Александр Дюма
Captain Paul
CHAPTER IX. – FATAL LOVE
I shall a tale unfold
Will harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood;
Make thy two eyes like stars, start from their spheres;
Thy knotted and combined locks to part.
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
Shakespeare.
The old man seemed to be summoning up his recollections for a time, and then began:
"They were affianced to each other. I know not what mortal hatred it was that arose between the families and separated them. The Count de Morlaix, broken hearted, could not remain in France. He sailed for Saint Domingo, where his father possessed a large estate; I accompanied him, for the Count de Morlaix reposed much confidence in me. I was the son of her who had nursed him; I had received the same education as himself; he used to call me his brother, and I alone remembered the distance which nature had placed between us. The Marquis de Morlaix confided to me the charge of watching over his son, for I loved him with all the love of a father. We remained two years under a tropical sun; during that two years, your father, lost amid the solitude of that magnificent island, a traveller without an object and without an aim, an ardent and indefatigable sportsman, endeavouring to cure the griefs of the mind, by the fatigues of the body; but so far from succeeding, one would have thought that his heart became still more inflamed under that ardent sun. At length, after two years of trial and incessant struggles, his love conquered. He must either see her again or die. I yielded and we set sail for France. Never was a voyage more beautiful, or more prosperous. The sea and sky seemed to smile upon us; so favourable were they that it would have induced one to believe in lucky omens. Six weeks after our departure from Port au Prince, we landed at Havre. Mademoiselle de Sablé was married. The Marquis d'Auray was at Versailles, fulfilling at the court of Louis XV. the duties of his charge, and his wife, who was too much indisposed to follow him, was at the old chateau d'Auray, the turrets of which you see from this place."
"Yes, yes," said Paul, "I know it; pray go on."
"As to myself," rejoined the old map, "during our voyage, one of my uncles, an old servant of the house of Auray, had died, and left me this small house, with a small quantity of land surrounding it. I took possession of it. Your father had left me at Vannes, telling me he was going to Paris, and for the whole of the first year that I inherited this house I did not see him."
"One night, – it is exactly twenty-five years ago, – some one knocked at my door; I went to open it and found your father there, carrying in his arms a woman whose face was veiled. He brought her into this room, and laid her on that bed. And then returning to me in the adjoining room, where I was waiting mute and motionless with astonishment, he placed his hand upon my shoulder, and looking at me in a supplicating manner, although he had the right to command me, said, 'Louis, you can do more than save my life and honor – you can save the life and honor of her I love – get on horseback, gallop to the next town, and return here in an hour with a doctor.' He spoke to me in that short and hasty tone, which indicated that there was not a moment to be lost. I immediately obeyed. The day was beginning to break when we returned. The doctor was introduced by the Count de Morlaix into this room, the door of which was immediately closed: he remained there during the whole day; towards five in the afternoon, the doctor left the house, and at nightfall your father also left the house carrying in his arms the mysterious veiled lady whom he had brought the previous night. When they had gone, I came into this room and found you here – you had just been born."
"And how did you learn that this woman was the Marchioness d'Auray?"
"Oh!" exclaimed the old man, in a way which was as terrible as it was unexpected; "I had offered the Count de Morlaix to keep you here, and he accepted my proposal: from time to time he would come to spend an hour with you."
"Alone?" demanded Paul, with much anxiety.
"Yes, always; but as he had given me permission to walk with you in the park, it would sometimes happen that at the corner of one of the avenues I would meet the marchioness, whom chance appeared to have conducted in that direction. She would make you a sign to come to her, and she would kiss you as people kiss a strange child, because he is handsome. Four years passed on in this way, and then one night some one again knocked at this door, and it was again your father. He was more calm, but had, perhaps, a more gloomy look than on the first occasion. 'Louis,' said he, 'to-morrow, at the break of day, I have to meet the Marquis d'Auray. It is a duel in which one of us must fall, and you are to be the only witness of it. The terms are agreed upon. You must, therefore, give me shelter for this night, and let me have materials for writing.' He sat down at this table, on the very chair you are now seated."
