you do."
"Why better? What happened on that tragic night can obviously be known to you only at secondhand. You have no proofs. Neither have Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois."
"No proofs of what?" exclaimed Jean Louis, losing patience.
"No proofs of the confusion that took place."
"What! Why, it's an absolute certainty! The two children were laid in the same cradle, with no marks to distinguish one from the other; and the nurse was unable to tell...."
"At least, that's her version of it," interrupted Rénine.
"What's that? Her version? But you're accusing the woman."
"I'm accusing her of nothing."
"Yes, you are: you're accusing her of lying. And why should she lie? She had no interest in doing so; and her tears and despair are so much evidence of her good faith. For, after all, the two mothers were there ... they saw the woman weeping ... they questioned her.... And then, I repeat, what interest had she ...?"
Jean Louis was greatly excited. Close beside him, Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois, who had no doubt been listening behind the doors and who had stealthily entered the room, stood stammering90, in amazement91:
"No, no ... it's impossible.... We've questioned her over and over again. Why should she tell a lie?..."
"Speak, monsieur, speak," Jean Louis enjoined92. "Explain yourself. Give your reasons for trying to cast doubt upon an absolute truth!"
"Because that truth is inadmissible," declared Rénine, raising his voice and growing excited in turn to the point of punctuating93 his remarks by thumping94 the table. "No, things don't happen like that. No, fate does not display those refinements95 of cruelty and chance is not added to chance with such reckless extravagance! It was already an unprecedented96 chance that, on the very night on which the doctor, his man-servant and his maid were out of the house, the two ladies should be seized with labour-pains at the same hour and should bring two sons into the world at the same time. Don't let us add a still more exceptional event! Enough of the uncanny! Enough of lamps that go out and candles that refuse to burn! No and again no, it is not admissable that a midwife should become confused in the essential details of her trade. However bewildered she may be by the unforeseen nature of the circumstances, a remnant of instinct is still on the alert, so that there is a place prepared for each child and each is kept distinct from the other. The first child is here, the second is there. Even if they are lying side by side, one is on the left and the other on the right. Even if they are wrapped in the same kind of binders, some little detail differs, a trifle which is recorded by the memory and which is inevitably97 recalled to the mind without any need of reflection. Confusion? I refuse to believe in it. Impossible to tell one from the other? It isn't true. In the world of fiction, yes, one can imagine all sorts of fantastic accidents and heap contradiction on contradiction. But, in the world of reality, at the very heart of reality, there is always a fixed98 point, a solid nucleus99, about which the facts group themselves in accordance with a logical order. I therefore declare most positively100 that Nurse Boussignol could not have mixed up the two children."
All this he said decisively, as though he had been present during the night in question; and so great was his power of persuasion that from the very first he shook the certainty of those who for more than a quarter of a century had never doubted.
The two women and their son pressed round him and questioned him with breathless anxiety:
"Then you think that she may know ... that she may be able to tell us....?"
He corrected himself:
"I don't say yes and I don't say no. All I say is that there was something in her behaviour during those hours that does not tally101 with her statements and with reality. All the vast and intolerable mystery that has weighed down upon you three arises not from a momentary102 lack of attention but from something of which we do not know, but of which she does. That is what I maintain; and that is what happened."
Jean Louis said, in a husky voice:
"She is alive.... She lives at Carhaix.... We can send for her...."
Hortense at once proposed:
"Would you like me to go for her? I will take the motor and bring her back with me. Where does she live?"
"In the middle of the town, at a little draper's shop. The chauffeur103 will show you. Mlle. Boussignol: everybody knows her...."
"And, whatever you do," added Rénine, "don't warn her in any way. If she's uneasy, so much the better. But don't let her know what we want with her."
Twenty minutes passed in absolute silence. Rénine paced the room, in which the fine old furniture, the handsome tapestries104, the well-bound books and pretty knick-knacks denoted a love of art and a seeking after style in Jean Louis. This room was really his. In the adjoining apartments on either side, through the open doors, Rénine was able to note the bad taste of the two mothers.
He went up to Jean Louis and, in a low voice, asked:
"Are they well off?"
"Yes."
"And you?"
"They settled the manor-house upon me, with all the land around it, which makes me quite independent."
"Have they any relations?"
