“Very well, Baudoin. You will find the key in my room, over the mantelpiece. If that will restore your peace of mind, it is easy enough.”
“That will not restore my peace of mind entirely, sir; but, at any rate, it will give me a certain amount of satisfaction.”
The dinner being now at an end, Marcel went out for a stroll in the garden and along the river bank. It was a cool evening, and the stars shone forth in undimmed brilliancy. At times a dull, rumbling sound was heard coming from the inns and cafés of the town, where the workmen were celebrating the strike in numerous bumpers. A feeling of sadness came over Marcel at the thought of the women and children awaiting in their poor dwellings the return of the father for the evening meal, whilst the latter, under the persuasion of raillery or threats, lingered before the table covered with glasses, and drinking the most poisonous and maddening liquors imaginable. What wretchedness would result from this interruption of work! The paltry savings of the thrifty would vanish, the debts of the improvident would increase. And the net result of all this tumult and agitation, excited by hypocritical leaders, would be nothing but severity and rancour.
Turning aside his thoughts from these evils, to which he could see no remedy, he directed them to the Villa de la Cavée. There, at the same time as himself, Anetta would be walking to and fro in the garden. He pictured her passing down the winding alley in dreamy solitude. What could she be thinking of, if not of himself; whose heart was filled with her memory? Were they not united in soul, and was not that delicious kiss a proof of her affection. A thrill of pleasure came over him in the silence of the night, and he thought to himself, “Suppose I were to pay her a visit now? She does not expect me, true. What would she think of my eagerness to see her again? Would not the untimely hour, and the isolation she is in, make her consider my visit offensive? The more defenceless she is, ought I not the more to respect her? Ah! She loves me, I feel it. Am I on the point of spoiling by my rashness all the happiness the future has in store for me?”
In his tenderness Marcel was anxiously solicitous of sparing the susceptibilities of her who had set the terrible trap in which he was hopelessly caught. Had he been able to penetrate into the Villa de la Cavée, and reach the salon unperceived, he would have heard Sophia and her Dalmatian servant exchanging their impressions; whilst, seated astraddle on a chair, the terrible Hans was listening to them, smoking the while, and with an expression of ironical contempt on his face.
“After all, madame, what will you do with this poor young man when you have obtained from him what you want?”
“Oh, that will not trouble me! He is very agreeable and charming, and will doubtless bewail my departure. But he has not yet reached the point I wish to bring him to.”
“What we chemists call the incandescence point,” said Hans, harshly. “We know what that is, Sophia, when you have a hand in the matter. For young Zypiatine it was the moment when, in his madness, he handed over the secrets concerning the concentration on the frontiers of Afghanistan; for poor Stenheim, the hour when he stole from the War Office the plan of defence of Herzegovina, and for our friend, the handsome Cesare Agostini—”
“Don’t speak of Cesare,” interrupted the young woman, frowning.
“Why not, indeed? The coup he effected was a very fine one. Were he to attempt to cross the Italian frontier I believe he would be sent to rot in the darkest fortress of Sardinia. For he is not one of those whom they risk passing judgment on, even in private; he knows rather too much. Certainly, this fair-complexioned young fellow from Champagne you are now preparing to shear, is a pascal lamb compared with the dangerous characters you have hitherto led to their ruin without the slightest compunction. All the same, you must beware, Sophia; I know you well. You are not quite at your ease just now, you have become silent and dreamy—preoccupied, in fact; not a good sign at all! Are you on the point of doing something stupid?”