Jezebel's Daughter

by Wilkie Collins

"Come in!" I entered the room.

  There she was, seated at the bedside, smiling quietly and lifting her

  finger to her lips! As certainly as I saw the familiar objects in the

  room, and the prostrate figure on the bed, I saw--Madame Fontaine!

  "Speak low," she said. "He sleeps very lightly; he must not be

  disturbed."

  I approached the bed and looked at him. There was a faint tinge of color

  in his face; there was moisture on his forehead; his hands lay as still

  on the counterpane, in the blessed repose that possessed him, as the

  hands of a sleeping child. I looked round at Madame Fontaine.

  She smiled again; my utter bewilderment seemed to amuse her. "He is left

  entirely to me, David," she said, looking tenderly at her patient. "Go

  downstairs and see Mr. Engelman. There must be no talking here."

  She lightly wiped the perspiration from his forehead; lightly laid her

  fingers on his pulse--then reclined in the easy chair, with her eyes

  fixed in silent interest on the sleeping man. She was the very ideal of

  the nurse with fine feelings and tender hands, contemplated by Doctor

  Dormann when I had last seen him. Any stranger looking into the room at

  that moment would have said, "What a charming picture! What a devoted

  wife!"

  CHAPTER XIX

  "A tumbler of the old Marcobrunner, David, and a slice of the game

  pie--before I say one word about what we owe to that angel upstairs. Off

  with the wine, my dear boy; you look as pale as death!"

  With those words Mr. Engelman lit his pipe, and waited in silence until

  the good eating and drinking had done their good work.

  "Now carry your mind back to last night," he began. "You remember my

  going out to get a breath of fresh air. Can you guess what that meant?"

  I guessed of course that it meant a visit to Madame Fontaine.

  "Quite right, David. I promised to call on her earlier in the day; but

  poor Keller's illness made that impossible. She wrote to me under the

  impression that something serious must have happened to prevent me, for

  the first time, from keeping an appointment that I had made with her.

  When I left you I went to answer her note personally. She was not only

  distressed to hear of Mr. Keller's illness, she was interested enough in

  my sad news to ask particularly in what form the illness declared itself.

  When I mentioned what the symptoms were, she showed an agitation which

  took me quite by surprise. 'Do the doctors understand what is the matter

  with him?' she asked. I told her that one of the doctors was evidently

  puzzled, and that the other had acknowledged that the malady was so far

  incomprehensible to him. She clasped her hands in despair--she said, 'Oh,

  if my poor husband had been alive!' I naturally asked what she meant. I

  wish I could give her explanation, David, in her own delightful words. It

  came in substance to this. Some person in her husband's employment at the

  University of Wurzburg had been attacked by a malady presenting exactly

  the same symptoms from which Mr. Keller was suffering. The medical men

  had been just as much at a loss what to do as our medical men. Alone

  among them Doctor Fontaine understood the case. He made up the medicine

  that he administered with his own hand. Madame Fontaine, under her

  husband's instructions, assisted in nursing the sick man, and in giving

  the nourishment prescribed when he was able to eat. His extraordinary

  recovery is remembered in the University to this day."

  I interrupted Mr. Engelman at that point. "Of course you asked her for

  the prescription?" I said. "I begin to understand it now."

  "No, David; you don't understand it yet. I certainly asked her for the

  prescription. No such thing was known to be in existence--she reminded me

  that her husband had made up the medicine himself. But she remembered

  that the results had exceeded his anticipations, and that only a part of

  the remedy had been used. The bottle might still perhaps be found at

  Wurzburg. Or it might be in a small portmanteau belonging to her husband,

  which she had found in his bedroom, and had brought away with her, to be

  examined at some future time. 'I have not had the heart to open it yet,'

  she said; 'but for Mr. Keller's sake, I will look it over before you go

  away.' There is a Christian woman, David, if ever there was one yet!

  After the manner in which poor Keller had treated her, she was as eager

  to help him as if he had been her dearest friend. Minna offered to take

  her place. 'Why should you distress yourself, mamma?' she said. 'Tell me

  what the bottle is like, and let me try if I can find it.' No! It was

  quite enough for Madame Fontaine that there was an act of mercy to be

  done. At any sacrifice of her own feelings, she was prepared to do it."

