III
The Case of Jean Louis
тАЬMonsieur,тАЭ continued the young girl, addressing Serge R├йnine, тАЬit was while I was spending the Easter holidays at Nice with my father that I made the acquaintance of Jean Louis dтАЩImbleval.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
R├йnine interrupted her:
тАЬExcuse me, mademoiselle, but just now you spoke of this young man as Jean Louis Vaurois.тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs his name also,тАЭ she said.
тАЬHas he two names then?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt knowтБатАКтБатАж I donтАЩt know anything about it,тАЭ she said, with some embarrassment, тАЬand that is why, by HortenseтАЩs advice, I came to ask for your help.тАЭ
This conversation was taking place in R├йnineтАЩs flat on the Boulevard Haussmann, to which Hortense had brought her friend Genevi├иve Aymard, a slender, pretty little creature with a face overshadowed by an expression of the greatest melancholy.
тАЬR├йnine will be successful, take my word for it, Genevi├иve. You will, R├йnine, wonтАЩt you?тАЭ
тАЬPlease tell me the rest of the story, mademoiselle,тАЭ he said.
Genevi├иve continued:
тАЬI was already engaged at the time to a man whom I loathe and detest. 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 passionate 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: тАШI donтАЩt particularly like the fellow. But, whether itтАЩs 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.тАЩ 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:
тАЬThere are too many obstacles in the way of our happiness. I give up. I am mad with despair. I love you more than ever. Goodbye and forgive me.тАЭ
тАЬSince then, I have received nothing: no reply to my letters and telegrams.тАЭ
тАЬPerhaps he has fallen in love with somebody else?тАЭ asked R├йnine. тАЬOr there may be some old connection which he is unable to shake off.тАЭ
Genevi├иve shook her head:
тАЬMonsieur, 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. ThereтАЩs a mystery in Jean LouisтАЩ life, or rather an endless number of mysteries which hamper and pursue him. I never saw such distress 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.тАЭ
тАЬBut your impression must have been confirmed by minor details, by things which happened to strike you as peculiar?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt quite know what to say.тАЭ
тАЬThese two names, for instance?тАЭ
тАЬYes, there was certainly that.тАЭ
тАЬBy what name did he introduce himself to you?тАЭ
тАЬJean Louis dтАЩImbleval.тАЭ
тАЬBut Jean Louis Vaurois?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs what my father calls him.тАЭ
тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬBecause 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.тАЭ
тАЬHave you never questioned him on this point?тАЭ
тАЬYes, I have, twice. The first time, he said that his auntтАЩs name was Vaurois and his motherтАЩs dтАЩImbleval.тАЭ
тАЬAnd the second time?тАЭ
тАЬHe told me the contrary: he spoke of his mother as Vaurois and of his aunt as dтАЩImbleval. I pointed this out. He coloured up and I thought it better not to question him any further.тАЭ
тАЬDoes he live far from Paris?тАЭ
тАЬRight down in Brittany: at the Manoir dтАЩElseven, five miles from Carhaix.тАЭ
R├йnine rose and asked the girl, seriously:
тАЬAre you quite certain that he loves you, mademoiselle?тАЭ
тАЬI 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 canтАЩt, then I shall be married in a weekтАЩs time to a man whom I hate. I have promised my father; and the banns have been published.тАЭ
тАЬWe shall leave for Carhaix, Madame Daniel and I, this evening,тАЭ said R├йnine.
That evening he and Hortense took the train for Brittany. They reached Carhaix at ten oтАЩclock in the morning; and, after lunch, at half past twelve oтАЩclock they stepped into a car borrowed from a leading resident of the district.
тАЬYouтАЩre looking a little pale, my dear,тАЭ said R├йnine, with a laugh, as they alighted by the gate of the garden at Elseven.
тАЬIтАЩm very fond of Genevi├иve,тАЭ she said. тАЬSheтАЩs the only friend I have. And IтАЩm feeling frightened.тАЭ
He called her attention to the fact that the central gate was flanked by two wickets bearing the names of Madame dтАЩImbleval 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 picturesque, 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 dтАЩImbleval evidently lived on the left and Madame Vaurois on the right.
Hortense and R├йnine listened. Shrill, 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.
