by Eugène Sue
CHAPTER XXIV. THE LAST STROKE OF NOON.
At the cry uttered by Gabriel, the notary had stopped reading thetestament, and Father d'Aigrigny hastily drew near the young priest. Thelatter rose trembling from his seat and gazed with increasing stupor atthe female portrait.
Then he said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "Good Heaven!is it possible that nature can produce such resemblances? Those eyes--soproud and yet so sad--that forehead--that pale complexion--yes, all herfeatures, are the same--all of them!"
"My dear son, what is the matter?" said Father d'Aigrigny, as astonishedas Samuel and the notary.
"Eight months ago," replied the missionary, in a voice of deep emotion,without once taking his eyes from the picture, "I was in the power ofthe Indians, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They had crucified,and were beginning to scalp me; I was on the point of death, when DivineProvidence sent me unexpected aid--sent me this woman for a deliverer."
"That woman!" cried Samuel, Father d'Aigrigny, and the notary, alltogether.
Rodin alone appeared completely indifferent to this episode of thepicture. His face contracted with angry impatience, he bit his nails tothe quick, as he contemplated with agony the slow progress of the handsof his watch.
"What! that woman saved your life?" resumed Father d'Aigrigny.
"Yes, this woman," replied Gabriel, in a still lower and more tremblingvoice; "this woman--or rather a woman so much resembling her, that ifthis picture had not been here for a century and a half, I should havefelt sure it was the same--nor can I explain to myself that so strikinga resemblance could be the effect of chance. Well," added he, aftera moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries ofNature, and the will of God, are impenetrable."
Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence,which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case ofextraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the naturalgratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take adeep interest in this singular coincidence."
Rodin, bursting with impatience, here said to the notary, by whose sidehe stood, "It seems to me, sir, that all this little romance has nothingto do with the testament."
"You are right," answered the notary, resuming his seat; "but the factis so extraordinary, and as you say, romantic, that one cannot helpsharing in this gentleman's astonishment."
He pointed to Gabriel, who, with his elbow resting on the arms of thechair, leaned his forehead upon his hand, apparently quite absorbed inthought. The notary continued the reading of the will, as follows:
"'Such are the persecutions to which my family has been exposed on thepart of the Society of Jesus.
"'The Society possesses at this hour the whole of my confiscatedproperty. I am about to die. May its hatred perish with me, and spare mykindred, whose fate at this solemn moment is my last and only thought.
"'This morning I sent for a man of long tried probity Isaac Samuel. Heowes his life to me, and every day I congratulate myself on having beenable to preserve to the world so honest and excellent a creature.
"'Before the confiscation of my property, Isaac Samuel had long managedit with as much intelligence as uprightness. I have entrusted him withthe fifty thousand crowns, returned to me by a faithful friend. IsaacSamuel, and his descendants after him, to whom he will leave this debtof gratitude, will invest the above sum, and allow it to accumulate,until the expiration of the hundred and fiftieth year from this time.
"'The amount thus accumulated may become enormous, and constitute aroyal fortune, if no unfavorable event should occur. May my descendantsattend to my wishes, as to the division and employment of this immensesum!
"'In a century and a half, there happen so many changes, so manyvarieties of fortunes, such a rise and fall in the condition of thesuccessive generations of a family, that probably, a hundred and fiftyyears hence, my descendants will belong to various classes of society,and thus represent the divers social elements of their time.
"'There may, perhaps, be among them men of great intelligence greatcourage, or great virtue--learned men, or names illustrious in artsand arms. There may, perhaps, also be obscure workmen, or humblecitizens--perhaps, also, alas! great criminals.
"'However, this may be, my most earnest desire is that my descendantsshould combine together, and, reconstituting one family, by a close andsincere union, put into practice the divine words of Christ, "Love yeone another."
"'This union would have a salutary tendency; for it seems to me thatupon union, upon the association of men together, must depend the futurehappiness of mankind.
"'The Company, which so long persecuted my family, is one of the moststriking examples of the power of association, even when applied toevil.
"'There is something so fruitful and divine in this principle, that itsometimes forces to good the worst and most dangerous combinations.
