The Mystery of the Lost Dauphin Part 33

"Receive _us_?" asked the girl.

"No, myself only. Amelie, consider that you are a stranger to her, whereas I am the companion of her childhood, the boy who wept and suffered with her during captivity. She consents to see me. Do you think this little? I asked only that much, for I know that once together, she will run to embrace me. O that embrace!"

"Does she summon you to the Palace?"

"No--not to the palace--"

"Aha! the meeting is to be clandestine!"

"My G.o.d!" groaned Naundorff. "How you poison the first happiness I have tasted! Can you not read the state of my soul? Ambition! 'Tis an illusive folly. I long only for those arms to be opened to me in which as a little child I slept. What are a crown and sceptre worth? Such baubles do not allure me. I wish above all things to recover my name and to feel my sister's kisses. Those kisses will banish the spectre back of my forehead. Am I mad? Have I dreamed my past life? _She_, _she_ will tell me the truth."

"But father," remonstrated Amelie, "why do you permit such doubts to overpower you? Do you not possess proofs? Have you not cited many corroborating circ.u.mstances? Have you not been recognized by your father's faithful servitors? By Madame Rambaud who rocked you in your cradle? Did you not remind her that the blue velvet dress you were to wear to Versailles was tight in the sleeves and that it was in consequence removed? Did she not exclaim on hearing you: 'This is my prince and my king?"

"Well, Amelie, in spite of these testimonials, I, myself falter in faith. My past seems too extraordinary to fit within the bounds of the possible. Perhaps I _am_ a visionary, one of the many in the ranks of spurious Dauphins who have emerged from every corner of France. 'Tis true that I possess genuine doc.u.mentary proof; of that I am certain. But these papers may have been placed in my hands for an end incomprehensible to me. Montmorin, himself, that hero of loyalty, may have been duped. This is the terrible suspicion which seizes me always at the moment when I most require confidence and courage."

Amelie sent Rene a look almost of anguish. Naundorff continued:

"_She_ is the only cure for this unbearable incert.i.tude. _She_ is all that remains of my past. Her voice calling me 'Brother' will sweep the cobwebs from my brain and restore my faith forever."

"Are we to understand, Monseigneur," asked Rene, "that you may not enter the Palace? Is Madame to visit you here?"

"No; we have agreed to meet in Versailles park, the place where as children we so often played together. My sister is accustomed to visit Versailles occasionally that she may be undisturbed in her religious devotions and perform works of charity among the poor. Ah! my sister is an angel. In the midst of the brilliant court life, she is an angel.

They have sought to harden her and weaken her clear judgment, but such effort has been futile. Yes, 'tis Versailles where we shall meet in six days, next Thursday. I am to be just without the garden. We are to meet in the grove of Apollo, from which the public is excluded; she visits the park only on festival days. All these details have been explained.--I know so well that our first act will be to cast ourselves into each other's arms and mingle our tears. We have not yet mourned our mother together!"

Louis Pierre contracted his thin lips in a bitter smile and caustically remarked:

"So this is to be all, Monseigneur? Only a fraternal embrace?"

"No, indeed. She wishes to see the doc.u.ments. I shall therefore take them to her and also the ma.n.u.script--"

If a bomb had exploded in their midst, not more consternation could have been evinced. They exclaimed in chorus:

"The papers!"

"Never!" protested Amelie.

"'Tis an infernal trap!" exclaimed Louis Pierre.

"Bandits! The snare is well laid," added Giacinto.

"Monseigneur!" implored de Breze. "Those papers are of inestimable value to us; they should be exhibited only before a court of justice. Our enemies seek to obtain possession of these papers, and, if they succeed, our cause is lost. The watch-maker Naundorff will be without proofs of his ident.i.ty."

Naundorff became tremulous with anger.

"Dare not impute such infamy to my sister or I shall attribute villainy to yourselves. In this matter, I accept suggestions from no one. 'Tis an affair between G.o.d and myself. This is not a question for man to settle, for what value have the misleading judgments of earth? _I_ alone decide.

_I_ am the State! _I_ am the King. These papers pertain to myself only, even as my life is my exclusive property. If my sister, on seeing me, shall waive material proofs, how happy I shall be! But if she doubt or repulse me, what a joy, what a Satanic joy 'twill be to fling these testimonials in her face and say, 'Farewell forever. Our mother curses you!'"

He broke into a mocking laugh, such a laugh as terminates in nervous hysteria, while the others with saddened faces remained silent. Then he rose to leave, saying to de Breze:

"Rene, I trust to you to bring me the papers Thursday morning. If you do not accede to this request, you will force me to violence."

As he pa.s.sed out, Amelie said entreatingly to her lover:

"Save him in spite of himself. Keep them in their place of concealment, for there they are secure."

"Most secure," replied de Breze. "They are with a friend, Gontran de Lome. He thinks them a compromising love correspondence of mine. Who would suspect that amiable Lovelace? Nevertheless, in spite of his dissipations, he is a man of honor and discretion. I guarantee the security of the papers while they remain with Gontran. But should your father demand them, Amelie, I cannot refuse. He is the arbiter of his fate and of our own as well."