тАЬWe canтАЩt go any farther,тАЭ said Hortense. тАЬIt would be indiscreet.тАЭ
тАЬAll the more reason,тАЭ whispered R├йnine. тАЬLook here: if we walk straight ahead, we shanтАЩt be seen by the people who are quarrelling.тАЭ
The sounds of conflict were by no means abating; 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 shrieking at the tops of their voices and shaking their fists at each other.
The women were standing 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 harridans.
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 ravaged face around which they tumbled. The other, who was still thinner, but quite short, was bustling round the room in a cotton dressing-gown and displayed a red, painted face blazing with anger:
тАЬA baggage, thatтАЩs what you are!тАЭ she yelped. тАЬThe wickedest woman in the world and a thief into the bargain!тАЭ
тАЬI, a thief!тАЭ screamed the other.
тАЬWhat about that business with the ducks at ten francs apiece: donтАЩt you call that thieving?тАЭ
тАЬHold 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 wretch!тАЭ
The other started with fury at the outrage and, addressing the young man, cried:
тАЬJean, are you going to sit there and let me be insulted by your hussy of a dтАЩImbleval?тАЭ
And the tall one retorted, furiously:
тАЬHussy! Do you hear that, Louis? Look at her, your Vaurois! SheтАЩs got the airs of a superannuated barmaid! Make her stop, canтАЩt you?тАЭ
Suddenly Jean Louis banged his fist upon the table, making the plates and dishes jump, and shouted:
тАЬBe quiet, both of you, you old lunatics!тАЭ
They turned upon him at once and loaded him with abuse:
тАЬCoward!тБатАКтБатАж Hypocrite!тБатАКтБатАж Liar!тБатАКтБатАж A pretty sort of son you are!тБатАКтБатАж The son of a slut and not much better yourself!тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
The insults rained down upon him. He stopped his ears with his fingers and writhed 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.
R├йnine whispered:
тАЬNowтАЩs the time to go in.тАЭ
тАЬIn among all those infuriated people?тАЭ protested Hortense.
тАЬExactly. We shall see them better with their masks off.тАЭ
And, with a determined step, he walked to the door, opened it and entered the room, followed by Hortense.
His advent gave rise to a feeling of stupefaction. The two women stopped yelling, but were still scarlet in the face and trembling with rage. Jean Louis, who was very pale, stood up.
Profiting by the general confusion, R├йnine said briskly:
тАЬAllow me to introduce myself. I am Prince R├йnine. This is Madame Daniel. We are friends of Mlle.┬аGenevi├иve Aymard and we have come in her name. I have a letter from her addressed to you, monsieur.тАЭ
Jean Louis, already disconcerted by the newcomersтАЩ arrival, lost countenance entirely on hearing the name of Genevi├иve. Without quite knowing what he was saying and with the intention of responding to R├йnineтАЩs courteous behaviour, he tried in his turn to introduce the two ladies and let fall the astounding words:
тАЬMy mother, Madame dтАЩImbleval; my mother, Madame Vaurois.тАЭ
For some time no one spoke. R├йnine bowed. Hortense did not know with whom she should shake hands, with Madame dтАЩImbleval, the mother, or with Madame Vaurois, the mother. But what happened was that Madame dтАЩImbleval and Madame Vaurois both at the same time attempted to snatch the letter which R├йnine was holding out to Jean Louis, while both at the same time mumbled:
тАЬMlle.┬аAymard!тБатАКтБатАж She has had the coolnessтБатАКтБатАж she has had the audacityтБатАКтБатАжтАК!тАЭ
Then Jean Louis, recovering his self-possession, laid hold of his mother dтАЩImbleval 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:
тАЬI am to be married in a week, Jean Louis. Come to my rescue, I beseech you. My friend Hortense and Prince R├йnine will help you to overcome the obstacles that baffle you. Trust them. I love you.
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 Genevi├иve. Indeed, the marks of suffering were visible in all his harassed features, as well as in his sad and anxious eyes.
He repeated Genevi├иveтАЩs 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 intervention had taken him at a disadvantage, like an unforseen attack which he did not know how to meet.
R├йnine felt that the adversary would capitulate at the first summons. The man had been fighting so desperately during the last few months and had suffered so severely in the retirement and obstinate 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 odious existence?