"Sisters, both of them."
"With whom they could go to live?"
"Yes; and they have sometimes thought of doing so. But there can't be any question of that. Once more, I assure you...."
Meantime the car had returned. The two women jumped up hurriedly, ready to speak.
"Leave it to me," said Rénine, "and don't be surprised by anything that I say. It's not a matter of asking her questions but of frightening her, of flurrying her.... The sudden attack," he added between his teeth.
The car drove round the lawn and drew up outside the windows. Hortense sprang out and helped an old woman to alight, dressed in a fluted105 linen106 cap, a black velvet107 bodice and a heavy gathered skirt.
The old woman entered in a great state of alarm. She had a pointed face, like a weasel's, with a prominent mouth full of protruding108 teeth.
"What's the matter, Madame d'Imbleval?" she asked, timidly stepping into the room from which the doctor had once driven her. "Good day to you, Madame Vaurois."
The ladies did not reply. Rénine came forward and said, sternly:
"Mlle. Boussignol, I have been sent by the Paris police to throw light upon a tragedy which took place here twenty-seven years ago. I have just secured evidence that you have distorted the truth and that, as the result of your false declarations, the birth-certificate of one of the children born in the course of that night is inaccurate109. Now false declarations in matters of birth-certificates are misdemeanours punishable by law. I shall therefore be obliged to take you to Paris to be interrogated110 ... unless you are prepared here and now to confess everything that might repair the consequences of your offence."
The old maid was shaking in every limb. Her teeth were chattering111. She was evidently incapable of opposing the least resistance to Rénine.
"Are you ready to confess everything?" he asked.
"Yes," she panted.
"Without delay? I have to catch a train. The business must be settled immediately. If you show the least hesitation112, I take you with me. Have you made up your mind to speak?"
"Yes."
He pointed to Jean Louis:
"Whose son is this gentleman? Madame d'Imbleval's?"
"No."
"Madame Vaurois', therefore?"
"No."
A stupefied silence welcomed the two replies.
"Explain yourself," Rénine commanded, looking at his watch.
Then Madame Boussignol fell on her knees and said, in so low and dull a voice that they had to bend over her in order to catch the sense of what she was mumbling113:
"Some one came in the evening ... a gentleman with a new-born baby wrapped in blankets, which he wanted the doctor to look after. As the doctor wasn't there, he waited all night and it was he who did it all."
"Did what?" asked Rénine. "What did he do? What happened?"
"Well, what happened was that it was not one child but the two of them that died: Madame d'Imbleval's and Madame Vaurois' too, both in convulsions. Then the gentleman, seeing this, said, 'This shows me where my duty lies. I must seize this opportunity of making sure that my own boy shall be happy and well cared for. Put him in the place of one of the dead children.' He offered me a big sum of money, saying that this one payment would save him the expense of providing for his child every month; and I accepted. Only, I did not know in whose place to put him and whether to say that the boy was Louis d'Imbleval or Jean Vaurois. The gentleman thought a moment and said neither. Then he explained to me what I was to do and what I was to say after he had gone. And, while I was dressing his boy in vest and binders the same as one of the dead children, he wrapped the other in the blankets he had brought with him and went out into the night."
"Can I go?"
"Yes."
"And is it over, as far as I'm concerned? They won't be talking about this all over the district?"
"No. Oh, just one more question: do you know the man's name?"
"No. He didn't tell me his name."
"Have you ever seen him since?"
"Never."
"Have you anything more to say?"
"No."
"Are you prepared to sign the written text of your confession117?"
"Yes."
"Very well. I shall send for you in a week or two. Till then, not a word to anybody."
He saw her to the door and closed it after her. When he returned, Jean Louis was between the two old ladies and all three were holding hands. The bond of hatred and wretchedness which had bound them had suddenly snapped; and this rupture118, without requiring them to reflect upon the matter, filled them with a gentle tranquillity119 of which they were hardly conscious, but which made them serious and thoughtful.
"Let's rush things," said Rénine to Hortense. "This is the decisive moment of the battle. We must get Jean Louis on board."
Hortense seemed preoccupied120. She whispered:
"Why did you let the woman go? Were you satisfied with her statement?"
"I don't need to be satisfied. She told us what happened. What more do you want?"
"Nothing.... I don't know...."