Paul sprang up, but supported himself on the back of the chair, without again sitting down upon it. "He sat up all night. At day-break he came into my room and found me up – I had not gone to bed. As to you poor child, unconscious of the passions and miseries of this life, you were quietly sleeping."
"And then, – pray go on."
"Your father bent slowly over you, supporting himself by the wall, and looking sorrowfully upon you: 'Louis,' said he to me, in a hollow voice, 'should I be killed, and which may happen, wo to this child! You will deliver him with this letter to Field, my valet de chambre, whom I have charged to conduct him to Selkirk, in Scotland, there to leave him in sure hands. When he is twenty-five years old, he will bring you the other half of this gold coin, and will ask you to reveal to him the secret of his birth. You will communicate it; for then, perhaps, his mother will be alone and isolated. As to these papers which prove his birth, you will not deliver them to him, until after the death of the Marquis d'Auray. Now I have said all that is necessary, let us go, for it is the appointed hour. He then leaned over your bed, bent down toward you, and although he was a man of fortitude, as I have told you, I saw a tear fall upon your cheek."
"Proceed," said Paul, in a voice choked by emotion.
"The rendezvous was in one of the avenues of the park, about a hundred paces from this house. When we reached the place, we found the marquis there, he had been waiting for us some minutes. Near him upon a bank were pistols ready loaded. The adversaries bowed to each other without exchanging a word. The marquis pointed to the weapons – they each took one, and then, according to the terms which had been agreed upon, as your father had told me, they placed themselves, mute and gloomily, at the distance of thirty paces, and then began to walk towards each other. Oh! it was a moment ef agony for me, I can assure you," rejoined the old man, almost as much moved as if the scene were then actually passing before him, "when I saw the distance gradually diminishing between these two men. When they were only about ten paces, the marquis stopped and fired. I looked at your father; not a muscle of his face was moved, so that I thought him safe and unhurt. He continued to walk on till he came close to the marquis, and then placing the muzzle of the pistol to his heart – "
"He did not kill him, I trust," cried Paul seizing the old man's arm.
"He said to him, Your life is in my hands, sir, and I might take it, but I wish you to live, that you may pardon me, as I do you. And uttering these words, he fell dead at the feet of the marquis, whose ball had passed through his chest."
"Oh! my father! my father!" cried Paul, wringing his hands. "And the man who killed my father – he still lives, does he not? He is still young, and has strength enough to wield a sword or raise a pistol? We will go to him – to-day – instantly! You will tell him, that it is his son! that he must fight with him."
"God has avenged your father," replied Achard – "that man is mad."
"That is true – I had forgotten that," murmured Paul.
"And in his madness that bloody scene is ever before his eyes, and he repeats ten times a day the dying words your father addressed to him."
"And that must be the reason why the marchioness will not leave him for a single moment."
"And that is also the reason, under the pretext that he will not see his children, that she keeps Emanuel and Marguerite from him."
"My poor sister," said Paul, with an accent of undefinable tenderness; "and now she wishes to sacrifice her by forcing her to marry that wretch Lectoure."
"Yes, but that wretch Lectoure will take Marguerite with him to Paris, and give a regiment of dragoons to her brother, so that the marchioness will no longer have cause to dread the presence of her children. Her secret, therefore, remains henceforward in the breasts of two old men, who to-morrow, this night even, may die. The grave is silent."
"But, I – I!" —
"You! Does she know that you still exist! Has anything been heard of you since you escaped from Selkirk? Could not some accident have prevented you from coming to the appointment, which fortunately you have done safely? It is certain that she has not forgotten you, but she hopes" —
"Oh! can you believe that my mother" —
"I beg your pardon, that is true. I do not believe it!" cried Achard, "I was wrong; forget what I have said."
"Yes, yes, let us speak of you, my friend; let us speak of my father."
"Is it necessary that I should tell you that his last wishes were fulfilled. Field came to fetch you during the day, and took you away with him. Twenty-one years have passed since then, and since then not a single day has passed without my putting up a prayer that I might see you at the appointed time. My prayers have been granted," continued the old man; "and thanks be to God, you are here. Your father lives again in you – I once more see him – I am speaking to him. I weep no longer, I am now consoled."