  I interrupted him again, eager to hear the end.

  "And she found the bottle?" I said.

  "She found the bottle," Mr. Engelman resumed. "I can show it to you, if

  you like. She has herself requested me to keep it under lock and key, so

  long as it is wanted in this house."

  He opened an old cabinet, and took out a long narrow bottle of dark-blue

  glass. In form, it was quaintly and remarkably unlike any modern bottle

  that I had ever seen. The glass stopper was carefully secured by a piece

  of leather, for the better preservation, I suppose, of the liquid inside.

  Down one side of the bottle ran a narrow strip of paper, notched at

  regular intervals to indicate the dose that was to be given. No label

  appeared on it; but, examining the surface of the glass carefully, I

  found certain faintly-marked stains, which suggested that the label might

  have been removed, and that some traces of the paste or gum by which it

  had been secured had not been completely washed away. I held the bottle

  up to the light, and found that it was still nearly half full. Mr.

  Engelman forbade me to remove the stopper. It was very important, he

  said, that no air should be admitted to the bottle, except when there was

  an actual necessity for administering the remedy.

  "I took it away with me the same night," he went on. "And a wretched

  state of mind I was in, between my anxiety to give the medicine to poor

  dear Keller immediately, and my fear of taking such a serious

  responsibility entirely on myself. Madame Fontaine, always just in her

  views, said, 'You had better wait and consult the doctors.' She made but

  one condition (the generous creature!) relating to herself. 'If the

  remedy is tried,' she said, 'I must ask you to give it a fair chance by

  permitting me to act as nurse; the treatment of the patient when he

  begins to feel the benefit of the medicine is of serious importance. I

  know this from my husband's instructions, and it is due to his memory (to

  say nothing of what is due to Mr. Keller) that I should be at the

  bedside.' It is needless to say that I joyfully accepted the offered

  help. So the night passed. The next morning, soon after you fell asleep,

  the doctors came. You may imagine what they thought of poor Keller, when

  I tell you that they recommended me to write instantly to Fritz in London

  summoning him to his father's bedside. I was just in
time to catch the

  special mail which left this morning. Don't blame me, David. I could not

  feel absolutely sure of the new medicine; and, with time of such terrible

  importance, and London so far off, I was really afraid to miss a post."

  I was far from blaming him--and I said so. In his place I should have

  done what he did. We arranged that I should write to Fritz by that

  night's mail, on the chance that my announcement of the better news might

  reach him before he left London.

  "My letter despatched," Mr. Engelman continued, "I begged both the

  doctors to speak with me before they went away, in my private room. There

  I told them, in the plainest words I could find, exactly what I have told

  you. Doctor Dormann behaved like a gentleman. He said, 'Let me see the

  lady, and speak to her myself, before the new remedy is tried.' As for

  the other, what do you think he did? Walked out of the house (the old

  brute!) and declined any further attendance on the patient. And who do

  you think followed him out of the house, David, when I sent for Madame

  Fontaine? Another old brute--Mother Barbara!"

  After what I had seen myself of the housekeeper's temper on the previous

  evening, this last piece of news failed to surprise me. To be stripped of

  her authority as nurse in favor of a stranger, and that stranger a

  handsome lady, was an aggravation of the wrong which Mother Barbara had

  contemplated, when she threatened us with the alternative of leaving the

  house.

  "Well," Mr. Engelman resumed, "Doctor Dormann asked his questions, and

  smelt and tasted the medicine, and with Madame Fontaine's full approval

  took away a little of it to be analyzed. That came to nothing! The

  medicine kept its own secret. All the ingredients but two set analysis at

  defiance! In the meantime we gave the first dose. Half an hour since we

  tried the second. You have seen the result with your own eyes. She has

  saved his life, David, and we have you to thank for it. But for you we

  might never have known Madame Fontaine.

