"Three hours in advance!" muttered the deputy, looking at his watch, and returning to the carriage which had brought him.As he was getting into it, the old majordomo forced himself to say,--"Monsieur found no bad news in that letter, did he?""No; but your master may be absent for some time; keep the house in good order." Then he said to the coachman, "Paris!"The next day, quite early in the morning, Monsieur de l'Estorade was in his study, employed in a rather singular manner.It will be remembered that on the day when Sallenauve, then Dorlange the sculptor, had sent him the bust of Madame de l'Estorade, he had not found a place where, as he thought, the little masterpiece had a proper light.From the moment that Rastignac hinted to him that his intercourse with the sculptor, now deputy, might injure him at court, he had agreed with his son Armand that the artist had given to Madame de l'Estorade the air of a grisette; but now that Sallenauve, by his resistance to ministerial blandishments, had taken an openly hostile attitude to the government, that bust seemed to the peer of France no longer worthy of exhibition, and the worthy man was now engaged in finding some dark corner where, without recourse to the absurdity of actually hiding it, it would be out of range to the eyes of visitors, whose questions as to its maker he should no longer be forced to answer.He was therefore perched on the highest step of his library ladder, holding in his hands the gift of the sculptor, and preparing to relegate it to the top of a bookcase, where it was destined to keep company with an owl and a cormorant shot by Armand during the recent holidays and stuffed by paternal pride, when the door of the study opened and Lucas announced,--"Monsieur Philippe."
The age of the old majordomo and the confidential post he occupied in Marie-Gaston's establishment seemed to the factotum of the house of l'Estorade to authorize the designation of "monsieur,"--a civility expectant of return, be it understood.
Descending from his eminence, the peer of France asked Philippe what brought him, and whether anything had happened at Ville d'Avray.The old servant related the singular departure of his master, and the no less singular departure of Sallenauve without a word of explanation;then he added,--
"This morning, while putting monsieur's room in order, a letter addressed to Madame le comtesse fell out of a book.As the letter was sealed and all ready to be sent, I supposed that monsieur, in the hurry of departure, had forgotten to tell me to put it in the post.Ithought therefore I had better bring it here myself.Perhaps Madame la comtesse will find in it some explanation of this sudden journey, about which I have dreamed all night."Monsieur de l'Estorade took the letter.
"Three black seals!" he said.
"The color doesn't surprise me," replied Philippe; "for since Madame's death monsieur has not laid off his mourning; but I do think three seals are rather strange.""Very well," said Monsieur de l'Estorade; "I will give the letter to my wife.""If there should be anything in it to ease my mind about monsieur, would Monsieur le comte be so kind as to let me know?" said Philippe.
"You can rely on that, my good fellow.Au revoir.""I beg Monsieur le comte's pardon for offering an opinion," said the majordomo, not accepting the leave just given him to depart; "but in case the letter contained some bad news, doesn't Monsieur le comte think that it would be best for him to know of it, in order to prepare Madame la comtesse for the shock?""What! Do you suppose--" said Monsieur de l'Estorade, not finishing his idea.
"I don't know; but monsieur has been very gloomy the last few days.""To break the seal of a letter not addressed to us is always a serious thing to do," remarked the peer of France."This bears my wife's address, but--in point of fact--it was never sent to her; in short, it is most embarrassing.""But if by reading it some misfortune might be averted?""Yes, yes; that is just what keeps me in doubt."Here Madame de l'Estorade cut the matter short by entering the room.
Lucas had told her of the unexpected arrival of Philippe.
"Is anything the matter?" she asked with anxious curiosity.
The apprehensions Sallenauve had expressed the night before as to Marie-Gaston's condition returned to her mind.As soon as Philippe had repeated the explanations he had already given to her husband, she broke the seals of the letter.
Whatever may have been the contents of that disquieting epistle, nothing was reflected on Madame de l'Estorade's face.
"You say that your master left Ville d'Avray in company with an English gentleman," she said to Philippe."Did he seem to go unwillingly, as if yielding to violence?""No, far from that, madame; he seemed to be rather cheerful.""Well, there is nothing that need make us uneasy.This letter was written some days ago, and, in spite of its three black seals, it has no reference to anything that has happened since."Philippe bowed and went away.As soon as husband and wife were alone together, Monsieur de l'Estorade said, stretching out his hand for the letter,--"What did he write about?"
"No, don't read it," said the countess, not giving him the letter.
"Why not?"
"It would pain you.It is enough for me to have had the shock; I could scarcely control myself before that old servant.""Does it refer to suicide?"
Madame de l'Estorade nodded her head in affirmation.
"A real, immediate intention?"