"'Thus, the missions have thrown a scanty but pure and generous light onthe darkness of this Company of Jesus--founded with the detestable andimpious aim of destroying, by a homicidal education, all will, thought,liberty, and intelligence, in the people, so as to deliver them,trembling, superstitious, brutal, and helpless, to the despotism ofkings, governed in their turn by confessors belonging to the Society.'"
At this passage of the will, there was another strange look exchangedbetween Gabriel and Father d'Aigrigny. The notary continued:
"'If a perverse association, based upon the degradation of humanity,upon fear and despotism, and followed by the maledictions of the people,has survived for centuries, and often governed the world by craft andterror--how would it be with an association, which, taking fraternityand evangelic love for its means, had for its end to deliver manand woman from all degrading slavery, to invite to the enjoyment ofterrestrial happiness those who have hitherto known nothing of life butits sorrows and miseries, and to glorify and enrich the labor that feedsthe state?--to enlighten those whom ignorance has depraved?--to favorthe free expansion of all the passions, which God, in His infinitewisdom, and inexhaustible goodness, gave to man as so many powerfullevers?--to sanctify all the gifts of Heaven: love, maternity, strength,intelligence, beauty, genius?--to make men truly religious, and deeplygrateful to their Creator, by making them understand the splendors ofNature, and bestowing on them their rightful share in the treasureswhich have been poured upon us?
"'Oh! if it be Heaven's will that, in a century and a half, thedescendants of my family, faithful to the last wishes of a heart thatloved humanity, meet in this sacred union!--if it be Heaven's willthat amongst them be found charitable and passionate souls, full ofcommiseration for those who suffer, and lofty minds, ardent for liberty!warm and eloquent natures! resolute characters! women, who unite beautyand wit with goodness--oh! then, how fruitful, how powerful will be theharmonious union of all these ideas, and influences, and forces--ofall these attractions grouped round that princely fortune, which,concentrated by association, and wisely managed, would renderpracticable the most admirable Utopias!
"'What a wondrous centre of fertile and generous thoughts! What preciousand life-giving rays would stream incessantly from this focus ofcharity, emancipation, and love! What great things might be attemptedwhat magnificent examples given to the world! What a divine mission!What an irresistible tendency towards good might be impressed on thewhole human race by a family thus situated, and in possession of suchmeans!
"'And, then, such a beneficent association would be able to combat thefatal conspiracy of which I am the victim, and which, in a century and ahalf, may have lost none of its formidable power.
"'So, to this work of darkness, restraint, and despotism, which weighsheavily on the Christian world, my family would oppose their work oflight, expansion, and liberty!
"'The genii of good and evil would stand face to face. The strugglewould commence, and God would protect the right.
"'And that these immense pecuniary resources, which will give so muchpower to my family, may not be exhaus
ted by the course of years,my heirs, following my last will, are to place out, upon the sameconditions, double the sum that I have invested--so that, a century anda half later, a new source of power and action will be at the disposalof their descendants. What a perpetuity of good!
"'In the ebony cabinet of the Hall of Mourning will be found somepractical suggestions on the subject of this association.
"'Such is my last will--or rather, such are my last hopes.
"'When I require absolutely that the members of my family should appearin person in the Rue Saint-Francois, on the day of the opening of thistestament, it is so that, united in that solemn moment, they may see andknow each other. My words may then, perhaps, have some effect upon them;and, instead of living divided, they will combine together. It will befor their own interest, and my wishes will thus be accomplished.
"'When I sent, a few days ago, to those of my family whom exile hasdispersed over Europe, a medal on which is engravers the date of theconvocation of my heirs, a century and a half from this time, I wasforced to keep secret my true motive, and only to tell them, that mydescendants would find it greatly to their interest to attend thismeeting.
"'I have acted thus, because I know the craft and perseverance of thesociety of which I have been the victim. If they could guess that mydescendants would hereafter have to divide immense sums between them,my family would run the risk of much fraud and malice, through the fatalrecommendations handed down from age to age in the Society of Jesus.
"'May these precautions be successful! May the wish, expressed uponthese medals, be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation!
"'If I fix a day and hour, in which my inheritance shall irrevocablyfall to those of my descendants who shall appear in the RueSaint-Francois on the 13th February, in 1832, it is that all delaysmust have a term, and that my heirs will have been sufficiently informedyears before of the great importance of this meeting.
