The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet 15 – Stevenson · Verses Across
Literature · Detective Fiction
The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet 15The Secret of the Unknown Frenchman
18
Literature · Detective Fiction
The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet 15
The Secret of the Unknown Frenchman
StevensonEnglish
For a moment, I stood spell-bound, staring down at that jaded and passion-stained countenance; then Godfrey sprang forward and lifted the unconscious woman to the couch.
"Bring some water," he said, and as he turned and looked at me, I saw that his face was glowing with excitement.
I rushed to the door and snatched it open. Rogers was standing in the hall outside, and I sent him hurrying for the water, and turned back into the room.
Godfrey was chafing the girl's hands, and the veiled lady was bending over her, fumbling at the hooks of her bodice. Evidently she could not see them, for, with a sudden movement, she put back her veil. My heart warmed to her at that act of sacrifice; and after a single glance at her, I turned away my eyes.
I saw Godfrey's start of recognition as he looked down at her; then he, too, looked aside.
"Here's the water, sir," said Rogers, and handed me glass and pitcher.
The next instant, his eyes fell upon the woman on the couch. He stood staring, his face turning slowly purple; then, clutching at his throat, he half-turned and fell, just as I had seen him do once before.
Hornblower, who was staring at the unconscious woman and mopping his face feverishly, spun around at the crash.
"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, in a hoarse voice, as he saw Rogers extended on the floor at his feet. "What's the matter with this house, anyway?"
So great was the tension on my nerves that I could scarcely restrain a shout of laughter. I turned it into a shout for Parks; but his face, when he appeared on the threshold, was too much for me, and I sank into a chair, laughing hysterically.
"For God's sake!" Parks began....
"It's all right," Godfrey broke in, sharply, "Rogers has had another fit. Get the ammonia!"
Parks staggered away, and Mr. Hornblower sat down weakly.
"I don't see the joke!" he growled, glaring at me, his face crimson.
"Get a grip of yourself, Lester," said Godfrey, savagely, seized the pitcher from my hand, and hurried with it to madame.
I did get a grip of myself, and when Parks came back a moment later with the ammonia, was able to hold up Rogers's head, while Parks applied the phial to his nostrils.
"Give me a whiff of it, too, Parks," I said, unsteadily, and in an instant my eyes were streaming; but I had escaped hysteria. "Straighten Rogers out and let him lie there," I gasped, and sat dizzily down upon the floor. But I dared not look at Hornblower. I felt that another glance at his dazed countenance would send me off again.
Madame, meanwhile, had dashed some water into the face of the unconscious Julie--much to the detriment of her complexion!--watched her a moment, then stood erect and lowered her veil.
"She will soon be all right again," she said; and, truly enough, at the end of a few seconds, the girl opened her eyes and looked dazedly about her. Then a violent trembling seized her.
"What is it, Julie?" asked her mistress, taking her hand. "You knew this man?"
A hoarse sob was the only answer.
"You must tell me," went on madame, quietly but firmly. "Perhaps a crime has been committed. You must tell me everything. You may rely upon the discretion of these gentlemen. You knew this man?"
The girl nodded, and closed her eyes; but the hot tears brimmed from them and ran down over her cheeks.
"In Paris?"
The girl nodded again.
"He was your lover?"
A third nod, and a fresh flood of tears.
"I remember, now," said madame, suddenly. "I saw him with her once. What was he doing in this house?" she went on, more sternly. "Tell us!"
"Madame will never forgive me!" sobbed the girl, and I began to think that she was more concerned for herself than for her lover. The same thought occurred to her mistress too, no doubt, for her voice hardened.
"Try me," she said. "Understand well, you must tell--if not here, then before an officer of the police."
"Oh, no, no!" screamed Julie, sitting suddenly erect. "Never that! I could not bear that! Madame would not be so cruel!"
"Then tell us now!" said the veiled lady, inexorably.
"Very well, madame!" cried the girl, dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief, and speaking in a mixture of French and English which I shall not attempt to transcribe. "I will tell; I will tell everything. After all, I was not to blame. It was that creature. I did not love him--but I feared him. He possessed a power over me. He could make me do anything. He even beat me! And still I went back to him!"
"What was his name?" asked the veiled lady.
"Georges Drouet--he lived in the Rue de la Huchette, just off the Rue Saint Jacques--on the top floor, under the gutters. He was bad--bad; --he lived off women. I met him six months ago. He knew how to fascinate one; I thought he loved me. Then he began to borrow money from me, until he had taken all that I had saved; then my rings --every one!" She held up her hands to show their bareness. "Then...."
She stopped and glanced at her mistress.
"Continue!" said the latter. "Tell what you have to tell."
"I knew that madame also...."
She stopped again. I walked over to the window and stood staring at the wooden shutter, strangely moved.
"Well, why not?" she demanded fiercely, and I felt that she was addressing my turned back. "Why not? Shall a woman not be loved? Shall a woman endure what madame endured...."
"That will do, Julie," broke in the veiled lady, her voice cold as ice. "Tell your story."
"I knew of the secret drawer; I had seen madame open it; I knew what it contained. But I was faithful to madame; I loved her; I was glad that she had found some one.... Madame will remember her despair, her horror, when she entered her room to find the cabinet gone, taken away, sold by that.... I, too, was in despair--I desired with my whole soul to help madame. That night I had a rendezvous with him," and she nodded toward the photograph which lay upon the floor. "I told him."
Her mistress stood as though turned to stone. I could guess her anguish and humiliation.
"He questioned me--he learned everything--the drawer, how it was opened--all. But I did not suspect what was in his mind--not for an instant did I suspect. But on the boat I saw him, and then I knew. Well, he has got what he deserved!"
She shivered and pressed her hands against her eyes.
"I think that is all, madame," she added, hoarsely.
"It is all of that story," said Godfrey, in a crisp voice; "but there is another."
"Another?" echoed the veiled lady, looking at him.
"Ask her, madame, for what purpose she called at this house, night before last, and saw Philip Vantine in this room."
"I did not!" shrieked the girl, her face ablaze. "It is a lie!"
"She does not need to tell!" went on Godfrey inexorably. "Any fool could guess. She came for the letters! She had resolved herself to blackmail you, madame!"
"It is a lie!" shrieked the girl again. "I came hoping to save her --to...."
A storm of angry sobbing choked her.
I could see how the veiled lady was trembling. I placed a chair for her, and she sank into it with a murmur of thanks.
"Besides, we have a witness to her visit," added Godfrey. "Shall I call the police, madame?"
"No, no!" and the girl sat upright again, her face ghastly. "I will tell. I will tell all. Give me but a moment!"
She sat there, struggling for self-control, her streaked and grotesque countenance contorted with emotion. Then I saw her eyes widen, and, glancing around, I saw that Rogers had dragged himself to a sitting posture, and was staring at her, his face livid.
The sight of him seemed to madden her.
"It was you!" she shrieked, and shook her clenched fist at him. "It was you who told! Coward! Coward!"
But Godfrey, his face very grim, laid a heavy hand upon her arm.
"Be still!" he cried. "He told us nothing! He tried to shield you --though why he should wish to do so...."
Rogers broke in with a hollow and ghastly laugh.
"It was natural enough, sir," he said hoarsely. "She's my wife!"