тАЬTake my word for it, monsieur,тАЭ declared R├йnine, тАЬthat it is in your best interests to confide in us. We are Genevi├иve AymardтАЩs friends. Do not hesitate to speak.тАЭ
тАЬI can hardly hesitate,тАЭ he said, тАЬafter 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 Genevi├иve. She will then understand why I have not gone back to herтБатАКтБатАж and why I have not the right to do so.тАЭ
He pushed a chair forward for Hortense. The two men sat down, and, without any need of further persuasion, rather as though he himself felt a certain relief in unburdening himself, he said:
тАЬYou must not be surprised, monsieur, if I tell my story with a certain flippancy, for, as a matter of fact, it is a frankly comical story and cannot fail to make you laugh. Fate often amuses itself by playing these imbecile tricks, these monstrous farces 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 dтАЩElseven, 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 dтАЩImbleval 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 Vend├йe.
тАЬIt 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 confinement.тБатАКтБатАж 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 perfectly 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.тБатАКтБатАж One evening the doctor was called out to a case and drove off in his gig with the manservant, saying that he would not be back till next day. In her masterтАЩs 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 diabolical malignity. At about midnight, Madame dтАЩImbleval was seized with the first pains. The nurse, Mlle.┬аBoussignol, had had some training as a midwife and did not lose her head. But, an hour later, Madame VauroisтАЩ turn came; and the tragedy, or I might rather say the tragicomedy, was enacted amid the screams and moans of the two patients and the bewildered agitation 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 implore the aid of Providence.тБатАКтБатАж Madame Vaurois was the first to bring a son into the world. Mlle.┬аBoussignol hurriedly carried him in here, washed and tended him and laid him in the cradle prepared for him.тБатАКтБатАж But Madame dтАЩImbleval 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.тБатАКтБатАж Add to this all the wretchedness of darkness and disorder, the only lamp, without any oil, for the servant had neglected to fill it, the candles burning out, the moaning of the wind, the screeching of the owls, and you will understand that Mlle.┬аBoussignol was scared out of her wits. However, at five oтАЩclock in the morning, after many tragic incidents, she came in here with the dтАЩImbleval 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 dтАЩImbleval had fainted in her turn. And, when Mlle.┬аBoussignol, having settled the two mothers, but half-crazed with fatigue, her brain in a whirl, returned to the newborn children, she realized with horror that she had wrapped them in similar binders, thrust their feet into similar woolen socks and laid them both, side by side, in the same cradle, so that it was impossible to tell Louis dтАЩImbleval from Jean Vaurois!тБатАКтБатАж 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 survivorтАЩs?тБатАКтБатАж Three hours later, the doctor found the two women in a condition of frenzied delirium, while the nurse was dragging herself from one bed to the other, entreating the two mothers to forgive her. She held me out first to one, then to the other, to receive their caressesтБатАФfor I was the surviving childтБатАФand they first kissed me and then pushed me away; for, after all, who was I? The son of the widowed Madame dтАЩImbleval 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.тБатАКтБатАж 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 dтАЩImbleval or Jean Vaurois. They refused absolutely. тАШWhy Jean Vaurois, if heтАЩs a dтАЩImbleval?тАЩ protested the one. тАШWhy Louis dтАЩImbleval, if heтАЩs a Vaurois?тАЩ retorted the other. And I was registered under the name of Jean Louis, the son of an unknown father and mother.тАЭ
Prince R├йnine had listened in silence. But Hortense, as the story approached its conclusion, had given way to a hilarity which she could no longer restrain and suddenly, in spite of all her efforts, she burst into a fit of the wildest laughter:
тАЬForgive me,тАЭ she said, her eyes filled with tears, тАЬdo forgive me; itтАЩs too much for my nerves.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt apologize, madame,тАЭ said the young man, gently, in a voice free from resentment. тАЬI warned you that my story was laughable; I, better than anyone, know how absurd, how nonsensical it is. Yes, the whole thing is perfectly grotesque. But believe me when I tell you that it was no fun in reality. It seems a humorous situation and it remains humorous by the force of circumstances; but it is also horrible. You can see that for yourself, canтАЩt 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 hatred. Differing completely in character and education and obliged to live together because neither was willing to forego the advantage of her possible maternity, they lived the life of irreconcilable enemies who can never lay their weapons aside.тБатАКтБатАж I grew up in the midst of this hatred and had it instilled 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 loathing and contempt for her. In this manor-house, which they bought on the old doctorтАЩs death and to which they added the two wings, I was the involuntary torturer and their daily victim. Tormented as a child, and, as a young man, leading the most hideous of lives, I doubt if anyone on earth ever suffered more than I did.тАЭ
тАЬYou ought to have left them!тАЭ exclaimed Hortense, who had stopped laughing.
