第321章

"To-day, I shall remove to a house, which I had prepared some time ago, with the determination of quitting Madame de Saint-Dizier, and living alone as I pleased.Then, sir, as you seem bent upon being the good genius of our family, be as generous with regard to Prince Djalma, as you have been to me and Marshal Simon's daughters.I entreat you to discover the hiding-place of this poor king's son, as you call him; keep my secret for me, and conduct him to the house offered by the unknown friend.Let him not disquiet himself about anything; all his wants shall be provided for; he shall live--like a prince."

"Yes; he will indeed live like a prince, thanks to your royal munificence.But never was such kind interest better deserved.It is enough to see (as I have seen) his fine, melancholy countenance--"

"You have seen him, then, sir?" said Adrienne, interrupting Rodin.

"Yes, my dear young lady; I was with him for about two hours.It was quite enough to judge of him.His charming features are the mirror of his soul."

"And where did you see him, sir?"

"At your old Chateau de Cardoville, my dear young lady, near which he had been shipwrecked in a storm, and whither I had gone to--" Rodin hesitated for a moment, and then, as if yielding to the frankness of his disposition, added: "Whither I had gone to commit a bad action--a shameful, miserable action, I must confess!"

"You, sir?--at Cardoville House--to commit a bad action?" cried Adrienne, much surprised.

"Alas! yes, my dear young lady," answered Rodin with simplicity."In one word, I had orders from Abbe d'Aigrigny, to place your former bailiff in the alternative either of losing his situation or lending himself to a mean action--something, in fact, that resembled spying and calumny; but the honest, worthy man refused."

"Why, who are you, sir?" said Mdlle.de Cardoville, more and more astonished.

"I am Rodin, lately secretary of the Abbe d'Aigrigny--a person of very little importance, as you see."

It is impossible to describe the accent, at once humble and ingenuous, of the Jesuit, as he pronounced these words, which he accompanied with a respectful bow.On this revelation, Mdlle.de Cardoville drew back abruptly.We have said that Adrienne had sometimes heard talk of Rodin, the humble secretary of the Abbe d'Aigrigny, as a sort of obedient and passive machine.That was not all; the bailiff of Cardoville Manor, writing to Adrienne on the subject of Prince Djalma, had complained of the perfidious and dishonest propositions of Rodin.She felt, therefore, a vague suspicion, when she heard that her liberator was the man who had played so odious a part.Yet this unfavorable feeling was balanced by the sense of what she owed to Rodin, and by his frank denunciation of Abbe d'Aigrigny before the magistrate.And then the Jesuit, by his own confession, had anticipated, as it were, the reproaches that might have been addressed to him.Still, it was with a kind of cold reserve that Mdlle.de Cardoville resumed this dialogue, which she had commenced with as much frankness as warmth and sympathy.

Rodin perceived the impression he had made.He expected it.He was not the least disconcerted when Mdlle.de Cardoville said to him, as she fixed upon him a piercing glance, "Ah! you are M.Rodin--secretary to the Abbe d'Aigrigny?"

"Say ex-secretary, if you please, my dear young lady," answered the Jesuit; "for you see clearly that I can never again enter the house of the Abbe d'Aigrigny.I have made of him an implacable enemy, and I am now without employment--but no matter--nay, so much the better--since, at this price, the wicked are unmasked, and honest people rescued."

These words, spoken with much simplicity, and dignity, revived a feeling of pity in Adrienne's heart.She thought within herself that, after all, the poor old man spoke the truth.Abbe d'Aigrigny's hate, after this exposure, would be inexorable, and Rodin had braved it for the sake of a generous action.

Still Mdlle.de Cardoville answered coldly, "Since you knew, sir, that the propositions you were charged to make to the bailiff of Cardoville were shameful and perfidious, how could you undertake the mission?"

"How?" replied Rodin, with a sort of painful impatience; "why, because I was completely under Abbe d'Aigrigny's charm, one of the most prodigiously clever men I have ever known, and, as I only discovered the day before yesterday, one of the most prodigiously dangerous men there is in the world.He had conquered my scruples, by persuading me that the End justifies the Means.I must confess that the end he seemed to propose to himself was great and beautiful; but the day before yesterday I was cruelly undeceived.I was awakened, as it were, by a thunder-peal.

Oh, my dear young lady!" added Rodin, with a sort of embarrassment and confusion, "let us talk no more of my fatal journey to Cardoville.

Though I was only an ignorant and blind instrument, I feel as ashamed and grieved at it as if I had acted for myself.It weighs upon me, it oppresses me.I entreat you, let us speak rather of yourself, and of what interests you--for the soul expands with generous thoughts, even as the breast is dilated in pure and healthful air."

Rodin had confessed his fault so spontaneously, he explained it so naturally, he appeared to regret it so sincerely, that Adrienne, whose suspicions had no other grounds, felt her distrust a good deal diminished.

"So," she resumed, still looking attentively at Rodin, "it was at Cardoville that you saw Prince Djalma?"

"Yes, madame; and my affection for him dates from that interview.

Therefore I will accomplish my task.Be satisfied, my dear young lady;

like you, like Marshal Simon's daughters, the prince shall avoid being the victim of this detestable plot, which unhappily does not stop there."

"And who besides, then, is threatened?"