Fantôme de l'Opéra. English

by Gaston Leroux

  Chapter XVI Mme. Giry's Astounding Revelations as to Her PersonalRelations with the Opera Ghost

  Before following the commissary into the manager's office I mustdescribe certain extraordinary occurrences that took place in thatoffice which Remy and Mercier had vainly tried to enter and into whichMM. Richard and Moncharmin had locked themselves with an object whichthe reader does not yet know, but which it is my duty, as an historian,to reveal without further postponement.

  I have had occasion to say that the managers' mood had undergone adisagreeable change for some time past and to convey the fact that thischange was due not only to the fall of the chandelier on the famousnight of the gala performance.

  The reader must know that the ghost had calmly been paid his firsttwenty thousand francs. Oh, there had been wailing and gnashing ofteeth, indeed! And yet the thing had happened as simply as could be.

  One morning, the managers found on their table an envelope addressed to"Monsieur O. G. (private)" and accompanied by a note from O. G. himself:

  The time has come to carry out the clause in the memorandum-book.Please put twenty notes of a thousand francs each into this envelope,seal it with your own seal and hand it to Mme. Giry, who will do whatis necessary.

  The managers did not hesitate; without wasting time in asking how theseconfounded communications came to be delivered in an office which theywere careful to keep locked, they seized this opportunity of layinghands, on the mysterious blackmailer. And, after telling the wholestory, under the promise of secrecy, to Gabriel and Mercier, they putthe twenty thousand francs into the envelope and without asking forexplanations, handed it to Mme. Giry, who had been reinstated in herfunctions. The box-keeper displayed no astonishment. I need hardlysay that she was well watched. She went straight to the ghost's boxand placed the precious envelope on the little shelf attached to theledge. The two managers, as well as Gabriel and Mercier, were hiddenin such a way that they did not lose sight of the envelope for a secondduring the performance and even afterward, for, as the envelope had notmoved, those who watched it did not move either; and Mme. Giry wentaway while the managers, Gabriel and Mercier were still there. Atlast, they became tired of waiting and opened the envelope, afterascertaining that the seals had not been broken.

  At first sight, Richard and Moncharmin thought that the notes werestill there; but soon they perceived that they were not the same. Thetwenty real notes were gone and had been replaced by twenty notes, ofthe "Bank of St. Farce"![1]

  The managers' rage and fright were unmistakable. Moncharmin wanted tosend for the commissary of police, but Richard objected. He no doubthad a plan, for he said:

  "Don't let us make ourselves ridiculous! All Paris would laugh at us.O. G. has won the first game: we will win the second."

  He was thinking of the next month's allowance.

  Nevertheless, they had been so absolutely tricked that they were boundto suffer a certain dejection. And, upon my word, it was not difficultto understand. We must not forget that the managers had an idea at theback of their minds, all the time, that this strange incident might bean unpleasant practical joke on the part of their predecessors and thatit would not do to divulge it prematurely. On the other hand,Moncharmin was sometimes troubled with a suspicion of Richard himself,who occasionally took fanciful whims into his head. And so they werecontent to await events, while keeping an eye on Mother Giry. Richardwould not have her spoken to.

  "If she is a confederate," he said, "the notes are gone long ago. But,in my opinion, she is merely an idiot."

  "She's not the only idiot in this business," said Moncharmin pensively.

  "Well, who could have thought it?" moaned Richard. "But don't beafraid ... next time, I shall have taken my precautions."

  The next time fell on the same day that beheld the disappearance ofChristine Daae. In the morning, a note from the ghost reminded themthat the money was due. It read:

  Do just as you did last time. It went very well. Put the twentythousand in the envelope and hand it to our excellent Mme. Giry.

  And the note was accompanied by the usual envelope. They had only toinsert the notes.

  This was done about half an hour before the curtain rose on the firstact of Faust. Richard showed the envelope to Moncharmin. Then hecounted the twenty thousand-franc notes in front of him and put thenotes into the envelope, but without closing it.

  "And now," he said, "let's have Mother Giry in."

  The old woman was sent for. She entered with a sweeping courtesy. Shestill wore her black taffeta dress, the color of which was rapidlyturning to rust and lilac, to say nothing of the dingy bonnet. Sheseemed in a good temper. She at once said:

  "Good evening, gentlemen! It's for the envelope, I suppose?"

  "Yes, Mme. Giry," said Richard, most amiably. "For the envelope ...and something else besides."

  "At your service, M. Richard, at your service. And what is thesomething else, please?"

  "First of all, Mme. Giry, I have a little question to put to you."

