Part 49 (1/2)
”I will obey, mother.”
The cure had not waited for this a.s.sent to go and give an order for harnessing the horses. Mme. d'Escorval left the room to write a few lines to a lady friend, whose husband exerted considerable influence in Montaignac. Maurice and Marie-Anne were left alone.
It was the first moment of freedom and solitude which they had found since Marie-Anne's confession.
They stood for a moment, silent and motionless, then Maurice advanced, and clasping her in his arms, he whispered:
”Marie-Anne, my darling, my beloved, I did not know that one could love more fondly than I loved you yesterday; but now--And you--you wish for death when another precious life depends upon yours.”
She shook her head sadly.
”I was terrified,” she faltered. ”The future of shame that I saw--that I still--alas! see before me, appalled me. Now I am resigned. I will uncomplainingly endure the punishment for my horrible fault--I will submit to the insults and disgrace that await me!”
”Insults, to you! Ah! woe to who dares! But will you not now be my wife in the sight of men, as you are in the sight of G.o.d? The failure of your father's scheme sets you free!”
”No, no, Maurice, I am not free! Ah! it is you who are pitiless! I see only too well that you curse me, that you curse the day when we met for the first time! Confess it! Say it!”
Marie-Anne lifted her streaming eyes to his.
”Ah! I should lie if I said that. My cowardly heart has not that much courage! I suffer--I am disgraced and humiliated, but----”
He could not finish; he drew her to him, and their lips and their tears met in one long kiss.
”You love me,” exclaimed Maurice, ”you love me in spite of all! We shall succeed. I will save your father, and mine--I will save your brother!”
The horses were neighing and stamping in the courtyard. The abbe cried: ”Come, let us start.” Mme. d'Escorval entered with a letter, which she handed to Maurice.
She clasped in a long and convulsive embrace the son whom she feared she should never see again; then, summoning all her courage, she pushed him away, uttering only the single word:
”Go!”
He departed; and when the sound of the carriage-wheels had died away in the distance, Mme. d'Escorval and Marie-Anne fell upon their knees, imploring the mercy and aid of a just G.o.d.
They could only pray. The cure and Maurice could act.
Abbe Midon's plan, which he explained to young d'Escorval, as the horses dashed along, was as simple as the situation was terrible.
”If, by confessing your own guilt, you could save your father, I should tell you to deliver yourself up, and to confess the whole truth. Such would be your duty. But this sacrifice would be not only useless, but dangerous. Your confession of guilt would only implicate your father still more. You would be arrested, but they would not release him, and you would both be tried and convicted. Let us, then, allow--I will not say justice, for that would be blasphemy--but these blood-thirsty men, who call themselves judges, to pursue their course, and attribute all that you have done to your father. When the trial comes, you will prove his innocence, and produce alibis so incontestable, that they will be forced to acquit him. And I understand the people of our country so well, that I am sure not one of them will reveal our stratagem.”
”And if we should not succeed,” asked Maurice, gloomily, ”what could I do then?”
The question was so terrible that the priest dared not respond to it. He and Maurice were silent during the remainder of the drive.
They reached the city at last, and Maurice saw how wise the abbe had been in preventing him from a.s.suming a disguise.
Armed with the most absolute power, the Duc de Sairmeuse and the Marquis de Courtornieu had closed all the gates of Montaignac save one.
Through this gate all who desired to leave or enter the city were obliged to pa.s.s, and two officers were stationed there to examine all comers and goers, to question them, and to take their name and residence.
At the name ”d'Escorval,” the two officers evinced such surprise that Maurice noticed it at once.