"And I, on the contrary, was sure of meeting you here!"
And without explaining that reply, which to Julien was absolutely enigmatical, he turned his back on him.
"Well, well! his mind is really unhinged," thought Julien.
And he passed on, but not without turning two or three times to see if the amateur in gardens went in or out, and if it were not the case that he had come there unconsciously; but every time that he looked he saw Monsieur Antoine standing motionless at the foot of the staircase, and looking after him with a mocking expression, in which however there was no sign of mental derangement.
Uncle Antoine disappeared in the crowd, which invaded the peristyle a few moments later. One of the first groups that he saw consisted of the solicitor's family, with a stranger taller than Madame Marcel, and completely concealed by her black silk headgear. He stole down to the street and took the number of the cab which that group entered, then despatched in pursuit of that cab the same shrewd and nimble-footed spy who had notified him that Madame d'Estrelle had gone out with her attorney, and who had been keeping watch outside the D'Estrelle mansion, and inside it at times, for a month past, under disguises of all sorts and on all sorts of pretexts.
In those days the play came to an end early enough to allow people to sup. Julie had returned home by ten o'clock, after dropping Madame Marcel on Rue des Petits-Augustins. Marcel, who had escorted Julie to her door, was about to go away without entering, when she called him back. Her concierge had just told her some very serious news. The old marquis, her father-in-law, had died at eight o'clock that evening, just when they believed that he was cured. Julie had been sent for, so that she might be present at the administration of the sacrament. Her absence, which was very hard to explain by reason of the situation which she herself had explained to Marcel, might have disastrous consequences.
"Ah! you see how it is!" said Marcel, sorrowfully, in a low tone (they were on the stoop); "I told you how it would be. I foresaw some trouble; but there is no time to be wasted in lamentation. The most disturbing thing of all is the old man's too sudden end. Come, madame, you must show yourself at that death-bed. You must take a cab once more. I will escort you to your mother-in-law's house. I shall not appear there, for it would not be proper for you to be seen to arrive under the escort of your solicitor. To-morrow I will take the field in your interest, and we will find out the contents of the will, if there is a will, which God grant!"
Julie, sorely disturbed, reëntered the cab.
"Stay," said Marcel, "I can't wait for you at the dowager's door; her servants would see me, and I have an idea that they report everything to her. I will alight before you drive into the courtyard, and as I should not enjoy the idea of your returning alone in this vehicle, you must order your people to harness at once and send your carriage to the house."
"You think of everything for me," said Julie; "I don't know what would become of me without you."