"We'll talk about it later, my dear. For the moment, I repeat, we must get Jean Louis on board. And immediately.... Otherwise...."
He turned to the young man:
"You agree with me, don't you, that, things being as they are, it is best for you and Madame Vaurois and Madame d'Imbleval to separate for a time? That will enable you all to see matters more clearly and to decide in perfect freedom what is to be done. Come with us, monsieur. The most pressing thing is to save Geneviève Aymard, your fiancée."
"That is your opinion too, I am sure, ladies?"
They nodded.
"You see, monsieur," he said to Jean Louis, "we are all agreed. In great crises, there is nothing like separation ... a few days' respite122. Quickly now, monsieur."
And, without giving him time to hesitate, he drove him towards his bedroom to pack up.
Half an hour later, Jean Louis left the manor-house with his new friends.
"And he won't go back until he's married," said Rénine to Hortense, as they were waiting at Carhaix station, to which the car had taken them, while Jean Louis was attending to his luggage. "Everything's for the best. Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, Geneviève will be glad," she replied, absently.
When they had taken their seats in the train, Rénine and she repaired to the dining-car. Rénine, who had asked Hortense several questions to which she had replied only in monosyllables, protested:
"What's the matter with you, my child? You look worried!"
"I? Not at all!"
"Yes, yes, I know you. Now, no secrets, no mysteries!"
She smiled:
"Well, since you insist on knowing if I am satisfied, I am bound to admit that of course I am ... as regards my friend Geneviève, but that, in another respect--from the point of view of the adventure--I have an uncomfortable sort of feeling...."
"To speak frankly, I haven't 'staggered' you this time?"
"Not very much."
"I seem to you to have played a secondary part. For, after all, what have I done? We arrived. We listened to Jean Louis' tale of woe123. I had a midwife fetched. And that was all."
"Exactly. I want to know if that was all; and I'm not quite sure. To tell you the truth, our other adventures left behind them an impression which was--how shall I put it?--more definite, clearer."
"And this one strikes you as obscure?"
"Obscure, yes, and incomplete."
"But in what way?"
"I don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with that woman's confession. Yes, very likely that is it. It was all so unexpected and so short."
"Well, of course, I cut it short, as you can readily imagine!" said Rénine, laughing. "We didn't want too many explanations."
"What do you mean?"
"Why, if she had given her explanations with too much detail, we should have ended by doubting what she was telling us."
"By doubting it?"
"Well, hang it all, the story is a trifle far-fetched! That fellow arriving at night, with a live baby in his pocket, and going away with a dead one: the thing hardly holds water. But you see, my dear, I hadn't much time to coach the unfortunate woman in her part."
Hortense stared at him in amazement:
"What on earth do you mean?"
"Well, you know how dull-witted these countrywomen are. And she and I had no time to spare. So we worked out a little scene in a hurry ... and she really didn't act it so badly. It was all in the right key: terror, tremolo, tears...."
"Is it possible?" murmured Hortense. "Is it possible? You had seen her beforehand?"
"I had to, of course."
"But when?"
"This morning, when we arrived. While you were titivating yourself at the hotel at Carhaix, I was running round to see what information I could pick up. As you may imagine, everybody in the district knows the d'Imbleval-Vaurois story. I was at once directed to the former midwife, Mlle. Boussignol. With Mlle. Boussignol it did not take long. Three minutes to settle a new version of what had happened and ten thousand francs to induce her to repeat that ... more or less credible124 ... version to the people at the manor-house."
"A quite incredible version!"
"Not so bad as all that, my child, seeing that you believed it ... and the others too. And that was the essential thing. What I had to do was to demolish125 at one blow a truth which had been twenty-seven years in existence and which was all the more firmly established because it was founded on actual facts. That was why I went for it with all my might and attacked it by sheer force of eloquence126. Impossible to identify the children? I deny it. Inevitable127 confusion? It's not true. 'You're all three,' I say, 'the victims of something which I don't know but which it is your duty to clear up!' 'That's easily done,' says Jean Louis, whose conviction is at once shaken. 'Let's send for Mlle. Boussignol.' 'Right! Let's send for her.' Whereupon Mlle. Boussignol arrives and mumbles128 out the little speech which I have taught her. Sensation! General stupefaction ... of which I take advantage to carry off our young man!"
