Volume I Part 65 (1/2)
”You have told me a parcel of infamous lies!” cried Beauregard, whose eyes a.s.sumed a threatening expression; and he sprang to his feet, pus.h.i.+ng his chair back with such violence that he overturned it. Having made the circuit of the room two or three times, he confronted Thelenie once more, and demanded with renewed emphasis:
”What have you done with my son?”
”I tell you again, monsieur, that he died at the age of three months.”
”Where?”
”At the nurse's.”
”Then find that nurse for me, let me see her, speak to her, find out where the child was buried.”
”I can only tell you again what I have already told you about the woman: she lived at Saint-Denis. It isn't my fault if she has left her house--and the neighborhood too, very likely. I could not answer for such things.”
”But when a child dies, no matter how young it may be, there is always a certificate of death; that certificate the nurse should have sent you with a minute of the expenses for the child's burial, for which she was ent.i.tled to be reimbursed; such things as that, nurses never forget to do. Well! show me that certificate.”
”I lost it when I moved.”
”Ah! you are a villain, capable of anything!--Poor Duronceray! who lost his head because I took his mistress from him. Gad! he has no idea how much he owes me! But men never look beyond the present; they never foresee the future.”
Beauregard paced the floor for some time longer; it was evident that he was trying to restrain his anger, to recover his tranquillity; but when his eyes rested on Thelenie, he turned them away as if he had seen a serpent. She, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the torments she inflicted on her former lover; it was her turn now to watch him with a sarcastic expression, affecting a calmness that she was far from feeling.
Some minutes pa.s.sed thus, Thelenie contenting herself with picking up the chair Beauregard had overturned.
At last he halted in front of her once more, saying:
”Your mind is made up--you refuse to tell me anything more?”
”Because I have nothing more to tell you.”
”Very good! now mark well what I say to you: I shall seek for that child, and if I succeed in finding him, I shall teach him to hate and despise the woman who has tried to deprive him of his father's affection! You seem to defy me. You make a great mistake; for I am your enemy now, and I shall act accordingly whenever I find an opportunity. I had forgiven your inconstancy, your conduct, which has been decidedly scandalous at times. One may be vicious without being really wicked; but now I see that everything about you is perverse--mind as well as heart.
Your nature is complete!”
”It seems that yours consists now in making impertinent remarks; but I care little for them.”
”Beware if you find me in your path! and as for that unhappy child, if I succeed in finding him, rest a.s.sured that, though you are in the midst of the most brilliant festivity, be it ball or reception, he will appear and present his respects to you. Adieu!”
Beauregard abruptly left the room after these last words, and Thelenie, who had turned pale at his concluding threat, soon recovered herself.
”Do what you please,” she muttered, ”you won't find your son! that would require a combination of chances,--so extraordinary--no, it is impossible! So I will simply forget Monsieur Beauregard, who will leave me in peace hereafter, I trust. The idea of that man--a ne'er-do-well, a confirmed rake, a man who believes in nothing and has pa.s.sed his life making fun of everything--taking it into his head to feel a father's love for a little boy that he never saw, that he doesn't know! It is amusing, on my word!--I am very glad to avenge myself on this Beauregard; he was the cause of my missing a fine fortune; for Duronceray would have married me, I am sure; he loved me so pa.s.sionately. Oh! I made a great fool of myself!--But I must forget the past and think only of this new and brilliant position which is offered me.”
Thelenie recalled Mademoiselle Helose, who, in accordance with her habit, had not failed to listen at the door; that fact, however, did not prevent her from asking:
”What did that big bouncer, with his pretentious air, want of you? He always looks as if he were going to laugh in your face. I knew him by his yellow skin; he's the fellow who stalked into our box at the Opera ball.”
”Yes, that's the man.”
”Was that man ever your lover?”
”Yes, unfortunately.”