  The door opened as he spoke, and I found myself confronted by a second

  surprise. Minna came in, wearing a cook's apron, and asked if her mother

  had rung for her yet. Under the widow's instructions, she was preparing

  the peculiar vegetable diet which had been prescribed by Doctor Fontaine

  as part of the cure. The good girl was eager to make herself useful to us

  in any domestic capacity. What a charming substitute for the crabbed old

  housekeeper who had just left us!

  So here were Madame Fontaine and Minna actually established as inmates

  under the same roof with Mr. Keller! What would Fritz think, when he knew

  of it? What would Mr. Keller say when he recognized his nurse, and when

  he heard that she had saved his life? "All's well that ends well" is a

  good proverb. But we had not got as far as that yet. The question in our

  case was, _How_ will it end?

  CHAPTER XX

  When, late that night, I entered my bedroom again, how I blessed the

  lucky accident of my six hours' sleep, after a night's watching at Mr.

  Keller's bedside!

  If I had spoken to Doctor Dormann as I had positively resolved to speak,

  he would, beyond all doubt, have forbidden the employment of Madame

  Fontaine's remedy; Mr. Keller would have died; and the innocent woman who

  had saved his life would have been suspected, perhaps even tried, on a

  charge of murdering him. I really trembled when I looked back on the

  terrible consequences which must have followed, if I had succeeded that

  morning in keeping myself awake.

  The next day, the doses of the wonderful medicine were renewed at the

  regular intervals; and the prescribed vegetable diet was carefully

  administered. On the day after, the patient was so far advanced on the

  way to recovery, that the stopper of the dark-blue bottle was permanently

  secured again under its leather guard. Mr. Engelman told me that nearly

  two doses of it were still left at the bottom. He also mentioned, on my

  asking to look at it again, that the widow had relieved him of the care

  of the bottle, and had carefully locked it up in her own room.

  Late on this day also, the patient being well-enough to leave his bed and

  to occupy the armchair in his room, the inevitable disclosure took place;

  and Madame Fontaine stood revealed in the character of the Good Samaritan

  who had saved Mr. Keller's life.

  By Doctor Dormann's advice, those persons only were permitted to enter

  the bedroom whose presence was absolutely necessary. Besides Madame

  Fontaine and the doctor himself, Mr. Engelman and Minna were the other

  witnesses of the scene. Mr. Engelman had his claim to be present as an

  old friend; and Minna was to be made useful, at her mother's suggestion,

  as a means of gently preparing Mr. Keller's mind for the revelation that

  was to come. Under these circumstances, I can only describe what took

  place, by repeating the little narrative with which Minna favored me,

  after she had left the room.

  "We arranged that I should wait downstairs," she said, "until I heard the

  bedroom bell ring--and then I myself was to take up Mr. Keller's dinner

  of lentils and cream, and put it on his table without saying a word."

  "Exactly like a servant!" I exclaimed.

  Gentle sweet-tempered Minna answered my foolish interruption with her

  customary simplicity and good sense.

  "Why not?" she asked. "Fritz's father may one day be my father; and I am

  happy to be of the smallest use to him, whenever he wants me. Well, when

  I went in, I found him in his chair, with the light let into the room,

  and with plenty of pillows to support him. Mr. Engelman and the doctor

  were on either side of him; and poor dear mamma was standing back in a

  corner behind the bed, where he could not see her. He looked up at me,

  when I came in with my tray. 'Who's this?' he asked of Mr. Engelman--'is

  she a new servant?' Mr. Engelman, humoring him, answered, 'Yes.' 'A

  nice-looking girl,' he said; 'but what does Mother Barbara say to her?'

  Upon this, Mr. Engelman told him how the housekeeper had left her place

  and why. As soon as he had recovered his surprise, he looked at me again.

  'But who has been my nurse?' he inquired; 'surely not this young girl?'

  'No, no; the young girl's mother has nursed you,' said Mr. Engelman. He

  looked at the doctor as he spoke; and the doctor interfered for the first

  time. 'She has not only nursed you, sir,' he said; 'I can certify

  medically that she has saved your life. Don't excite yourself. You shall

  hear exactly how it happened.' In two minutes, he told the whole story,

  so clearly and beautifully that it was quite a pleasure to hear him. One

  thing only he concealed--the name. 'Who is she?' Mr. Keller cried out.