"'After the reading of my testament, the person who shall then be thetrustee of the accumulated funds, shall make known their amount, sothat, with the last stroke of noon, they may be divided between my heirsthen and there present.
"'The different apartments of the house shall then be opened to them.They will see in them divers objects, well worthy of interest, pity, andrespect--particularly in the Hall of Mourning.
"'My desire is, that the house may not be sold, but that it may remainfurnished as it is, and serve as a place of meeting for my descendants,if, as I hope, they attend to my last wishes.
"'If, on the contrary, they are divided amongst themselves--if, insteadof uniting for one of the most generous enterprises that ever signalizedan age, they yield to the influence of selfish passions--if they prefera sterile individuality to a fruitful association--if, in this immensefortune, they see only an opportunity for frivolous dissipation, orsordid interest--may they be accursed by all those whom they might haveloved, succored, and disfettered!--and then let this house be utterlydemolished and destroyed, and the papers, of which Isaac Samuelpossesses the inventory, as well as the two portraits in the Red Room,be burnt by the guardian of the property.
"'I have spoken. My duty is accomplished. In all this, I have followedthe counsels of the man whom I revere and love as the image of God uponearth.
"'The faithful friend, who preserved for me the fifty thousand crowns,the wreck of my fortune, knows the use I mean to make of them. I couldnot refuse his friendship this mark of confidence. But I have concealedfrom him the name of Isaac Samuel--for to have mentioned it might haveexposed this latter and his descendants to great dangers.
"'In a short time, this friend, who knows not that my resolution to dieis so near its accomplishment, will come hither with my notary. Intotheir hands, after the usual formalities, I shall deliver my sealedtestament.
"'Such is my last will. I leave its execution to the superintending careof Providence. God will protect the cause of love, peace, union, andliberty.
"'This mystic testament,(20) having been freely made by me, and writtenentirely with my own hand, I intend and will its scrupulous executionboth in spirit and the letter.
"'This 13th day of February, 1682, at one o'clock in the afternoon.
"'MARIUS DE RENNEPONT.'"
As the notary had proceeded with the reading of the testament, Gabrielwas successively agitated by divers painful impressions. At first, aswe have before said, he was struck with the singular fatality whichrestored this immense fortune, derived from a victim of the Society ofJesus, to the hands of that very association, by the renewal of hisdeed of gift. Then, as his charitable and lofty soul began fully tocomprehend the admirable tendency of the association so earnestlyrecommended by Marius de Rennepont, he reflected with bitter remorse,that, in consequence of his act of renunciation, and of the absence ofany other heir, this great idea would never be realized, and a fortune,far more considerable than had even been expected, would fall tothe share of an ill-omened society, in whose hands it would become aterrible means of action. At the same time, it must be said that thesoul of Gabriel was too pure and noble to feel the slightest personalregret, on hearing the great probable value of the property he hadrenounced. He rejoiced rather in withdrawing his mind, by a touchingcontrast, from the thought of the wealth he had abandoned, to the humbleparsonage, where he hoped to pass the remainder of his life, in thepractice of most evangelical virtue.
These ideas passed confusedly through his brain. The sight of thatwoman's portrait, the dark revelations contained in the testament, thegrandeur of the views exhibited in this last will of M. de Rennepont,all these extraordinary incidents had thrown Gabriel into a sort ofstupor, in which he was still plunged, when Samuel offered the keyof the register to the notary, saying: "You will find, sir, in thisregister, the exact statement of the sums in my possession, derived fromthe investment and accumulation of the one hundred and fifty thousandfrancs, entrusted to my grandfather by M. Marius de Rennepont."
"Your grandfather!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with the utmost surprise;"it is then your family that has always had the management of thisproperty."
"Yes, sir; and, in a few minutes, my wife will bring hither the casketwhich contains the vouchers."
"And to what sum does this property amount?" asked Rodin, with an air ofthe most complete indifference.
"As M. Notary may convince himself by this statement," replied Samuel,with perfect frankness, and as if he were only talking of the originalone hundred and fifty thousand francs, "I have in my possession variouscurrent securities to the amount of two hundred and twelve millions, onehundred and seventy--"
"You say, sir'" cried Father d'Aigrigny, without giving Samuel time tofinish, for the odd money did not at all interest his reverence.
