The Son Of Monte Cristo Part 49 (2/2)
What was going on in the impaired mind of Francoise? Fanfar's sudden appearance had carried her memory back to the last interview she had with Siiven his wife the papers that proved his birth and that of Jacques And now Francoise had but one idea, to return to Leigoutte In vain did Caillette urge her to return to Paris, and the girl had promised Fanfar not to leave his mother She therefore went on toward Geroner took pity on these tooutte Francoise was silent, except a feords that she ht with despair of Fanfar, and his agony at his irl, she did not know that the night when she and Francoise entered the inn at Leigoutte, Fanfar, alone in his prison, thought of his mother whom he had scarcely seen, and of the sister whom he had held in his ar, faithful heart
Caillette and Pierre Labarre watched Francoise, when finally she arose from her chair, and went toward the door On the threshold she seeray hair, and pressed her hand to her brow Then, as if she suddenly re, she turned and went toward the door in the back of the house, Caillette and Pierre following her every step she took She went out into the garden, and up a winding path to the hill, which she began to cli to the little farm of Lasvene which was burned,” said Pierre to hian to question Caillette
What s? Was it n?
Francoise walked on Sometimes she stopped short, and called Jacques, then Cinette Labarre asked himself if it were not his duty to stop this poor woman, but a secret instinct bade him watch her to the end
An hour elapsed, but Francoise seeue At the cross-roads she did not hesitate Finally they reached the Gorge d'Outre darkness, the place was horrible and gloomy As in a fore to have been cleft in twain by a gigantic hatchet
At thismoon looked down on the landscape
Francoise stopped short, Pierre well knehy The little cottage of old Lasvene had vanished, and the poor woman was bewildered Labarre went to her, and took her hand He knehere the foundations of the cottage were, and convinced that this hy she had cohed in a childish way
”Burned? Ah! yes;” she repeated the cry of the Cossacks ”Death to the French!” And then she began to run
It was an outbreak of ht
The e occurrence round in a corner where the little garden had stood, and began to dig furiously in the earth Presently, she screamed:
”The box! The box! Jacques is not ereues Jacques--Fanfar is Vicomte de Talizac!” And she fell unconscious into the arms of Labarre
CHAPTER xxxV
THE NEST
Thite beds stood near each other Muslin curtains tied with blue ribbons covered the ith billowy folds A the pillows of one of the beds lay a beautiful face, and a young girl at her side held her frail hands
This chamber was that of Irene de Salves, and very unlike it was to the chaes There she had created a mixture of all colors--violent reds and yellows Now everything was delicate and cal the pilloas Francine's The two young girls were like sisters Irene felt that to love, protect, and care for Francine, was to love Fanfar The shock Francine had experienced was terrible; she hardly knehat had taken place--whether she deliberately threw herself into the water, or whether faint and dizzy, she fell in; when Fanfar leaped to her rescue she clung to him convulsively Then came the fever and delirium, and when she was at last conscious she beheld a sweet face bending over her, and Irene said, ”Courage, sister, courage!”
Francine, surprised and touched, extended her thin hands, but suddenly iain in the house where she had suffered so much, she shrieked ”Let me die! Let me die!”
A relapse took place, and for several days her life hung on a thread
Irene was indefatigable in her care, and finally she began to recover very slowly
She questioned Irene as soon as she was able What had become of the poor woman, the care of whom she had assumed? Hardly had she escaped froan to think of others Irene could tell her little Ever since the violent scene of the ball, Arthur de Montferrand, without confessing his real motives, for he loved Francine, had placed himself at the disposal of Irene He had divined her secret, and prevented her fro it to the curious crowd
Fanfar was in prison His trial was soon co on It was believed that his conde, consequent on the attereatly embittered the monarchists A report was in circulation that an infamous comedy had been enacted by this Fanfar and his sister in order to break off the e between Talizac and Made scheer and a mountebank
The sick woence drove Francine to despair Who was this Caillette, who had pretended to take her place, and then disappeared, leaving no trace behind her?