Hortense shook her head:
"But they'll get over it, all three of them, on thinking!"
"Never! Never! They will have their doubts, perhaps. But they will never consent to feel certain! They will never agree to think! Use your imagination! Here are three people whom I have rescued from the hell in which they have been floundering for a quarter of a century. Do you think they're going back to it? Here are three people who, from weakness or a false sense of duty, had not the courage to escape. Do you think that they won't cling like grim death to the liberty which I'm giving them? Nonsense! Why, they would have swallowed a hoax129 twice as difficult to digest as that which Mlle. Boussignol dished up for them! After all, my version was no more absurd than the truth. On the contrary. And they swallowed it whole! Look at this: before we left, I heard Madame d'Imbleval and Madame Vaurois speak of an immediate removal. They were already becoming quite affectionate at the thought of seeing the last of each other."
"But what about Jean Louis?"
"Jean Louis? Why, he was fed up with his two mothers! By Jingo, one can't do with two mothers in a life-time! What a situation! And when one has the luck to be able to choose between having two mothers or none at all, why, bless me, one doesn't hesitate! And, besides, Jean Louis is in love with Geneviève." He laughed. "And he loves her well enough, I hope and trust, not to inflict130 two mothers-in-law upon her! Come, you may be easy in your mind. Your friend's happiness is assured; and that is all you asked for. All that matters is the object which we achieve and not the more or less peculiar nature of the methods which we employ. And, if some adventures are wound up and some mysteries elucidated131 by looking for and finding cigarette-ends, or incendiary water-bottles and blazing hat-boxes as on our last expedition, others call for psychology132 and for purely133 psychological solutions. I have spoken. And I charge you to be silent."
"Silent?"
"Yes, there's a man and woman sitting behind us who seem to be saying something uncommonly134 interesting."
"But they're talking in whispers."
"Just so. When people talk in whispers, it's always about something shady."
He lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair. Hortense listened, but in vain. As for him, he was emitting little slow puffs135 of smoke.
Fifteen minutes later, the train stopped and the man and woman got out.
"Pity," said Rénine, "that I don't know their names or where they're going. But I know where to find them. My dear, we have a new adventure before us."
Hortense protested:
"Oh, no, please, not yet!... Give me a little rest!... And oughtn't we to think of Geneviève?"
He seemed greatly surprised:
"Why, all that's over and done with! Do you mean to say you want to waste any more time over that old story? Well, I for my part confess that I've lost all interest in the man with the two mammas."
And this was said in such a comical tone and with such diverting sincerity136 that Hortense was once more seized with a fit of giggling137. Laughter alone was able to relax her exasperated138 nerves and to distract her from so many contradictory139 emotions.
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1
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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hamper
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| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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12
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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13
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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16
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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17
abating
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| 减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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18
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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19
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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harridans
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| n.脾气暴躁的老妇人，老泼妇( harridan的名词复数 ) | |
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21
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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22
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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25
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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26
superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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27
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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30
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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31
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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32
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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33
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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34
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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35
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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37
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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38
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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39
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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40
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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41
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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42
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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43
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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44
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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45
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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46
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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47
flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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48
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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49
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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50
farces
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| n.笑剧( farce的名词复数 )；闹剧；笑剧剧目；作假的可笑场面 | |
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51
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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52
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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53
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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54
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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55
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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57
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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58
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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59
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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60
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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61
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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62
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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63
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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64
binders
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| n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面 | |
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65
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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66
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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67
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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68
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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69
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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70
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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71
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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72
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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73
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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74
maternity
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| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
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75
irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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76
instilled
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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78
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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79
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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80
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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81
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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82
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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83
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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84
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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85
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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86
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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87
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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88
umbrage
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| n.不快；树荫 | |
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89
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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90
stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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91
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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92
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93
punctuating
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的现在分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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94
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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95
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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96
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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103
chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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104
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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fluted
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| a.有凹槽的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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111
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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deposition
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| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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118
rupture
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| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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123
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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128
mumbles
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| 含糊的话或声音，咕哝( mumble的名词复数 ) | |
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hoax
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| v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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elucidated
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| v.阐明，解释( elucidate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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134
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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135
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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136
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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137
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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138
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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139
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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