“My crimes, monsieur! You dare——”
“To accuse you of an infamous plot! It was not enough to have tried by calumny to ruin two honorable women, one of whom, Madame Dalmont, does me the honor to accept my hand; while the other, Mademoiselle Agathe, daughter of Comte Adhémar de Hautmont—for I am very glad to inform you that that young lady is the daughter of a man for whose death you are responsible. Yes, Mademoiselle Agathe de Hautmont is to marry Monsieur Edmond Didier, who stands beside me;—it was not enough, I say, to have uttered calumny against those ladies, which always finds echoes among fools and evil-minded persons——”
At this point all of Madame Droguet’s social circle made wry faces.
“No,” continued Paul, “this woman, impelled by the most criminal passions, determined to contrive the death by drowning in the Marne of those two persons, whom she detests because they possess virtues which she never understood.”
A low murmur bore witness to the impression produced by these words.
Thélénie summoned all her energy and cried:
“You lie, monsieur; your accusations are false.”
“Very well, madame; deny this letter, sent by you to those ladies. It is in your handwriting; there are several of us here who are perfectly familiar with it. In this letter you announce that Monsieur Edmond is to fight at eight o’clock—on an island above the mill; which was equivalent to telling them to go to that place. And in fact, immediately on receipt of your letter, they started and hurried to the bank of the Marne, where a miserable villain, in your pay, was waiting for them with a boat. They entered the boat unsuspectingly; and when they were near the obstructions in the river, the pretended boatman threw his oars overboard, jumped after them and swam ashore, abandoning to almost certain death the two victims you had sent him!”
“Monsieur!”
“You did that—see, here is the gold found on your accomplice, your brother, who played the rôle here of a German baron, and who met death on the river bank, thanks to my good dog who was determined that the robber, the assassin, should not escape him again. He put us upon the track of the persons whom you meant to destroy, and whom we saved! Ah! that is what must distress you above all else—that your scheme did not succeed, despite the gold lavished on your brother—See, here it is, madame—the gold of which you make such a diabolical use!”