"Well!" exclaimed Mascarin, "have you seen the Mussidans, as I toldyou to do.""Certainly," answered Hortebise briskly; "I saw the Countess, and toldher how pressing the holders of her letters were growing, and urged onher the necessity for immediate action. She told me that both she andher husband had determined to yield, and that Sabine, though evidentlybroken-hearted, would not oppose the marriage.""Good," said Mascarin; "and now, if Croisenois only follows out theorders that I have given him, the marriage will take place without theknowledge of either De Breulh or Andre. Then we need fear them nolonger. The prospectus of the new Company is ready, and can be issuedalmost immediately; but we meet to-day to discuss not that matter, butthe more important one of the heir to the Champdoce title."A timid knock at the door announced the arrival of Paul who came inhesitatingly, as if doubtful what sort of a reception he mightreceive; but Mascarin gave him the warmest possible welcome.
"Permit me," said he, "to offer you my congratulations on having wonthe affections of so estimable and wealthy a young lady asMademoiselle Flavia. I may tell you that a friend of mine has informedme of the very flattering terms in which her father, M. Rigal, spokeof you, and I can assure you that if our mutual friend Dr. Hortebisewere to go to the banker with an offer of marriage on your part, youhave no cause to dread a refusal."Paul blushed with pleasure, and as he was stammering out a few words,the door opened for the third time, and Catenac made his appearance.
To cover the lateness of his arrival, he had clothed his face insmiles, and advanced with outstretched hands toward his confederates;but Mascarin's look and manner were so menacing, that he recoiled afew steps and gazed on him with an expression of the utmost wonder andsurprise.
"What is the meaning of this reception?" asked he.
"Can you not guess?" returned Mascarin, his manner growing more andmore threatening. "I have sounded the lowest depths of your infamy. Iwas sure the other day that you meant to turn traitor, but you sworeto the contrary, and you--""On my honor--""It is useless. One word from Perpignan set us on the right track.
Were you or were you not ignorant that the Duke de Champdoce had acertain way of recognizing his son, and that was by a certainineffaceable scar?""It had escaped my memory----"The words faded from his lips, for even his great self-command failedhim under Mascarin's disdainful glance.
"Let me tell you what I think of you," said the latter. "I knew thatyou were a coward and a traitor. Even convicts keep faith with eachother, and I had not thought you so utterly infamous.""Then why have you forced me to act contrary to my wishes?"This reply exasperated Mascarin so much that he grasped Catenac by thethroat, and shook him violently.
"I made use of you, you viper," said he, "because I had placed you insuch a position that you could not harm us. And now you will serve mebecause I will show you that I can take everything from you--name,money, liberty, and /life/. All depends upon our success. If we fail,you fall into an abyss of the depth and horrors of which you can haveno conception. I knew with whom I had to deal, and took my measuresaccordingly. The most crushing proofs of your crime are in the handsof a person who has precise orders how to act. When I give the signal,he moves; and when he moves, you are utterly lost."There was something so threatening in the silence that followed thisspeech that Paul grew faint with apprehension.
"And," went on Mascarin, "it would be an evil day for you if anythingwere to happen to Hortebise, Paul, or myself; for if one of us were todie suddenly, your fate would be sealed. You cannot say that you havenot been warned."Catenac stood with his head bent upon his breast, rooted to the groundwith terror. He felt that he was bound, and gagged, and fettered handand foot. Mascarin swallowed some of the cooling draught that stoodbefore him, and tranquilly commenced,--"Suppose, Catenac, that I were to tell you that I know far more of theChampdoce matter than you do; for, after all, your knowledge is onlyderived from what the Duke has told you. You think that you have hitupon the truth; you were never more mistaken in your life. I, perhapsyou are unaware, have been many years engaged in this matter. Perhapsyou would like to know how I first thought of the affair. Do youremember that solicitor who had an office near the Law Courts, and dida great deal of blackmail business? If you do, you must remember thathe got two years' hard labor.""Yes, I remember the man," returned Catenac in a humble voice.
"He used," continued Mascarin, "to buy up waste paper, and searchthrough the piles he had collected for any matters that might beconcealed in the heterogeneous mass. And many things he must havefound. In what sensational case have not letters played a prominentpart? What man is there who has not at one time or other regrettedthat he has had pen and ink ready to his hand? If men were wise, theywould use those patent inks, which fade from the paper in a few days.