тАЬOne canтАЩt leave oneтАЩs mother; and one of those two women was my mother. And a woman canтАЩt 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, compassion, 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 enoughтБатАКтБатАж but in vain. The broken bonds became tied again. Only this summer, under the stimulus of my love for Genevi├иve, I tried to free myself and did my utmost to persuade the two women whom I call mother. And thenтБатАКтБатАж and then! I was up against their complaints, their immediate hatred of the wife, of the stranger, whom I was proposing to force upon them.тБатАКтБатАж I gave way. What sort of a life would Genevi├иve have had here, between Madame dтАЩImbleval and Madame Vaurois? I had no right to victimize her.тАЭ
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 conscientious motives and a sense of duty. In reality, as R├йnine and Hortense clearly saw, his was an unusually weak nature, incapable 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 Genevi├иve, from dread of ridicule; 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 R├йnine:
тАЬWould you be kind enough to give this note to Mlle.┬аAymard and beg her once more to forgive me?тАЭ
R├йnine did not move and, when the other pressed the letter upon him, he took it and tore it up.
тАЬWhat does this mean?тАЭ asked the young man.
тАЬIt means that I will not charge myself with any message.тАЭ
тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬBecause you are coming with us.тАЭ
тАЬI?тАЭ
тАЬYes. You will see Mlle.┬аAymard tomorrow and ask for her hand in marriage.тАЭ
Jean Louis looked at R├йnine with a rather disdainful air, as though he were thinking:
тАЬHereтАЩs a man who has not understood a word of what IтАЩve been explaining to him.тАЭ
But Hortense went up to R├йnine:
тАЬWhy do you say that?тАЭ
тАЬBecause it will be as I say.тАЭ
тАЬBut you must have your reasons?тАЭ
тАЬOne only; but it will be enough, provided this gentleman is so kind as to help me in my enquiries.тАЭ
тАЬEnquiries? With what object?тАЭ asked the young man.
тАЬWith the object of proving that your story is not quite accurate.тАЭ
Jean Louis took umbrage at this:
тАЬI must ask you to believe, monsieur, that I have not said a word which is not the exact truth.тАЭ
тАЬI expressed myself badly,тАЭ said R├йnine, with great kindliness. тАЬCertainly 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.тАЭ
The young man folded his arms:
тАЬIn any case, monsieur, it seems likely that I should know the truth better than you do.тАЭ
тАЬWhy better? What happened on that tragic night can obviously be known to you only at secondhand. You have no proofs. Neither have Madame dтАЩImbleval and Madame Vaurois.тАЭ
тАЬNo proofs of what?тАЭ exclaimed Jean Louis, losing patience.
тАЬNo proofs of the confusion that took place.тАЭ
тАЬWhat! Why, itтАЩs 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.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬAt least, thatтАЩs her version of it,тАЭ interrupted R├йnine.