  "By all means, M. Richard: Mme. Giry is here to answer you."

  "Are you still on good terms with the ghost?"

  "Couldn't be better, sir; couldn't be better."

  "Ah, we are delighted ... Look here, Mme. Giry," said Richard, in thetone of making an important confidence. "We may just as well tell you,among ourselves ... you're no fool!"

  "Why, sir," exclaimed the box-keeper, stopping the pleasant nodding ofthe black feathers in her dingy bonnet, "I assure you no one has everdoubted that!"

  "We are quite agreed and we shall soon understand one another. Thestory of the ghost is all humbug, isn't it? ... Well, still betweenourselves, ... it has lasted long enough."

  Mme. Giry looked at the managers as though they were talking Chinese.She walked up to Richard's table and asked, rather anxiously:

  "What do you mean? I don't understand."

  "Oh, you, understand quite well. In any case, you've got tounderstand... And, first of all, tell us his name."

  "Whose name?"

  "The name of the man whose accomplice you are, Mme. Giry!"

  "I am the ghost's accomplice? I? ... His accomplice in what, pray?"

  "You do all he wants."

  "Oh! He's not very troublesome, you know."

  "And does he still tip you?"

  "I mustn't complain."

  "How much does he give you for bringing him that envelope?"

  "Ten francs."

  "You poor thing! That's not much, is it?

  "Why?"

  "I'll tell you that presently, Mme. Giry. Just now we should like toknow for what extraordinary reason you have given yourself body andsoul, to this ghost ... Mme. Giry's friendship and devotion are not tobe bought for five francs or ten francs."

  "That's true enough ... And I can tell you the reason, sir. There'sno disgrace about it... on the contrary."

  "We're quite sure of that, Mme. Giry!"

  "Well, it's like this ... only the ghost doesn't like me to talk abouthis business."

  "Indeed?" sneered Richard.

  "But this is a matter that concerns myself alone ... Well, it was inBox Five one evening, I found a letter addressed to myself, a sort ofnote written in red ink. I needn't read the letter to you sir; I knowit by heart, and I shall never forget it if I live to be a hundred!"

  And Mme. Giry, drawing herself up, recited the letter with touchingeloquence:

  MADAM:

  1825. Mlle. Menetrier, leader of the ballet, became Marquise de Cussy.

  1832. Mlle. Marie Taglioni, a dancer, became Comtesse Gilbert desVoisins.

  1846. La Sota, a dancer, married a brother of the King of Spain.

  1847. Lola Montes, a dancer, became the morganatic wife of King Louisof Bavaria and was created Countess of Landsfeld.

  1848. Mlle. Maria, a dancer, became Baronne d'Herneville.

  1870. Theresa Hessier, a dancer, married Dom Fernando, brother to theKing of Portugal
.

  Richard and Moncharmin listened to the old woman, who, as she proceededwith the enumeration of these glorious nuptials, swelled out, tookcourage and, at last, in a voice bursting with pride, flung out thelast sentence of the prophetic letter:

  1885. Meg Giry, Empress!

  Exhausted by this supreme effort, the box-keeper fell into a chair,saying:

  "Gentlemen, the letter was signed, 'Opera Ghost.' I had heard much ofthe ghost, but only half believed in him. From the day when hedeclared that my little Meg, the flesh of my flesh, the fruit of mywomb, would be empress, I believed in him altogether."

  And really it was not necessary to make a long study of Mme. Giry'sexcited features to understand what could be got out of that fineintellect with the two words "ghost" and "empress."

  But who pulled the strings of that extraordinary puppet? That was thequestion.

  "You have never seen him; he speaks to you and you believe all hesays?" asked Moncharmin.

  "Yes. To begin with, I owe it to him that my little Meg was promotedto be the leader of a row. I said to the ghost, 'If she is to beempress in 1885, there is no time to lose; she must become a leader atonce.' He said, 'Look upon it as done.' And he had only a word to sayto M. Poligny and the thing was done."

  "So you see that M. Poligny saw him!"

  "No, not any more than I did; but he heard him. The ghost said a wordin his ear, you know, on the evening when he left Box Five, looking sodreadfully pale."

  Moncharmin heaved a sigh. "What a business!" he groaned.

  "Ah!" said Mme. Giry. "I always thought there were secrets between theghost and M. Poligny. Anything that the ghost asked M. Poligny to doM. Poligny did. M. Poligny could refuse the ghost nothing."

  "You hear, Richard: Poligny could refuse the ghost nothing."

