第4章

'I brought away the will,and when it was opened I found that Madame de Merret had appointed me her executor.She left the whole of her property to the hospital at Vendome excepting a few legacies.But these were her instructions as relating to la Grande Breteche:She ordered me to leave the place,for fifty years counting from the day of her death,in the state in which it might be at the time of her death,forbidding any one,whoever he might be,to enter the apartments,prohibiting any repairs whatever,and even settling a salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute fulfilment of her intentions.At the expiration of that term,if the will of the testatrix has been duly carried out,the house is to become the property of my heirs,for,as you know,a notary cannot take a bequest.Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to the heirs-at-law,but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth in a codicil to the will,which is not to be opened till the expiration of the said term of fifty years.The will has not been disputed,so----'

And without finishing his sentence,the lanky notary looked at me with an air of triumph;I made him quite happy by offering him my congratulations.

'Monsieur,'I said in conclusion,'you have so vividly impressed me that I fancy I see the dying woman whiter than her sheets;her glittering eyes frighten me;I shall dream of her to-night.--But you must have formed some idea as to the instructions contained in that extraordinary will.'

'Monsieur,'said he,with comical reticence,'I never allow myself to criticise the conduct of a person who honors me with the gift of a diamond.'

However,I soon loosened the tongue of the discreet notary of Vendome,who communicated to me,not without long digressions,the opinions of the deep politicians of both sexes whose judgments are law in Vendome.But these opinions were so contradictory,so diffuse,that I was near falling asleep in spite of the interest I felt in this authentic history.The notary's ponderous voice and monotonous accent,accustomed no doubt to listen to himself and to make himself listened to by his clients or fellow-townsmen,were too much for my curiosity.

Happily,he soon went away.

'Ah,ha,monsieur,'said he on the stairs,'a good many persons would be glad to live five-and-forty years longer;but--one moment!'

and he laid the first finger of his right hand to his nostril with a cunning look,as much as to say,'Mark my words!--To last as long as that--as long as that,'said he,'you must not be past sixty now.'

I closed my door,having been roused from my apathy by this last speech,which the notary thought very funny;then I sat down in my armchair,with my feet on the fire-dogs.I had lost myself in a romance /a la/Radcliffe,constructed on the juridical base given me by Monsieur Regnault,when the door,opened by a woman's cautious hand,turned on the hinges.I saw my landlady come in,a buxom,florid dame,always good-humored,who had missed her calling in life.She was a Fleming,who ought to have seen the light in a picture by Teniers.

'Well,monsieur,'said she,'Monsieur Regnault has no doubt been giving you his history of la Grande Breteche?'

'Yes,Madame Lepas.'

'And what did he tell you?'

I repeated in a few words the creepy and sinister story of Madame de Merret.At each sentence my hostess put her head forward,looking at me with an innkeeper's keen scrutiny,a happy compromise between the instinct of a police constable,the astuteness of a spy,and the cunning of a dealer.

'My good Madame Lepas,'said I as I ended,'you seem to know more about it.Heh?If not,why have you come up to me?'

'On my word,as an honest woman----'

'Do not swear;your eyes are big with a secret.You knew Monsieur de Merret;what sort of man was he?'

'Monsieur de Merret--well,you see he was a man you never could see the top of,he was so tall!A very good gentleman,from Picardy,and who had,as we say,his head close to his cap.He paid for everything down,so as never to have difficulties with any one.He was hot-tempered,you see!All our ladies liked him very much.'

'Because he was hot-tempered?'I asked her.

'Well,may be,'said she;'and you may suppose,sir,that a man had to have something to show for a figurehead before he could marry Madame de Merret,who,without any reflection on others,was the handsomest and richest heiress in our parts.She had about twenty thousand francs a year.All the town was at the wedding;the bride was pretty and sweet-looking,quite a gem of a woman.Oh,they were a handsome couple in their day!'

'And were they happy together?'

'Hm,hm!so-so--so far as can be guessed,for,as you may suppose,we of the common sort were not hail-fellow-well-met with them.--Madame de Merret was a kind woman and very pleasant,who had no doubt sometimes to put up with her husband's tantrums.But though he was rather haughty,we were fond of him.After all,it was his place to behave so.When a man is a born nobleman,you see----'

'Still,there must have been some catastrophe for Monsieur and Madame de Merret to part so violently?'

'I did not say there was any catastrophe,sir.I know nothing about it.'

'Indeed.Well,now,I am sure you know everything.'

'Well,sir,I will tell you the whole story.--When I saw Monsieur Regnault go up to see you,it struck me that he would speak to you about Madame de Merret as having to do with la Grande Breteche.That put it into my head to ask your advice,sir,seeming to me that you are a man of good judgment and incapable of playing a poor woman like me false--for I never did any one a wrong,and yet I am tormented by my conscience.Up to now I have never dared to say a word to the people of these parts;they are all chatter-mags,with tongues like knives.And never till now,sir,have I had any traveler here who stayed so long in the inn as you have,and to whom I could tell the history of the fifteen thousand francs----'