тАЬWhatтАЩs that? Her version? But youтАЩre accusing the woman.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm accusing her of nothing.тАЭ
тАЬYes, you are: youтАЩre 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 thereтБатАКтБатАж they saw the woman weepingтБатАКтБатАж they questioned her.тБатАКтБатАж And then, I repeat, what interest had sheтБатАКтБатАжтАК?тАЭ
Jean Louis was greatly excited. Close beside him, Madame dтАЩImbleval and Madame Vaurois, who had no doubt been listening behind the doors and who had stealthily entered the room, stood stammering, in amazement:
тАЬNo, noтБатАКтБатАж itтАЩs impossible.тБатАКтБатАж WeтАЩve questioned her over and over again. Why should she tell a lie?тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬSpeak, monsieur, speak,тАЭ Jean Louis enjoined. тАЬExplain yourself. Give your reasons for trying to cast doubt upon an absolute truth!тАЭ
тАЬBecause that truth is inadmissible,тАЭ declared R├йnine, raising his voice and growing excited in turn to the point of punctuating his remarks by thumping the table. тАЬNo, things donтАЩt happen like that. No, fate does not display those refinements of cruelty and chance is not added to chance with such reckless extravagance! It was already an unprecedented chance that, on the very night on which the doctor, his manservant 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. DonтАЩt 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 inevitably recalled to the mind without any need of reflection. Confusion? I refuse to believe in it. Impossible to tell one from the other? It isnтАЩt 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 fixed point, a solid nucleus, about which the facts group themselves in accordance with a logical order. I therefore declare most positively that Nurse Boussignol could not have mixed up the two children.тАЭ
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:
тАЬThen you think that she may knowтБатАКтБатАж that she may be able to tell us.тБатАКтБатАжтАК?тАЭ
He corrected himself:
тАЬI donтАЩt say yes and I donтАЩt say no. All I say is that there was something in her behaviour during those hours that does not tally with her statements and with reality. All the vast and intolerable mystery that has weighed down upon you three arises not from a momentary 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.тАЭ
Jean Louis said, in a husky voice:
тАЬShe is alive.тБатАКтБатАж She lives at Carhaix.тБатАКтБатАж We can send for her.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
Hortense at once proposed:
тАЬWould you like me to go for her? I will take the motor and bring her back with me. Where does she live?тАЭ
тАЬIn the middle of the town, at a little draperтАЩs shop. The chauffeur will show you. Mlle.┬аBoussignol: everybody knows her.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬAnd, whatever you do,тАЭ added R├йnine, тАЬdonтАЩt warn her in any way. If sheтАЩs uneasy, so much the better. But donтАЩt let her know what we want with her.тАЭ
Twenty minutes passed in absolute silence. R├йnine paced the room, in which the fine old furniture, the handsome tapestries, the well-bound books and pretty knickknacks 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, R├йnine was able to note the bad taste of the two mothers.
He went up to Jean Louis and, in a low voice, asked:
тАЬAre they well off?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
тАЬAnd you?тАЭ
тАЬThey settled the manor-house upon me, with all the land around it, which makes me quite independent.тАЭ
тАЬHave they any relations?тАЭ
тАЬSisters, both of them.тАЭ
тАЬWith whom they could go to live?тАЭ
тАЬYes; and they have sometimes thought of doing so. But there canтАЩt be any question of that. Once more, I assure you.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
Meantime the car had returned. The two women jumped up hurriedly, ready to speak.
тАЬLeave it to me,тАЭ said R├йnine, тАЬand donтАЩt be surprised by anything that I say. ItтАЩs not a matter of asking her questions but of frightening her, of flurrying her.тБатАКтБатАж The sudden attack,тАЭ 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 fluted linen cap, a black velvet bodice and a heavy gathered skirt.
The old woman entered in a great state of alarm. She had a pointed face, like a weaselтАЩs, with a prominent mouth full of protruding teeth.
тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter, Madame dтАЩImbleval?тАЭ she asked, timidly stepping into the room from which the doctor had once driven her. тАЬGood day to you, Madame Vaurois.тАЭ
The ladies did not reply. R├йnine came forward and said, sternly:
тАЬMlle.┬аBoussignol, 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 inaccurate. 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 interrogatedтБатАКтБатАж unless you are prepared here and now to confess everything that might repair the consequences of your offence.тАЭ
The old maid was shaking in every limb. Her teeth were chattering. She was evidently incapable of opposing the least resistance to R├йnine.
тАЬAre you ready to confess everything?тАЭ he asked.
тАЬYes,тАЭ she panted.
тАЬWithout delay? I have to catch a train. The business must be settled immediately. If you show the least hesitation, I take you with me. Have you made up your mind to speak?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
He pointed to Jean Louis:
тАЬWhose son is this gentleman? Madame dтАЩImblevalтАЩs?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ
тАЬMadame VauroisтАЩ, therefore?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ
A stupefied silence welcomed the two replies.
