“And it is at Chelles that Madame de Belleville has bought a country estate—a very pretty, very elegant place, they say. But why at Chelles, so near Couberon—a region which must recall painful memories, to say the least? It seems very strange to me; that woman never does anything without some motive, some object. And I determined upon this little excursion in order to discover her motive.
“O my superb Thélénie! it’s of no use for you to change your name and residence and style of living; I have sworn not to lose sight of you, and you shall not escape me.
“She refuses to tell me what she did with my son; and I am certain that that child is in existence. If he were dead, she would have furnished me with proofs of his death, in order to avoid my importunities. But let some chance circumstance place her at my mercy, and then she will be forced to speak.”
While pursuing these reflections, Beauregard had reached the first houses of the village. Desiring to ascertain the location of Thélénie’s estate, he stopped and looked about, proposing to question the first peasant who should pass. Soon he saw an old fellow, with a shrewd, cunning air, approaching him, holding against his breast an object for whose safety he seemed most solicitous.
As Beauregard was about to step forward to meet this peasant, the latter was accosted by a bourgeois who came from another direction.
Our fine gentleman from Paris, who was in no hurry at all, leaned against a tree, saying to himself:
“Let us wait a bit; perhaps I may learn something about the people of this region.”
“Come, come, Père Ledrux; I was getting impatient, so I came to meet you,” said the bourgeois to the peasant.
“Here I am, Monsieur Jarnouillard, here I am; I was just going to your house; I couldn’t finish my work before.”
“Have you been working for Madame de Belleville, too?”