THE FLAMES OF JEALOUSY
My only faith in Hugo Chevet rested in his natural resentment of Cassion’s treachery relative to my father’s fortune. He would feel that he had been cheated, deceived, deprived of his rightful share of the spoils.
The man cared nothing for me, as had already been plainly demonstrated, yet, but for this conspiracy of La Barre and his Commissaire, it would have been his privilege to have handled whatever property Pierre la Chesnayne left at time of his death. He would have been the legal guardian of an heiress, instead of the provider for an unwelcomed child of poverty.
He had been tricked into marrying me to Cassion, feeling that he had thus rid himself of an incumbrance, and at the same time gained a friend and ally at court, and now discovered that by that act he had alienated himself from all chance of ever controlling my inheritance. The knowledge that he had thus been outwitted would rankle in the man’s brain, and he was one to seek revenge. It was actuated by this thought 116 that I had sent for him, feeling that perhaps at last we had a common cause.
Whether, or not, Cassion would take my dismissal as final I could not feel assured. No doubt he would believe my decision the outburst of a woman’s mood, which he had best honor, but in full faith that a few days would bring to me a change of mind. The man was too pronounced an egotist to ever confess that he could fail in winning the heart of any girl whom he condescended to honor, and the very injury which my repulse had given to his pride would tend to increase his desire to possess me.
However little he had cared before in reality, now his interest would be aroused, and I would seem to him worthy of conquest. He would never stop after what had occurred between us until he had exhausted every power he possessed. Yet I saw nothing more of him that night, although I sat just within the flap of the tent watching the camp between me and the river. Shadowing figures glided about, revealed dimly by the fires, but none of these did I recognize as the Commissaire, nor did I hear his voice.
I had been alone for an hour, already convinced that the soldier had failed to deliver my message, when my Uncle Chevet finally emerged from the shadows, and announced his presence. He appeared a huge, shapeless figure, his very massiveness yielding me a feeling 117 of protection, and I arose, and joined him. His greeting proved the unhappiness of his mind.
“So you sent for me––why? What has happened between you and Cassion?”
“No more than occurred between us yonder in Quebec, when I informed him that I was his wife in name only,” I answered quietly. “Do you blame me now that you understand his purpose in this marriage?”
“But I don’t understand. You have but aroused my suspicion. Tell me all, and if the man is a villain he shall make answer to me.”
“Ay, if you imagine you have been outplayed in the game, although it is little enough you would care otherwise. Let there be no misunderstanding between us, Monsieur. You sold me to Francois Cassion because you expected to profit through his influence with La Barre. Now you learn otherwise, and the discovery has angered you. For the time being you are on my side––but for how long?”
He stared at me, his slow wits scarcely translating my words. Seemingly the man had but one idea in his thick head.
“How know you the truth of all you have said?” he asked. “Where learned you of this wealth?”
“By overhearing conversation while hidden behind the curtain in La Barre’s office. He spoke freely with his aide, and later with Cassion. It was my discovery 118 there which led to the forced marriage, and our being sent with this expedition.”
“You heard alone?”
“So they thought, and naturally believed marriage would prevent my ever bearing witness against them. But I was not alone.”
“Mon Dieu! Another heard?”
“Yes, the Sieur de Artigny.”
Chevet grasped my arm, and in the glare of the fire I could see his excitement pictured in his face.
“Who? That lad? You were in hiding there together? And did he realize what was said?”
“That I do not know,” I answered, “for we have exchanged no word since. When my presence was discovered, De Artigny escaped unseen through the open window. I need to meet him again that these matters may be explained, and that I may learn just what he overheard. It was to enlist your aid that I sent for you.”
“To bring the lad here?”
“No; that could not be done without arousing the suspicion of Cassion. The two are already on the verge of quarrel. You must find some way of drawing the Commissaire aside––not tonight, for there is plenty of time before us, and I am sure we are being watched now––and that will afford me opportunity.”
“But why may I not speak him?”
“You!” I laughed. “He would be likely to talk with you. A sweet message you sent him in Quebec.”
“I was drunk, and Cassion asked it of me.”
“I thought as much; the coward makes you pull his chestnuts from the fire. Do you give me the pledge?”
“Ay! although ’tis not my way to play sweet, when I should enjoy to wring the fellow’s neck. What was it La Barre said?”
I hesitated a moment, doubting how much I had better tell, yet decided it would be best to intrust him with the facts, and some knowledge of what I proposed to do.
“That just before he died my father’s property was restored to him by the King, but the Royal order was never recorded. It exists, but where I do not know, nor do I know as yet for what purpose it was concealed. My marriage to Cassion must have been an afterthought, for he is but a creature of La Barre’s. It is through him the greater villains seek control; but, no doubt, he was a willing tool enough, and expects his share.”
“Why not let me choke the truth out of him then? Bah! it would be easy.”
“For two reasons,” I said earnestly. “First, I doubt if he knows the true conspiracy, or can lay hands on the King’s restoration. Without that we have no proof of fraud. And second, coward though he may 120 be, his very fear might yield him courage. No, Uncle Chevet, we must wait, and learn these facts through other means than force. ’Tis back in Quebec, not in this wilderness, we will find the needed proofs. What I ask of you is, pretend to know nothing; do not permit Cassion to suspicion that I have confided in you. We must encourage him to talk by saying nothing which will put him on guard.”
“But he is already aware that you have learned the truth.”
“Of that I am not certain. It was the conversation between La Barre and Colonel Delguard which gave me the real cue. Of this Cassion may not have heard, as he entered the room later. I intended to proceed on that theory, and win his confidence, if possible. There is a long, tiresome journey before us, and much may be accomplished before we return.”