  "Yes, yes, I hear!" said Richard. "M. Poligny is a friend of theghost; and, as Mme. Giry is a friend of M. Poligny, there we are! ...But I don't care a hang about M. Poligny," he added roughly. "The onlyperson whose fate really interests me is Mme. Giry... Mme. Giry, doyou know what is in this envelope?"

  "Why, of course not," she said.

  "Well, look."

  Mine. Giry looked into the envelope with a lackluster eye, which soonrecovered its brilliancy.

  "Thousand-franc notes!" she cried.

  "Yes, Mme. Giry, thousand-franc notes! And you knew it!"

  "I, sir? I? ... I swear ..."

  "Don't swear, Mme. Giry! ... And now I will tell you the second reasonwhy I sent for you. Mme. Giry, I am going to have you arrested."

  The two black feathers on the dingy bonnet, which usually affected theattitude of two notes of interrogation, changed into two notes ofexclamation; as for the bonnet itself, it swayed in menace on the oldlady's tempestuous chignon. Surprise, indignation, protest and dismaywere furthermore displayed by little Meg's mother in a sort ofextravagant movement of offended virtue, half bound, half slide, thatbrought her right under the nose of M. Richard, who could not helppushing back his chair.

  "HAVE ME ARRESTED!"

  The mouth that spoke those words seemed to spit the three teeth thatwere left to it into Richard's face.

  M. Richard behaved like a hero. He retreated no farther. Histhreatening forefinger seemed already to be pointing out the keeper ofBox Five to the absent magistrates.

  "I am going to have you arrested, Mme. Giry, as a thief!"

  "Say that again!"

  And Mme. Giry caught Mr. Manager Richard a mighty box on the ear,before Mr. Manager Moncharmin had time to intervene. But it was notthe withered hand of the angry old beldame that fell on the managerialear, but the envelope itself, the cause of all the trouble, the magicenvelope that opened with the blow, scattering the bank-notes, whichescaped in a fantastic whirl of giant butterflies.

  The two managers gave a shout, and the same thought made them both goon their knees, feverishly, picking up and hurriedly examining theprecious scraps of paper.

  "Are they still genuine, Moncharmin?"

  "Are they still genuine, Richard?"

  "Yes, they are still genuine!"

  Above their heads, Mme. Giry's three teeth were clashing in a noisycontest, full of hideous interjections. But all that could be clearlydistinguished was this LEIT-MOTIF:

  "I, a thief! ... I, a thief, I?"

  She choked with rage. She shouted:

  "I never heard of such a thing!"

  And, suddenly, she darted up to Richard again.

  "In any case," she yelped, "you, M. Richard, ought to know better thanI where the twenty thousand francs went to!"

  "I?" asked Richard, astounded. "And how should I know?"

  Moncharmin, looking severe and dissatisfied, at once insisted that thegood lady should explain herself.

  "What does this mean, Mme. Giry?" he asked. "And why do you say thatM. Richard ought to know better than you where the twenty-thousandfrancs went to?"

  As for Richard, who felt himself turning red under Moncharmin's eyes,he took Mme. Giry by the wrist and shook it violently. In a voicegrowling and rolling like thunder, he roared:

  "Why should I know better than you where the twenty-thousand francswent to? Why? Answer me!"

  "Because they went into your pocket!" gasped the old woman, looking athim as if he were the devil incarnate.

  Richard would have rushed upon Mme. Giry, if Moncharmin had not stayedhis avenging hand and hastened to ask her, more gently:

  "How can you suspect my partner, M. Richard, of putting twenty-thousandfrancs in his pocket?"

  "I never said that," declared Mme. Giry, "seeing that it was myself whoput the twenty-thousand francs into M. Richard's pocket." And sheadded, under her voice, "There! It's out! ... And may the ghostforgive me!"

  Richard began bellowing anew, but Moncharmin authoritatively orderedhim to be silent.

  "Allow me! Allow me! Let the woman explain herself. Let me questionher." And he added: "It is really astonishing that you should take upsuch a tone! ... We are on the verge of clearing up the whole mystery.And you're in a rage! ... You're wrong to behave like that... I'menjoying myself immensely."

  Mme. Giry, like the martyr that she was, raised her head, her facebeaming with faith in her own innocence.

  "You tell me there were twenty-thousand francs in the envelope which Iput into M. Richard's pocket; but I tell you again that I knew nothingabout it ... Nor M. Richard either, for that matter!"

  "Aha!" said Richard, suddenly assuming a swaggering air whichMoncharmin did not like. "I knew nothing either! You puttwenty-thousand francs in my pocket and I knew nothing either! I amvery glad to hear it, Mme. Giry!"