  'Why am I not allowed to express my gratitude? Why isn't she here?' 'She

  is afraid to approach you, sir,' said the doctor; 'you have a very bad

  opinion of her.' 'A bad opinion,' Mr. Keller repeated, 'of a woman I

  don't know? Who is the slanderer who has said that of me?' The doctor

  signed to Mr. Engelman to answer. 'Speak plainly,' he whispered, behind

  the c
hair. Mr. Engelman did speak plainly. 'Pardon me, my dear Keller,

  there is no slanderer in this matter. Your own action has spoken for you.

  A short time since--try if you cannot remember it yourself--a lady sent a

  letter to you; and you sent the letter back to her, refusing to read it.

  Do you know how she has returned the insult? That noble creature is the

  woman to whom you owe your life.' When he had said those words, the

  doctor crossed the room, and returned again to Mr. Keller, leading my

  mother by the hand."

  Minna's voice faltered; she stopped at the most interesting part of her

  narrative.

  "What did Mr. Keller say?" I asked.

  "There was silence in the room," Minna answered softly. "I heard nothing

  except the ticking of the clock."

  "But you must have seen something?"

  "No, David. I couldn't help it--I was crying. After a while, my mother

  put her arm round me and led me to Mr. Keller. I dried my eyes as well as

  I could, and saw him again. His head was bent down on his breast--his

  hands hung helpless over the arms of the chair--it was dreadful to see

  him so overwhelmed by shame and sorrow! 'What can I do?' he groaned to

  himself. 'God help me, what can I do?' Mamma spoke to him--so sweetly and

  so prettily--'You can give this poor girl of mine a kiss, sir; the new

  servant who has waited on you is my daughter Minna.' He looked up

  quickly, and drew me to him. 'I can make but one atonement, my dear,' he

  said--and then he kissed me, and whispered, 'Send for Fritz.' Oh, don't

  ask me to tell you any more, David; I shall only begin crying again--and

  I am so happy!"

  She left me to write to Fritz by that night's post. I tried vainly to

  induce her to wait a little. We had no electric telegraphs at our

  disposal, and we were reduced to guessing at events. But there was

  certainly a strong probability that Fritz might have left London

  immediately on the receipt of Mr. Engelman's letter, announcing that his

  father was dangerously ill. In this case, my letter, despatched by the

  next mail to relieve his anxiety, would be left unopened in London; and

  Fritz might be expected to arrive (if he traveled without stopping) in

  the course of the next day or two. I put this reasonable view of the

  matter to Minna, and received a thoroughly irrational and womanly reply.

  "I don't care, David; I shall write to him, for all that."

  "Why?"

  "Because I like writing to him.

  "What! whether he receives your letter or not?"

  "Whether he receives it or not," she answered saucily, "I shall have the

  pleasure of writing to him--that is all I want."

  She covered four pages of note-paper, and insisted on posting them

  herself.

  The next morning Mr. Keller was able, with my help and Mr. Engelman's, to

  get downstairs to the sitting-room. We were both with him, when Madame

  Fontaine came in.

  "Well," he asked, "have you brought it with you?"

  She handed to him a sealed envelope, and then turned to explain herself

  to me.

  "The letter that you put on Mr. Keller's desk," she said pleasantly.

  "This time, David, I act as my own postman--at Mr. Keller's request."

  In her place, I should certainly have torn it up. To keep it, on the bare

  chance of its proving to be of some use in the future, seemed to imply

  either an excessive hopefulness or an extraordinary foresight, on the

  widow's part. Without in the least comprehending my own state of mind, I

  felt that she had, in some mysterious way, disappointed me by keeping

  that letter. As a matter of course, I turned to leave the room, and Mr.

  Engelman (from a similar motive of delicacy) followed me to the door. Mr.

  Keller called us both back.

  "Wait, if you please," he said, "until I have read it."