Chevet stood silent, his slow mind struggling with the possibilities of my plan. I could realize the amazement with which he comprehended this cool proposition. He, who had considered me a thoughtless girl, incapable of serious planning, was suddenly forced to realize that a woman confronted him, with a will and mind of her own. It was almost a miracle, and he failed to entirely grasp the change which had occurred in my character. He stared at me with dull eyes, like those of an ox, his lips parted as he sought expression.
“You––you will try, as his wife, to win confession?” he asked finally, grasping vaguely the one thought occurring to him.
“No; there is a better way. I despise the man; I cannot bear that he touch me. More than that, if I read him aright, once I yield and confess myself his property, he will lose all interest in my possession. He is a lady killer; ’tis his boast. The man has never been in love with me; it was not love, but a desire to possess my fortune, which led to his proposal of marriage. Now I shall make him love me.”
“You! Mon Dieu! how?”
“By refusing him, tantalizing him, arousing a desire which I will not gratify. Already his thought of me has changed. Last night in Quebec he was surprised, and aroused to new interest in me as a woman. He considered me before as a helpless girl, with no will, no character––the sort with which he had had his way all through life. He thought I would fall in his arms, and confess him master. The words I spoke to La Barre shocked and startled him out of his self complacency. Nor was that all––even before then he had begun to suspicion my relations with Sieur de Artigny.
“It was at his suggestion, you say, that you sent that young man your message of warning to keep away from me. Good! the poison is already working, and 122 I mean it shall. Two hours ago, when we landed here, the two men were on verge of quarrel, and blows would have been struck but that I intervened. He is finding me not so easy to control, and later still the mighty Commissaire met with a rebuff which rankles.”
I laughed at the remembrance, satisfied now as I placed the situation in words, that my plans were working well. Chevet stood silent, his mouth agape, struggling to follow my swift speech.
“Do you see now what I mean to do?” I asked gravely. “We shall be alone in the wilderness for months to come. I will be the one woman; perchance the only white woman into whose face he will look until we return to Quebec. I am not vain, yet I am not altogether ill to look upon, nor shall I permit the hardships of this journey to affect my attractiveness. I shall fight him with his own weapons, and win. He will beg, and threaten me, and I shall laugh. He will love me, and I shall mock. There will be jealousy between him and De Artigny, and to win my favor he will confess all that he knows. Tonight he sulks somewhere yonder, already beginning to doubt his power to control me.”
“You have quarreled?”
“No––only that I asserted independence. He would have entered this tent as my husband, and I forbade his doing so. He stormed and threatened, but 123 dare not venture further. He knows me now as other than a weak girl, but my next lesson must be a more severe one. ’Tis partly to prepare that I sent for you; I ask the loan of a pistol––the smaller one, to be concealed in my dress.”
“You would kill the man?”
“Pooh! small danger of that. You may draw the charge if you will. For him to know that I possess the weapon will protect me. You do not grasp my plan?”
He shook his head gloomily, as though it was all a deep puzzle to his mind, yet his great hand held forth the pistol, the short barrel of which gleamed wickedly in the fire glow, as I thrust it out of sight.
“’Tis not the way I front enemies,” he growled stubbornly, “and I make little of it. Mon Dieu! I make them talk with these hands.”
“But my weapons are those of a woman,” I explained, “and I will learn more than you would with your brute strength. All I ask of you now, Uncle Chevet, is that you keep on friendly terms with Monsieur Cassion, yet repeat nothing to him of what I have said, and gain me opportunity for speech alone with Sieur de Artigny.”
“Ah! perhaps I perceive––you love the young man?”
I grasped his sleeve in my fingers, determined to make this point at least clear to his understanding. 124 His blunt words had set my pulses throbbing, yet it was resentment, indignation, I felt in strongest measure.
“Mother of God, no! I have spoken with him but three times since we were children. He is merely a friend to be trusted, and he must be made to know my purpose. It will be joy to him to thus affront Cassion, for there is no love lost between them. You understand now?”
He growled something indistinctly in his beard, which I interpreted as assent, but I watched his great form disappear in the direction of the fire, my own mind far from satisfied; the man was so lacking in brains as to be a poor ally, and so obstinate of nature as to make it doubtful if he would long conform to my leadership. Still it was surely better to confide in him to the extent I had than permit him to rage about blindly, and in open hostility to Cassion.
I seated myself just within the tent, my eyes on the scene as revealed in the fire-glow, and reflected again over the details of my hastily born plan. The possibility of the Commissaire’s return did not greatly trouble me, my confidence fortified by the pistol concealed in my waist. No doubt he was already asleep yonder in the shadows, but this night was only the beginning. The opposition he had met would prove a spur to endeavor, and the desire to win me a stronger 125 incentive than ever. He may have been indifferent, careless before––deeming me easy prey––but from now on I meant to lead him a merry chase.
I cannot recall any feeling of regret, any conception of evil, as my mind settled upon this course of action. There was no reason why I should spare him. He had deliberately lied, and deceived me. His marriage to me was an act of treachery; the only intent to rob me of my just inheritance. There seemed to me no other way left in which I could hope to overcome his power. I was a woman, and must fight with the weapons of my sex; mine was the strength of the weak.
How dark and still it was, for the fires had died down into beds of red ash, and only the stars glimmered along the surface of the river. The only movement I could perceive was the dim outline of a man’s figure moving about near the canoes––a watchman on guard, but whether red or white I could not determine. It was already late, well into the night, and the forest about us was black and still. Slowly my head sank to the blanket, and I slept.