The Carbonari meanwhile conversed in low tones. After a while Louis Pierre advanced saying:

"There lives in Versailles a sister of mine, who terminated her vagrant peddling existence by the establishment of a little shop. Giacinto and I have formulated a plan which we shall explain to you. We cannot fold our arms in the moment of danger."

"n.o.ble friends!" said Amelie, extending her hands to the two men.

"No, Mademoiselle; you are ent.i.tled to our lives. You were made in heaven and the mourning you wear for that unfortunate peasant testifies to the greatness of your soul. I would let myself be torn to pieces for you. Our danger is grave. From the moment the papers are delivered to our enemies, our necks will be in danger. Louis Pierre and I are endeavoring to counteract the blunder which--pardon me,--was committed in consequence of your father's generosity. I take an oath that 'tis the man whom I have vowed to kill that has woven the net which has caught your father. Has not your father suffered enough to destroy the impression that all men are to be trusted?"

"My opinion," said Louis Pierre, "is that the hands that have woven the snare are whiter and more patrician than the spy's, however much he love and care for them. An iniquitous plot has been hatched at the d.u.c.h.ess's shoulders, for the securing of the papers. If we find it impossible to prevent the catastrophe, why vengeance remains," he concluded, his face taking on a tragic grandeur.

Chapter VI

LOUIS PIERRE'S SISTER

Those to whom the gardens and parks of Versailles are not familiar can form no idea of the manner in which aristocratic dignity imparts elegance to rural, sites. The impression is not that of sweet melancholy so often produced by country scenes but rather of a lofty magnificence, which weighs upon the soul and becomes even a solemn ennui, which proceeds from the very regularity and grandeur of the royal domain, wherein one still involuntarily looks for powder-headed dames and cavaliers in embroidered waist-coats.

On Sundays it was permitted the public to enjoy the park, which during the week was deserted save for the gardeners and guard, who, wearing bandoliers and holding rifles, watched over the safety of whatever members of the royal family happened to be in the Palace.

Nazario Patin, sergeant of the guard, was quite taken aback on receiving orders to retire the soldiers on Thursday from the avenue leading to the Great lawn, from the Latona pond, the Columnata wood and the Apollo grove. A second order, no less explicit, followed to the effect that he was to hold these guards in waiting in the a.s.sembly hall, in case they should be needed.

On Wednesday evening the d.u.c.h.ess arrived at the Palace. Patin soliloquized:

"She wishes to promenade tomorrow and look on no human countenance, so greatly is she given to prayer and meditation. But that the guard should be retired! Hum! I can't understand."

On Thursday four men wearing the simple uniform of the ordinary guard, bearing rifles and in their belts hunting knives, arrived in the deserted park from the Ville d'Avray road and approached one of the little gates opening towards les Trianones which Marie Antoinette, discarding pompous ceremonial, used to frequent. Cautiously they opened the gate, using a key carried by him who seemed the leader. They held a conference in low tones, as tho fearful of disturbing the birds in the trees. The leader's southern type revived recollections of the Catalan smuggler, Albert Serra, a gentleman whom we met in the apartments of Baron Lecazes, just returned from London and professing to have successfully lightered a s.h.i.+p of a cargo of cutlery. This was Volpetti's disguise when he wished to represent a man of the lower cla.s.ses.

"Beware!" he was saying to the others. "Listen well and execute even better. A false step will be fatal to our object. You, Lestrade, are to guide him into the garden. He comes by the route we have taken and will travel on foot from this side Le Chesnay. As for you, Sec and La Grive, remain without, near the gate. I only shall remain inside the park. When he leaves the garden, I shall follow him; and if I signal you by raising my arm, throw yourselves upon him, gagging and binding him. Whatever you find upon his person is to be taken to my superior, the Minister of Police. No matter what happens save the booty. Your lives, my life, are worth nothing in comparison. Whoever carries the prize to the Minister will be a lucky man, I pledge my word."

Making motions of a.s.sent, the party dispersed. A deep quiet spread over the park, along whose paths the d.u.c.h.ess was even now walking. Her dress of violet silk embroidered in pa.s.s.e.m.e.nterie, betokened mourning. She held her hand on her heart to still its beating. At about the same time, Patin, sergeant of the guard, his services not being required, turned his steps in the direction of a lady friend, a certain laundress, in whose kitchen, so gossip had it, there was never lack of savory dishes and pleasant chitchat for the handsome sergeant. On ascending the stairway, he met a girl whose face seemed glorified by the splendor light of yellow hair, arranged in curls, according to the style of the period. As he drew back to make room for her, he muttered to himself:

"The picture of the beheaded Queen!"

Some moments later he was asking the laundress, as she stood at her table ironing a dainty garment:

"Who is that young girl in mourning that has just left your neighbor's apartment?"

"I do not know. I have never spoken with her but I scent a mystery.