"And he died thus, instantly, without a struggle, without a sigh?"
"Yes – I brought him here. I placed him on the bed in which you were born – I closed the door that no one might enter the house, and I went alone and dug his grave. I passed the whole day in this painful duty; for, according to the request of your father, to no one was to be confided this dreadful secret. In the evening I returned for the body. The heart of man is singularly constituted, and hope which God has planted in it can with difficulty be eradicated. I had seen him fall – I had felt his hands grow cold – I had kissed his ice-like face – I had left him, to hollow out his grave, and that grave being made, that duty being accomplished, I returned with a beating heart, for it appeared to me, although a miracle would be required for such a change, that during my absence life had returned to him, and that he would rise from his bed and speak to me. I entered the house – alas! alas! the days of miracles had passed away. Lazarus remained lying on his couch – dead! dead! dead!" and the old man remained for some time overwhelmed with grief, silent and voiceless, and tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks.
"Yes, yes," cried Paul, also bursting into tears; "yes, and you then fulfilled your holy mission. Good old man, let me kiss those hands which deposited my father in his last home. And you have remained faithful to his tomb as you had been to him during life. Poor guardian of the sepulchre; you have remained near him that your tears might water the grass which grew about the unknown grave. Oh! how little are those who think themselves great because their name resounds amid the tempest, and the cry of war, louder than the storm or the din of battle, in comparison with you, old man, whose devotedness has been mute and noiseless. Oh! give me your blessings lay those hallowed hands upon my head, since my father is not here to bless me," continued Paul, throwing himself on his knees before him.
"Rise to my arms – let me clasp you to my heart, my child, for you exaggerate these actions, in themselves so simple and so natural. And then, believe me, that which you term my piety has not been a useless lesson to me. I have seen how little space a man occupies beneath the ground, and how soon he is lost amid the world, should God turn his face from him. Your father was young, full of courage, with a brilliant career opening before him. Your father was the last descendant of an ancient line; he bore a noble name. His path seemed marked with honors and distinction; he had a family and powerful friends. Well, he suddenly disappeared, as if the earth had opened beneath his feet. I know not if some tearful eyes sought for him till they lost all trace of him; but this I know, that for one-and-twenty years no one has sought out his tomb – no one knows that he lies beneath that spot, where the grass is greener and grows more luxuriantly than elsewhere – and yet, vain, glorious, and miserable as he is, man considers himself of some value."
"Oh! and my mother, has she not visited his grave?"
The old man did not answer.
"Well, then! there will be two of us who henceforward will know the spot, where he reposes. Come, and show it to me; for I will return to it, I promise solemnly, every time my ship returns to the coast of France."
Saying this, he drew Achard into the outer room, but as they opened the door they heard a slight noise in the park. It was a servant from the castle, who had accompanied Marguerite. Paul hurriedly returned into the bedroom.
"It is my sister," said he to Achard; "leave me alone with her a moment. It is necessary that I should speak to her. I have something to communicate which will make her pass a happy night. We must have compassion for those who watch and weep."
"Reflect," said Achard, "that the secret I have revealed to you is your mother's."
"Fear not – I will speak to her but of that which concerns herself."
At that moment Marguerite entered the room.
CHAPTER X. – CONFIDENCE
This ring I gave him when he parted from me
To bind him to remember my good will;
The more shame for him that he sends it to me.
Shakespeare.
Marguerite had come, as she frequently did, to bring some provisions for the old man, and it was not without astonishment that she perceived in the outer room, where she usually found Achard, a young and handsome man, who looked at her with gladdened eyes, and with a kindly smile. She made a sign to the servant to put down the basket in a corner of the room; he obeyed, and then went out to wait for his mistress in the park. When he had withdrawn, she advanced towards Paul, saying, —
"I beg your pardon, sir, but I expected to find my old friend, Achard, here, and I came, to bring him something from my mother" —
Paul pointed to the inner room, to let her know that the person she was seeking was within, for he could not reply to her; he felt that the tone of his voice would betray the emotions he experienced. The young girl thanked him, with a bow, and went into the room to find Achard.
