The three contemplated one another and kept silence, each thinking the same thought.
Having been induced to revoke her will, the marquise must be put away.
But ere the treasure could be reached there were ramparts to be scaled, wide ditches to be crossed. Could the obstacles ever be surmounted? Some of them towered as high as virgin Alps.
The abbé proceeded to explain that the rôle of mademoiselle was to skilfully bring the marquis to a fitting state of mind. She was to find engrossing occupation for such intellect as he possessed, dazzle his eyes with mystical gewgaws, increase by artful pricks his exasperation against his wife, swaddle him with flattering attentions, keep the wound green, yet wrap him in cotton wool.
Mademoiselle shook her head dubiously. Did she not remember the look he gave her when she wished the wife to drown? He would never consent to such strong measures, as might seem convenient to less qualmish persons.
"Pooh!" retorted Pharamond. "Do I not know him? When a thing is irrevocably done, he will be glad to benefit by the results. You must keep him in play like a struggling fish, and when the time comes bring him to land. With half a great fortune, and the removal of its importunate owner, he would soon grow content."
"Half the fortune," mused Aglaé, deep down within herself. "H'm! H'm! Half the fortune! Why not the whole? Half-measures are not satisfactory!"
FOOTNOTE
[Footnote 1]: It must be remembered that the French law, as it at present stands, dates from the later epoch of Napoleon. The events connected with the will of the Marquise de Gange are historical. L. W.