Le collier de la reine. English

by Alexandre Dumas

  CHAPTER LXX.

  THE JEALOUSY OF THE CARDINAL.

  The cardinal passed three nights very different to those when he went tothe park, and which he constantly lived over again in his memory. Nonews of any one, no hope of a visit; nothing but a dead silence, andperfect darkness, after such brightness and happiness. He began to fearthat, after all, his sacrifice had been displeasing to the queen. Hisuneasiness became insupportable. He sent ten times in one day to Madamede la Motte: the tenth messenger brought Jeanne to him. On seeing her hecried out, "How! you live so tranquilly; you know my anxiety, and you,my friend, never come near me."

  "Oh, monseigneur, patience, I beg. I have been far more useful to you atVersailles than I could have been here."

  "Tell me," replied he, "what does she say? Is she less cruel?"

  "Absence is equal pain, whether borne at Versailles or at Paris."

  "Oh, I thank you, but the proofs----"

  "Proofs! Are you in your senses, monseigneur, to ask a woman for proofsof her own infidelity?"

  "I am not speaking of proofs for a lawsuit, countess, only a token oflove."

  "It seems to me that you are either very exacting or very forgetful."

  "Oh! I know you will tell me that I might be more than satisfied. Butjudge by yourself, countess; would you like to be thrown on one side,after having received assurances of favor?"

  "Assurances!"

  "Oh, certainly, I have nothing to complain of, but still----"

  "I cannot be answerable for unreasonable discontents."

  "Countess, you treat me ill. Instead of reproaching me for my folly, youshould try to aid me."

  "I cannot aid you. I see nothing to do."

  "Nothing to do?"

  "No."

  "Well, madame, I do not say the same."

  "Ah, monseigneur, anger will not help you; and besides, you are unjust."

  "No, countess; if you do not assist me any longer, I know it is becauseyou cannot. Only tell me the truth at once."

  "What truth?"

  "That the queen is a perfidious coquette, who makes people adore her,and then drives them to despair."

  Jeanne looked at him with an air of surprise, although she had expectedhim to arrive at this state, and she felt really pleased, for shethought that it would help her out of her difficult position. "Explainyourself," she said.

  "Confess that the queen refuses to see me."

  "I do not say so, monseigneur."

  "She wishes to keep me away lest I should rouse the suspicions of someother lover."

  "Ah, monseigneur!" cried Jeanne in a tone which gave him liberty tosuspect anything.

  "Listen," continued he; "the last time I saw her, I thought I heardsteps in the wood----"

  "Folly!"

  "And I suspect----"

  "Say no more, monseigneur. It is an insult to the queen; besides, evenif it were true that she fears the surveillance of another lover, whyshould you reproach her with a past which she has sacrificed to you?"

  "But if this past be again a present, and about to be a future?"

  "Fie, monseigneur, your suspicions are offensive both to the queen andto me."

  "Then, countess, bring me a proof--does she love me at all?"

  "It is very simple," replied Jeanne, pointing to his writing table, "toask her."

  "You will give her a note?"

  "Who else would, if not I?"

  "And you will bring me an answer?"

  "If possible."

  "Ah! now you are a good creature, countess."

  He sat down, but though he was an eloquent writer, he commenced anddestroyed a dozen sheets of paper before he satisfied himself.

  "If you go on so, you will never have done," said Jeanne.

  "You see, countess, I fear my own tenderness, lest I displease thequeen."

  "Oh," replied Jeanne, "if you write a business letter, you will get onein reply. That is your own affair."

  "You are right, countess; you always see what is best." He then wrote aletter, so full of loving reproaches and ardent protestations, thatJeanne, when he gave it to her to read, thought, "He has written of hisown accord what I never should have dared to dictate."

  "Will it do?" asked he.

  "If she loves you. You will see to-morrow: till then be quiet."

  "Till to-morrow, then."

  On her return home Jeanne gave way to her reflections. This letter wasjust what she wanted. How could the cardinal ever accuse her, when hewas called on to pay for the necklace? Even admitting that the queen andcardinal met, and that everything was explained, how could they turnagainst her while she held in her hands such proofs of a scandaloussecret? No, they must let her go quietly off with her fortune of amillion and a half of francs. They would know she had stolen thediamonds, but they never would publish all this affair; and if oneletter was not enough, she would have seven or eight. The firstexplosion would come from the jewelers, who would claim their money.Then she must confess to M. de Rohan, and make him pay by threatening topublish his letters. Surely they would purchase the honor of a queen anda prince at the price of a million and a half! The jewelers once paid,that question was at an end; Jeanne felt sure of her fortune. She knewthat the cardinal had a conviction so firm that nothing could shake it,that he had met the queen. There was but one living witness against her,and that one she would soon cause to disappear. Arrived at this point,she went to the window and saw Oliva, who was watching in her balcony.She made the accustomed sign for her to come down, and Oliva repliedjoyfully. The great thing now was to get rid of her. To destroy theinstrument that has served them is the constant endeavor of those whointrigue; but here it is that they generally fail; they do not succeedin doing so before there has been time to disclose the secret. Jeanneknew that Oliva would not be easy to get rid of, unless she could thinkof something that would induce her to fly willingly. Oliva, on her part,much as she enjoyed her nocturnal promenades at first, after so muchconfinement, was already beginning to weary of them, and to sigh oncemore for liberty and Beausire.

