"Such was the scheme we formed, adding thereto a thousand minor touches, in order to make every part tell against you and the Duchess; but the impatience of the Count de Mesnil ruined all. He returned to the Prés Vallée the very day after you had received the commission, and, taking me off my guard, led me foolishly to acknowledge that I had obtained the lock of hair he sought. Under those circumstances, there was nothing farther to be done than to get the packet out of your hands, which was effected by means of the boy who had given it to you; and the Count--who on that occasion stayed three days at the château,--received it with both delight and gratitude, of which last affection I received golden proofs. On the very day of his departure, Gaspard discovered that the Duke was called to Rennes on business which would detain him in that city many hours; and, of course, through my intervention, this piece of news was communicated to Monsieur de Mesnil before he took his leave. He did not inform me what use he intended to make of these tidings, but I took good care to see that all doors were open, and the two younger pages out of the way. About half-an-hour after the Duke's departure for Rennes, I saw the Count approaching on foot; and, turning from the window to my embroidery, I left the rest to take its course.
"In less than ten minutes, the Duchess entered her chamber, with her cheek flushed and her eye flashing, and I easily discovered, from her whole appearance, that Monsieur de Mesnil had received a rebuff, for which I determined to console him by calling to his mind all that perseverance can do with woman. In this purpose, however, I was disappointed, for I never saw the Count again. I suspect," she added, gazing on me steadily, "that you could tell more in regard to that affair!--but no matter; I am making a confession, not receiving one.--Shortly after the disappearance of the Count de Mesnil, Monsieur de Villardin sent for me one evening, and directed me to obtain for him, without appearing to do so, a lock of his lady's hair; but conscience making me think he suspected what I had done, I cried, 'Lord, sir! it is impossible without her discovering me!' Nothing I could have said would have tended more to aggravate his suspicions in regard to his wife, and he bade me, sharply, do as he directed, whether she discovered me or not. His orders were obeyed without difficulty, and the same night I gave him a small portion of the Duchess's hair, which I assured him was all that I could obtain without being found out. He took it eagerly, and forgetting, in his jealous vehemence, that I was in the room, he drew forth a locket and a riband, which showed me plainly enough that he at least must have seen Monsieur de Mesnil since I had set eyes upon him. He caught me gazing at the locket as he compared the hair within it with that he held in his hand, and angrily bade me quit the room; but the discovery did no harm to our plans, for once having suffered his feelings to appear before me, he was less scrupulous afterwards in questioning me upon the subject. Gaspard was the agent by whom I was generally called to his presence, and while we left his suspicions against our lady in the same state as we found them, we endeavoured, as far as we could, to inculpate you, and to make him believe that you had been a confidant and a favourite of the Count de Mesnil. In this, however, we were always frustrated; and seeing that there were facts within his own knowledge which rendered our most artful insinuations in regard to you ineffectual, we were, of course, obliged to proceed carefully.
"After our change of residence, however, and the fresh degree of favour you acquired at Dumont, we determined upon laying some new scheme for your destruction. Madame de Villardin, I thought, had been punished enough, and I began almost to be sorry that I had done as I had done; for I believe a woman is never altogether without compassion for the sorrows of a woman, unless she be jealous of her. I saw peace and a certain degree of happiness restored between the Duke and his wife after the arrival of Father Ferdinand, with more satisfaction than I had imagined I could have done a month before; but Gaspard felt differently, and was continually urging me to proceed with our former plans, and still endeavour to rouse the suspicions of the Duke against you in regard to the Count de Mesnil, asking whether I could not place some of the riband which had been attached to the locket in your apartments, and suggesting many another scheme of the kind. I resisted, however, till at length one unfortunate evening we were seen together, walking after dark in the park, with my arm clasped in his, and his arm round my waist. The next day, the Duchess again spoke to me in even more severe terms than before, and told me that I must prepare to leave her service at the expiration of a month. My resolution was now taken. I soothed, flattered, lamented, expressed my contrition, and promised a different conduct; but still she adhered to her determination, though, at the same time, she assured me that she would take care to place me well in Paris. Affecting to forget all her severity, I the next day engaged her in the examination of her wardrobe, and taking care to fix her attention particularly on that fatal blue riband, which had been curtailed by my hands in order to attach a part of it to the locket, I made a sudden pretext to leave her, ran to Monsieur de Villardin, and told him that I felt it my duty to acknowledge that I had just seen in the hands of my lady a part of the very same riband which I had once beheld in his own, fixed to a locket that seemed to give him great uneasiness. He scarcely heard half that I said, but, flying to his wife's dressing-room, gave way to a fit of passion which was fearful even to me. The result you well know, and probably are better acquainted with many of the particulars than I am. All I will say on that score," she added, somewhat sternly, "is, that it was a strange thing a bridge which had borne horses three or four days before, should give way under the weight of two people on foot.--Do you think, young gentleman, that the weight of Monsieur de Villardin's suspicions, and of the Duchess's sorrows, was sufficient to break it down?--However, if you had any hand in that deed too, my confession may make you feel some part of the remorse that I have felt since."
"In regard to the matter you speak of," I replied, "I know no more than you do. It was extraordinary that the bridge should break; but yet such circumstances have happened before, and will again, without any one being able to tell why the structure that was firm at one moment should give way the next."
She shook her head, doubtingly, and then went on:--"I have now told you all that matters much for you to hear, and you must promise me to repeat the whole to Monsieur de Villardin, word for word, as far as you can recollect it."
"I do not well see," I replied, "what object is to be gained by doing so. The Duchess is dead; his suspicions were unjust; and I see no reason why I should wring his heart by recalling events to his memory, of which time itself has scarcely been able to soften the remembrance."
"If you do not tell him," she cried, vehemently, "you shall not return to him for years. But stay," she added, perhaps recollecting that I was not easily moved by threats, "have you so little the feelings of honour, so small a portion of chivalrous spirit, as not to think it worth while to clear the reputation of an injured lady, even though she be dead?"
"I should certainly think it worth while," I replied, "did her reputation require any defence, even to her husband: but such is not the case; and at this moment, Monsieur de Villardin is as completely convinced of his wife's innocence as you have ever been."
"Indeed!" she replied--"indeed!" and gazing on my countenance for a moment or two, with a look in which surprise was mingled in some degree with disappointment, she repeated more than once the word, "indeed!" The instant after, she added, however, "Still you must tell him what I have said, for the mind of a suspicious man can never have too conclusive an evidence to remove his doubts; and if there be one point left uncleared, suspicion will hang round it still, and haunt him to his very last day."
I knew what she said to be true; but her eagerness in the business, joined with the traits of art and deceit which she had just before acknowledged, made me also suspicious of her motives; and as I did not wish, without cause, to be the instrument of inflicting deep pain on Monsieur de Villardin, I resolved not to undertake the commission, till she had explained the anxiety she manifested to induce me to do so. "If you will tell me," I replied, "what are your real motives, and why you cannot make this confession by letter as well as by my intervention, I will undertake what you desire, should I find your explanation satisfy mc; but I will undertake it on no other terms; and should you wish to communicate farther with Monsieur de Villardin, you must do so in writing."