"Yes, the sum!" added Rodin, in an agitated voice, and, for the firsttime, perhaps, in his life losing his presence of mind; "the sum--thesum--the sum!"
"I say, sir," resumed the old man, "that I hold securities for twohundred and twelve millions, one hundred and seventy-five thousandfrancs, payable to self or bearer--as you may soon convince yourself, M.Notary, for here is my wife with the casket."
Indeed, at this moment, Bathsheba entered, holding in her arms the cedarwood chest, which contained the securities in question; she placed itupon the table, and withdrew, after exchanging an affectionate glancewith Samuel. When the latter declared the enormous amount of the sum inhand, his words were received with silent stupor. All the actors inthis scene, except himself, believed that they were the sport of somedelusion. Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin had counted upon forty millions.This sum, in itself enormous, was more than quintupled. Gabriel, when heheard the notary read those passages in the testament, which spoke ofa princely fortune, being quite ignorant of the prodigious effects ofeligible investments, had valued the property at some three orfour millions. He was, therefore, struck dumb with amazement at theexorbitant amount named. Notwithstanding his admirable disinterestednessand scrupulous honor, he felt dazzled and giddy at the though
t, thatall these immense riches might have belonged to him--alone. The notary,almost as much amazed as Gabriel, examined the statement, and couldhardly believe his eyes. The Jew also remained mute, and seemedpainfully absorbed in thought, that no other heir made his appearance.
In the depth of this profound silence, the clock in the next room beganslowly to strike twelve. Samuel started, and heaved a deep sigh. Afew seconds more, and the fatal term would be at an end. Rodin, Fatherd'Aigrigny, Gabriel, and the notary, were all under the influence ofsuch complete surprise, that not one of them even remarked how strangeit was to hear the sound of this clock.
"Noon!" cried Rodin, as, by an involuntary movement, he hastily placedhis two hands upon the casket, as if to take possession of it.
"At last!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with an expression of joy, triumphtransport, which it is impossible to describe. Then he added, as hethrew himself into Gabriel's arms, whom he embraced warmly: "Oh, my dearson! how the poor will bless you! You will be a second Vincent de Paul.You will be canonized, I promise you."
"Let us first thank Providence," said Rodin, in a grave and solemntone, as he fell upon his knees, "let us thank Providence, that He haspermitted so much wealth to be employed for His glory!"'
Father d'Aigrigny, having again embraced Gabriel, took him by the hand,and said: "Rodin is right. Let us kneel, my dear son, and render thanksto Providence!"
So saying, Father d'Aigrigny knelt down, dragging Gabriel with him, andthe latter, confused and giddy with so many precipitate events, yieldedmechanically to the impulse. It was the last stroke of twelve when theyall rose together.
Then said the notary, in a slightly agitated voice, for there wassomething extraordinary and solemn in this scene--
"No other heir of M. Marius de Rennepont having presented himself,before noon on this day, I execute the will of the testator, bydeclaring, in the name of law and justice, that M. Francois MarieGabriel de Rennepont, here present, is the sole heir and possessor ofall the estate, real and personal, bequeathed under the said will;all which estate the said Gabriel de Rennepont, priest, has freely andvoluntarily made over by deed of gift to Frederic Emanuel de Bordeville,Marquis d'Aigrigny, priest, who has accepted the same, and is,therefore, the only legal holder of such property, in the room of thesaid Gabriel de Rennepont, by virtue of the said deed, drawn up andengrossed by me this morning, and signed in my presence by the saidGabriel de Rennepont and Frederic d'Aigrigny."
At this moment, the sound of loud voices was heard from the garden.Bathsheba entered hastily, and said to her husband with an agitated air:"Samuel--a soldier--who insists--"
She had not time to finish. Dagobert appeared at the door of the RedRoom. The soldier was fearfully pale. He seemed almost fainting; hisleft arm was in a sling, and he leaned upon Agricola. At sight ofDagobert, the pale and flabby eyelids of Rodin were suddenly distended,as if all the blood in his body had flowed towards the head. Then thesocius threw himself upon the casket, with the haste of ferocious rageand avidity, as if he were resolved to cover it with his body, anddefend it at the peril of his life.
(20) This term is sanctioned by legal usage.