  "Yes," the terrible dame agreed, "yes, it's true. We neither of usknew anything. But you, you must have ended by finding out!"

  Richard would certainly have swallowed Mme. Giry alive, if Moncharminhad not been there! But Moncharmin protected her. He resumed hisquestions:

  "What sort of envelope did you put in M. Richard's pocket? It was notthe one which we gave you, the one which you took to Box Five beforeour eyes; and yet that was the one which contained the twenty-thousandfrancs."

  "I beg your pardon. The envelope which M. le Directeur gave me was theone which I slipped into M. le Directeur's pocket," explained Mme.Giry. "The one which I took to the ghost's box was another envelope,just like it, which the ghost gave me beforehand and which I hid up mysleeve."

  So saying, Mme. Giry took from her sleeve an envelope ready preparedand similarly addressed to that containing the twenty-thousand francs.The managers took it from her. They examined it and saw that it wasfastened with seals stamped with their own managerial seal. Theyopened it. It contained twenty Bank of St. Farce notes like thosewhich had so much astounded them the month before.

  "How simple!" said Richard.

  "How simple!" repeated Moncharmin. And he continued with his eyesfixed upon Mme. Giry, as though trying to hypnotize her.

  "So it was the ghost who gave you this envelope
and told you tosubstitute it for the one which we gave you? And it was the ghost whotold you to put the other into M. Richard's pocket?"

  "Yes, it was the ghost."

  "Then would you mind giving us a specimen of your little talents? Hereis the envelope. Act as though we knew nothing."

  "As you please, gentlemen."

  Mme. Giry took the envelope with the twenty notes inside it and madefor the door. She was on the point of going out when the two managersrushed at her:

  "Oh, no! Oh, no! We're not going to be 'done' a second time! Oncebitten, twice shy!"

  "I beg your pardon, gentlemen," said the old woman, in self-excuse,"you told me to act as though you knew nothing ... Well, if you knewnothing, I should go away with your envelope!"

  "And then how would you slip it into my pocket?" argued Richard, whomMoncharmin fixed with his left eye, while keeping his right on Mme.Giry: a proceeding likely to strain his sight, but Moncharmin wasprepared to go to any length to discover the truth.

  "I am to slip it into your pocket when you least expect it, sir. Youknow that I always take a little turn behind the scenes, in the courseof the evening, and I often go with my daughter to the ballet-foyer,which I am entitled to do, as her mother; I bring her her shoes, whenthe ballet is about to begin ... in fact, I come and go as I please ...The subscribers come and go too... So do you, sir ... There are lotsof people about ... I go behind you and slip the envelope into thetail-pocket of your dress-coat ... There's no witchcraft about that!"

  "No witchcraft!" growled Richard, rolling his eyes like Jupiter Tonans."No witchcraft! Why, I've just caught you in a lie, you old witch!"

  Mme. Giry bristled, with her three teeth sticking out of her mouth.

  "And why, may I ask?"

  "Because I spent that evening watching Box Five and the sham envelopewhich you put there. I did not go to the ballet-foyer for a second."

  "No, sir, and I did not give you the envelope that evening, but at thenext performance ... on the evening when the under-secretary of statefor fine arts ..."

  At these words, M. Richard suddenly interrupted Mme. Giry:

  "Yes, that's true, I remember now! The under-secretary went behind thescenes. He asked for me. I went down to the ballet-foyer for amoment. I was on the foyer steps ... The under-secretary and hischief clerk were in the foyer itself. I suddenly turned around ... youhad passed behind me, Mme. Giry ... You seemed to push against me ...Oh, I can see you still, I can see you still!"

  "Yes, that's it, sir, that's it. I had just finished my littlebusiness. That pocket of yours, sir, is very handy!"

  And Mme. Giry once more suited the action to the word, She passedbehind M. Richard and, so nimbly that Moncharmin himself was impressedby it, slipped the envelope into the pocket of one of the tails of M.Richard's dress-coat.

  "Of course!" exclaimed Richard, looking a little pale. "It's veryclever of O. G. The problem which he had to solve was this: how to doaway with any dangerous intermediary between the man who gives thetwenty-thousand francs and the man who receives it. And by far thebest thing he could hit upon was to come and take the money from mypocket without my noticing it, as I myself did not know that it wasthere. It's wonderful!"

  "Oh, wonderful, no doubt!" Moncharmin agreed. "Only, you forget,Richard, that I provided ten-thousand francs of the twenty and thatnobody put anything in my pocket!"

  [1] Flash notes drawn on the "Bank of St. Farce" in France correspondwith those drawn on the "Bank of Engraving" in England.--Translator'sNote.