тАЬExplain yourself,тАЭ R├йnine 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 mumbling:
тАЬSomeone came in the eveningтБатАКтБатАж a gentleman with a newborn baby wrapped in blankets, which he wanted the doctor to look after. As the doctor wasnтАЩt there, he waited all night and it was he who did it all.тАЭ
тАЬDid what?тАЭ asked R├йnine. тАЬWhat did he do? What happened?тАЭ
тАЬWell, what happened was that it was not one child but the two of them that died: Madame dтАЩImblevalтАЩs and Madame VauroisтАЩ too, both in convulsions. Then the gentleman, seeing this, said, тАШThis 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.тАЩ 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 dтАЩImbleval 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.тАЭ
Mlle.┬аBoussignol bent her head and wept. After a moment, R├йnine said:
тАЬYour deposition agrees with the result of my investigations.тАЭ
тАЬCan I go?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
тАЬAnd is it over, as far as IтАЩm concerned? They wonтАЩt be talking about this all over the district?тАЭ
тАЬNo. Oh, just one more question: do you know the manтАЩs name?тАЭ
тАЬNo. He didnтАЩt tell me his name.тАЭ
тАЬHave you ever seen him since?тАЭ
тАЬNever.тАЭ
тАЬHave you anything more to say?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ
тАЬAre you prepared to sign the written text of your confession?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
тАЬVery well. I shall send for you in a week or two. Till then, not a word to anybody.тАЭ
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 rupture, without requiring them to reflect upon the matter, filled them with a gentle tranquillity of which they were hardly conscious, but which made them serious and thoughtful.
тАЬLetтАЩs rush things,тАЭ said R├йnine to Hortense. тАЬThis is the decisive moment of the battle. We must get Jean Louis on board.тАЭ
Hortense seemed preoccupied. She whispered:
тАЬWhy did you let the woman go? Were you satisfied with her statement?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt need to be satisfied. She told us what happened. What more do you want?тАЭ
тАЬNothing.тБатАКтБатАж I donтАЩt know.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩll talk about it later, my dear. For the moment, I repeat, we must get Jean Louis on board. And immediately.тБатАКтБатАж Otherwise.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
He turned to the young man:
тАЬYou agree with me, donтАЩt you, that, things being as they are, it is best for you and Madame Vaurois and Madame dтАЩImbleval 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 Genevi├иve Aymard, your fianc├йe.тАЭ
Jean Louis stood perplexed and undecided. R├йnine turned to the two women:
тАЬThat is your opinion too, I am sure, ladies?тАЭ
They nodded.
тАЬYou see, monsieur,тАЭ he said to Jean Louis, тАЬwe are all agreed. In great crises, there is nothing like separationтБатАКтБатАж a few daysтАЩ respite. Quickly now, monsieur.тАЭ
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.
тАЬAnd he wonтАЩt go back until heтАЩs married,тАЭ said R├йnine to Hortense, as they were waiting at Carhaix station, to which the car had taken them, while Jean Louis was attending to his luggage. тАЬEverythingтАЩs for the best. Are you satisfied?тАЭ
тАЬYes, Genevi├иve will be glad,тАЭ she replied, absently.
When they had taken their seats in the train, R├йnine and she repaired to the dining-car. R├йnine, who had asked Hortense several questions to which she had replied only in monosyllables, protested:
тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter with you, my child? You look worried!тАЭ
тАЬI? Not at all!тАЭ
тАЬYes, yes, I know you. Now, no secrets, no mysteries!тАЭ
She smiled:
тАЬWell, since you insist on knowing if I am satisfied, I am bound to admit that of course I amтБатАКтБатАж as regards my friend Genevi├иve, but that, in another respectтБатАФfrom the point of view of the adventureтБатАФI have an uncomfortable sort of feeling.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬTo speak frankly, I havenтАЩt тАШstaggeredтАЩ you this time?тАЭ
тАЬNot very much.тАЭ
тАЬI seem to you to have played a secondary part. For, after all, what have I done? We arrived. We listened to Jean LouisтАЩ tale of woe. I had a midwife fetched. And that was all.тАЭ
тАЬExactly. I want to know if that was all; and IтАЩm not quite sure. To tell you the truth, our other adventures left behind them an impression which wasтБатАФhow shall I put it?тБатАФmore definite, clearer.тАЭ
тАЬAnd this one strikes you as obscure?тАЭ
тАЬObscure, yes, and incomplete.тАЭ
