"That is exactly what my mother told me."
"Ah! that's Madame Ferailleur's opinion? Then it is a good one.
Come, let us reason a little. Mademoiselle Marguerite loved you,
you say?"
"Yes."
"And she has suddenly broken off the engagement?"
"She wrote to me that the Count de Chalusse extorted from her a
promise on his death-bed, that she would marry the Marquis de
Valorsay."
The baron sprang to his feet. "Stop," he cried--"stop! We now
have a clue to the truth, perhaps. Ah! so Mademoiselle Marguerite
has written to you that M. de Chalusse commanded her to marry the
marquis! Then the count must have been fully restored to
consciousness before he breathed his last. On the other hand,
Valorsay pretends that Mademoiselle Marguerite is left without
resources, simply because the count died too suddenly to be able
to write or to sign a couple of lines. Can you reconcile these
two versions of the affair, M. Ferailleur? Certainly not. Then
which version is false? We must ascertain that point. When shall
you see Mademoiselle Marguerite again?"
"She has requested me NEVER to try to see her again."
"Very well! She must be disobeyed. You must discover some way of
seeing her without anyone's knowledge. She is undoubtedly
watched, so don't write on any account." He reflected for a
moment, and then added: "We shall, perhaps, become morally certain
of Valorsay's and Coralth's guilt, but there's a wide difference
between this and the establishment of their guilt by material
proofs.
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