Paul followed her with his eyes – his hand pressed upon his heart. That virgin soul into which love had never penetrated, now expanded with fraternal tenderness. Isolated as he had always been, having no friends but the rude children of the ocean, all that was soft or tender in his heart, he had turned towards God, and although in the eyes of rigid Christians, his religion might not have appeared as strictly orthodox, it is no less true, that the poetry which overflowed in every word he uttered was nothing more than one vast and eternal prayer. It was not, therefore, astonishing, that this first feeling which penetrated his heart, although purely fraternal, was as extravagant and transporting as the emotions of love.
"Oh!" murmured he, "poor isolated being that I am! How shall I be able to restrain my feelings when she returns, and prevent myself from clasping her to my heart and saying to her: Marguerite! my sister, no woman has yet felt love for me; love me then with sisterly affection. Oh! mother! mother! by depriving me of your caresses, you have also deprived me of those of this dear angel. May God restore to you in eternity that happiness which you have driven from yourself and others."
"Farewell!" said Marguerite to the old man, opening the door, "farewell! I wished this evening to come myself, for I know not when I may see you again."
And she went toward the outer door, pensive, and with her eyes cast down, without seeing Paul, without remembering that a stranger was in that room. Paul remained gazing at her with outstretched arms as if to prevent her leaving the house, with palpitating heart and moistened eyes. At length, when he saw her placing her hand upon the door-latch, he cried aloud —
"Marguerite!"
She turned round amazed, but not being able to comprehend this strange familiarity, in one who was totally unknown to her, she half-opened the door.
"Marguerite!" reiterated Paul, advancing a step towards his sister, "Marguerite, do you not hear me call you?"
"It is true that my name is Marguerite, sir," she replied, with dignity; "but I could not imagine that word was addressed to me by a person whom I have the honor of knowing."
"But I know you!" exclaimed Paul, going nearer to her, and then closing the door he brought her back into the room. "I know that you are unhappy, that you have not one friendly heart into which you can pour your sorrows, not one arm from which you can ask support."
"You forget the one which is on high," replied Marguerite, raising her eyes and hand toward heaven.
"No, no, Marguerite, I do not forget, for it is He who sends me to offer you that which you most need; to tell you when all lips and all hearts are closed toward you, 'I am your friend, devotedly, eternally.'"
"Oh! sir!" replied Marguerite, "these are sacred and solemn words which you have uttered; words, unfortunately, to which it would be difficult for me to give credence without proofs."
"And should I give you one?" said Paul.
"Impossible!" murmured Marguerite.
"Irrefragable!" continued Paul.
"Oh! then!" exclaimed Marguerite, with an indescribable accent, in which doubt began to give place to hope —
"Well! and then" —
"Oh! then – but no, no!"
"Do you know this ring?" said Paul, showing her the one with the key that opened the bracelet.
"Gracious heaven!" exclaimed Marguerite, "have mercy upon me! he is dead!"
"He lives."
"Then he no longer loves me."
"He loves you!"
"If he be living – if he still love me – oh! I shall go mad – what was it I was saying? If he be living – if he still love me, how comes it that this ring is in your possession?"
"He confided it to me as a token of recognition."
"And have I confided this bracelet to any one?" cried Marguerite, pushing back the sleeve of her gown – "Look!"
"Yes, but you, Marguerite, you are not proscribed – dishonored, in the eyes of the whole world – thrown amongst a condemned race!"
"Of what importance is that. Is he not innocent?"
"And then, he thought," continued Paul, wishing to discover the extent of the devotedness and love of his sister, "he thought that delicacy required, banished as he is for ever from society, that he should offer you, if not restore to you, the liberty of disposing of your hand."
"When a woman has done for a man that which I have done for him," replied Marguerite, "her only excuse is to love him eternally, and it is that I mean to do."
"Oh! you are an angel!" exclaimed Paul.
"Tell me!" rejoined Marguerite, seizing the young man's hands, and looking at him with a supplicating air —
"What?"
"Have you seen him, then?"
"I am his friend, his brother."
"Speak to me of him, then?" she exclaimed, giving herself up entirely to the recollection of her lover, and forgetting that it was the first time she had seen the person to whom she was addressing questions of so delicate a nature. "What is he doing? what hope has he? Poor, unhappy man!"