тАЬBut in what way?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt know. Perhaps it has something to do with that womanтАЩs confession. Yes, very likely that is it. It was all so unexpected and so short.тАЭ
тАЬWell, of course, I cut it short, as you can readily imagine!тАЭ said R├йnine, laughing. тАЬWe didnтАЩt want too many explanations.тАЭ
тАЬWhat do you mean?тАЭ
тАЬWhy, if she had given her explanations with too much detail, we should have ended by doubting what she was telling us.тАЭ
тАЬBy doubting it?тАЭ
тАЬWell, 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 hadnтАЩt much time to coach the unfortunate woman in her part.тАЭ
Hortense stared at him in amazement:
тАЬWhat on earth do you mean?тАЭ
тАЬWell, 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 hurryтБатАКтБатАж and she really didnтАЩt act it so badly. It was all in the right key: terror, tremolo, tears.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
тАЬIs it possible?тАЭ murmured Hortense. тАЬIs it possible? You had seen her beforehand?тАЭ
тАЬI had to, of course.тАЭ
тАЬBut when?тАЭ
тАЬThis 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 dтАЩImbleval-Vaurois story. I was at once directed to the former midwife, Mlle.┬аBoussignol. With Mlle.┬аBoussignol 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 thatтБатАКтБатАж more or less credibleтБатАКтБатАж version to the people at the manor-house.тАЭ
тАЬA quite incredible version!тАЭ
тАЬNot so bad as all that, my child, seeing that you believed itтБатАКтБатАж and the others too. And that was the essential thing. What I had to do was to demolish 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 eloquence. Impossible to identify the children? I deny it. Inevitable confusion? ItтАЩs not true. тАШYouтАЩre all three,тАЩ I say, тАШthe victims of something which I donтАЩt know but which it is your duty to clear up!тАЩ тАШThatтАЩs easily done,тАЩ says Jean Louis, whose conviction is at once shaken. тАШLetтАЩs send for Mlle.┬аBoussignol.тАЩ тАШRight! LetтАЩs send for her.тАЩ Whereupon Mlle.┬аBoussignol arrives and mumbles out the little speech which I have taught her. Sensation! General stupefactionтБатАКтБатАж of which I take advantage to carry off our young man!тАЭ
Hortense shook her head:
тАЬBut theyтАЩll get over it, all three of them, on thinking!тАЭ
тАЬNever! 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 theyтАЩre 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 wonтАЩt cling like grim death to the liberty which IтАЩm giving them? Nonsense! Why, they would have swallowed a hoax twice as difficult to digest as that which Mlle.┬аBoussignol 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 dтАЩImbleval and Madame Vaurois speak of an immediate removal. They were already becoming quite affectionate at the thought of seeing the last of each other.тАЭ
тАЬBut what about Jean Louis?тАЭ
тАЬJean Louis? Why, he was fed up with his two mothers! By Jingo, one canтАЩt do with two mothers in a lifetime! 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 doesnтАЩt hesitate! And, besides, Jean Louis is in love with Genevi├иve.тАЭ He laughed. тАЬAnd he loves her well enough, I hope and trust, not to inflict two mothers-in-law upon her! Come, you may be easy in your mind. Your friendтАЩs 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 elucidated by looking for and finding cigarette-ends, or incendiary water-bottles and blazing hatboxes as on our last expedition, others call for psychology and for purely psychological solutions. I have spoken. And I charge you to be silent.тАЭ
тАЬSilent?тАЭ
тАЬYes, thereтАЩs a man and woman sitting behind us who seem to be saying something uncommonly interesting.тАЭ
тАЬBut theyтАЩre talking in whispers.тАЭ
тАЬJust so. When people talk in whispers, itтАЩs always about something shady.тАЭ
He lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair. Hortense listened, but in vain. As for him, he was emitting little slow puffs of smoke.
Fifteen minutes later, the train stopped and the man and woman got out.
тАЬPity,тАЭ said R├йnine, тАЬthat I donтАЩt know their names or where theyтАЩre going. But I know where to find them. My dear, we have a new adventure before us.тАЭ
Hortense protested:
тАЬOh, no, please, not yet!тБатАКтБатАж Give me a little rest!тБатАКтБатАж And oughtnтАЩt we to think of Genevi├иve?тАЭ
He seemed greatly surprised:
тАЬWhy, all thatтАЩs 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 IтАЩve lost all interest in the man with the two mammas.тАЭ
And this was said in such a comical tone and with such diverting sincerity that Hortense was once more seized with a fit of giggling. Laughter alone was able to relax her exasperated nerves and to distract her from so many contradictory emotions.