I followed his example, and, among other strange discoveries, I madethis one."He took from his desk a piece of paper--ragged, dirty, and creased--and, handing it to Hortebise and Paul, said,--"Read!"They did so, and read the following strange word:
"TNAFNEERTONIOMZEDNEREITIPZEYAETNECONNISIUSEJECARG;"while underneath was written in another hand the word, "Never.""It was evident that I had in my hands a letter written in cipher, andI concluded that the paper contained some important secret.
Catenac listened to this narrative with an air of contempt, for he wasone of those foolish men who never know when it is best for them toyield.
"I daresay you are right," answered he with a slight sneer.
"Thank you," returned Mascarin coolly. "At any rate, I was deeplyinterested in solving this riddle, the more as I belonged to anassociation which owes its being and position to its skill inpenetrating the secrets of others. I shut myself up in my room, andvowed that I would not leave it until I had worked out the cipher."Paul, Hortebise, and Catenac examined the letter curiously, but couldmake nothing of it.
"I can't make head or tail of it," said the doctor impatiently.
Mascarin smiled as he took back the paper, and remarked,--"At first I was as much puzzled as you were, and more than once wastempted to throw the document into the waste-paper basket, but asecret feeling that it opened a way to all our fortunes restrained me.
Of course there was the chance that I might only decipher some foolishjest, and no secret at all, but still I went on. If the commencementof the word was written in a woman's hand, the last word had evidentlybeen added by a man. But why should a cryptogram have been used? Wasit because the demand was of so dangerous and compromising a characterthat it was impossible to put it in plain language? If so, why was thelast word not in cipher? Simply because the mere rejection of what wascertainly a demand would in no manner compromise the writer. You willask how it happens that demand and rejection are both on the samesheet of paper. I thought this over, and came to the conclusion thatthe letter had once been meant for the post, but had been sent byhand. Perhaps the writers may have occupied rooms in the same house.
The woman, in the anguish of her soul, may have sent the letter by aservant to her husband, and he, transported by rage, may havehurriedly scrawled this word across it, and returned it again: 'Takethis to your mistress.' Having settled this point, I attacked thecipher, and, after fourteen hours' hard work, hit upon its meaning.
"Accidentally I held the piece of paper between myself and the light,with the side on which the writing was turned from me, and read it atonce. It was a cryptogram of the simplest kind, as the letters formingthe words were simply reversed. I divided the letters into words, andmade out this sentence: '/Grace, je suis innocente. Ayez pitie;rendez-moi notre enfant/ (Mercy, I am innocent. Give me back ourson).' "Hortebise snatched up the paper and glanced at it.
"You are right," said he; "it is the art of cipher writing in itsinfancy.""I had succeeded in reading it,--but how to make use of it! The massof waste paper in which I found it had been purchased from a servantin a country house near Vendome. A friend of mine, who was accustomedto drawing plans and maps, came to my aid, and discovered some faintsigns of a crest in one corner of the paper. With the aid of apowerful magnifying glass, I discovered it to be the cognizance of theducal house of Champdoce. The light that guided me was faint anduncertain, and many another man would have given up the quest. But thethought was with me in my waking hours, and was the companion of mypillow during the dark hours of the night. Six months later I knewthat it was the Duchess who had addressed this missive to her husband,and why she had done so. By degrees I learned all the secret to whichthis scrap of paper gave me the clue; and if I have been a long whileover it, it is because one link was wanting which I only discoveredyesterday.""Ah," said the doctor, "then Caroline Schimmel has spoken.""Yes; drink was the magician that disclosed the secret that for twentyyears she had guarded with unswerving fidelity."As Mascarin uttered these words he opened a drawer, and drew from it alarge pile of manuscript, which he waved over his head with an air oftriumph.
"This is the greatest work that I have ever done," exclaimed he.
"Listen to it, Hortebise, and you shall see how it is that I holdfirmly, at the same time, both the Duke and Duchess of Champdoce, andDiana the Countess of Mussidan. Listen to me, Catenac,--you whodistrusted me, and were ready to play the traitor, and tell me if I donot grasp success in my strong right hand." Then, holding out the rollof papers to Paul, he cried, "And do you, my dear boy, take this andread it carefully. Let nothing escape you, for there is not one item,however trivial it may seem to you, that has not its importance. It isthe history of a great and noble house, and one in which you are moreinterested than you may think."Paul opened the manuscript, and, in a voice which quivered withemotion, he read the facts announced by Mascarin, which he hadentitled "The Mystery of Champdoce."The conclusion of this exciting narrative will be found in the volumecalled "The Mystery of Champdoce."
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