"He loves you – and he hopes again to see you."
"Then, then," stammered Marguerite, and drawing back some paces, – "he has told you – ?"
"All!"
"Oh!" she cried, looking down and concealing her face, over which a sudden tinge of red had cast itself, replacing for a moment its habitual paleness.
Paul approached her and clasping her to his breast, exclaiming —
"You are a miracle of devotedness!"
"You do not then despise me, sir?" said Marguerite, Venturing to raise her eyes.
"Marguerite!" cried Paul, "had I a sister I would pray to heaven that she might resemble you."
"Oh! were it so you would have a most unhappy sister," she replied, leaning upon his arm and bursting into tears.
"Perhaps," said Paul, smiling.
"You know not, then – ?"
"Proceed."
"That Monsieur de Lectoure is to arrive to-morrow morning."
"I have been informed of that."
"And that to-morrow night the marriage contract is to be signed."
"I know that, too."
"Well! then! what can I hope for in such extremity as this? To whom can I apply to prevent this hated union? Who can I interest to aid me? My brother? God knows that I forgive him, but he cannot comprehend my feelings. My mother? Oh! sir, you do not know my mother. She is a woman whose reputation is unsullied, of the most austere virtue, and her will inflexible, for never having failed in her duty, she does not believe that others can forget it, and when she has once said, 'It is my will,' all that remains to do is to bow down one's head, to weep, and to obey. My father? Yes, I well know that my father must leave the room from which he has never stirred for twenty years, to sign this contract. My father! for any one less unhappy and less culpable than I might prove a resource: but you know not that he is insane – that he has lost his reason, and with it every feeling of paternal affection. And besides, it is ten years since I last saw him. For the last ten years I have not pressed his trembling hands, nor kissed his snow white hairs. He knows not that he has still a daughter! he knows not even whether he has a heart, and will not be able even to recognize me. And were he but to know me, and took compassion on me, my mother would place a pen in his hand and would say, 'Sign that, it is my will!' and he would sign it – the poor feeble old man! and his daughter would be condemned."
"Yes, yes. I know all this as well as you do, my poor child; but be pacified, that contract never will be signed."
"And who can prevent it?"
"I will!"
"You?"
"Do not despair. To-morrow I shall be present at the family council."
"Who will present you there?"
"I have the means."
"My brother is violent; and passionate. Oh! good heaven, beware, while striving to save me that you do not sink me still deeper in misery?"
"Your brother's person is in my eyes as sacred as your own, Marguerite. Fear nothing, and rely confidently upon me."
"Oh! I believe you, sir, and I implicitly confide in you," said Marguerite, as if overwhelmed by the contending feelings of confidence and mistrust which she had till then labored under. "For what advantage could you derive from endeavoring to deceive me? What interest could you have to betray me?"
"None, undoubtedly; but let us talk of other matters. What line of conduct do you intend to pursue with regard to the Baron de Lectoure?"
"I will tell him all!"
"Oh!" cried Paul, bowing profoundly, "allow me to adore you."
"Sir!" murmured Marguerite, "sir!"
"As a sister! as a sister!"
"Yes, you are indeed kind and good," cried Marguerite, "and I believe it is God who sent you to my aid."
"Believe it," replied Paul. "Then – to-morrow evening."
"Do not be astonished, nor alarmed at anything that may occur, only contrive to let me know by letter, by a word, a sign, the result of your interview with Lectoure!"
"I will endeavor to do so."
"It is now late, and your servant may be surprised at the length of this interview. Return to the castle, and say not a word of me to any one. Farewell!"
"Farewell," reiterated Marguerite; "you to whom I know not what name to give."
"Call me your brother."
"Farewell, then, brother."
"Oh, my sister! my sister!" cried Paul, clasping her convulsively in his arms, "your lips are the first from which I have heard so sweet a word. God will reward you for it."
The young girl drew back amazed; and then returning to Paul, she held out her hand to him. Paul again pressed it, and Marguerite left the cottage.
The young man then went to the door of the inner room, and opened it.
"And now, good old man," said he, "conduct me to my father's grave."