  The night came, and they went out together; Oliva disguised under alarge cloak and hood, and Jeanne dressed as a grisette; besides whichthe carriage bore the respectable arms of Valois, which prevented thepolice, who alone might have recognized Oliva, from searching it.

  "Oh! I have been so ennuyee," cried Oliva, "I have been expecting you solong."

  "It was impossible to come and see you, I should have run, and made yourun, a great danger."

  "How so?" said Oliva, astonished.

  "A terrible danger at which I still tremble. You know how ennuyee youwere, and how much you wished to go out."

  "Yes; and you assisted me like a friend."

  "Certainly; I proposed that we should have some amusement with thatofficer who is rather mad, and in love with the queen, whom you resemblea little; and endeavor to persuade him that it was the queen he waswalking with."

  "Yes," said Oliva.

  "The first two nights you walked in the park, and you played your partto perfection; he was quite taken in."

  "Yes," said Oliva, "but it was almost a pity to deceive him, poorfellow, he was so delightful."

  "Yes, but the evil is not there. To give a man a rose, to let him kissyour hands, and call you 'your majesty,' was all good fun; but, mylittle Oliva, it seems you did not stop here."

  Oliva colored.

  "How?" stammered she.

  "There was a third interview."

  "Yes," replied Oliva, hastily, "you know, for you were there."

  "Excuse me, dear friend; I was there, but at a distance. I neither sawnor heard what passed within, I only know what you told me, that hetalked and kissed your hands."

  "Oh, mon Dieu!" murmured Oliva.

  "You surely could not have exposed us both to such a terrible dangerwithout telling me of it."

  Oliva trembled from head to foot.

  Jeanne continued. "How could I imagine that you, who said you loved M.Beausire, and were courted by a
man like Count Cagliostro, whom yourefused; oh! it cannot be true."

  "But where is the danger?" asked Oliva.

  "The danger! Have we not to manage a madman, one who fears nothing, andwill not be controlled. It was no great thing for the queen to give himher hand to kiss or to give him a rose; oh, my dear child, I have notsmiled since I heard this."

  "What do you fear?" asked Oliva, her teeth chattering with terror.

  "Why, as you are not the queen, and have taken her name, and in her namehave committed a folly of this kind, that is unfortunately treason. Hehas no proof of this--they may be satisfied with a prison orbanishment."

  "A prison! banishment!" shrieked Oliva.

  "I, at least, intend to take precautions and hide myself."

  "You fear also?"

  "Oh! will not this madman divulge my share also? My poor Oliva, thistrick of yours will cost us dear."

  Oliva burst into tears.

  "Oh!" she cried, "I think I am possessed of a demon, that I can neverrest: just saved from one danger, I must rush into another. Suppose Iconfess all to my protector?"

  "A fine story to confess to him, whose advances you refused, that youhave committed this imprudence with a stranger."

  "Mon Dieu! you are right."

  "Soon this report will spread, and will reach his ears; then do you notthink he will give you up to the police? Even if he only send you away,what will become of you?"

  "Oh! I am lost."

  "And M. Beausire, when he shall hear this----?"

  Oliva started, and wringing her hands violently, cried out, "Oh, hewould kill me; but no, I will kill myself. You cannot save me, since youare compromised also."

  "I have," replied Jeanne, "in the furthest part of Picardy, a littlefarm. If you can gain this refuge, you might be safe."

  "But you?"

  "Oh, once you were gone, I should not fear him."

  "I will go whenever you like."

  "I think you are wise."

  "Must I go at once?"

  "Wait till I have prepared everything to insure safety; meanwhile, hideyourself, and do not come near the window."

  "Oh yes, dear friend."

  "And to begin, let us go home, as there is no more to say."

  "How long will your preparations take?"

  "I do not know, but remember henceforth, until the day of your departureI shall not come to the window. When you see me there, you will knowthat the day has arrived, and be prepared."

  They returned in silence. On arriving, Oliva begged pardon humbly of herfriend for bringing her into so much danger through her folly.

  "I am a woman," replied Jeanne, "and can pardon a woman's weakness."