Then, nearly mad and foreseeing some irreparable misfortune,
the poor woman ran all over the large house, and then
rushed out into the garden, where the air was heavy
with the scent of flowers. She had the appearance
of some wild animal that is being pursued by a pack
of hounds, tried to penetrate the darkness with her
anxious looks, and gasped as if some one were holding
her by the throat; but suddenly she staggered, uttered
a painful cry and fell down in a fit.
There before her, in the shadow of the myrtle trees,
Fabienne was sitting on the knees of a man—of
the gardener—with both her arms round his
neck and kissing him ardently, and as if to defy her,
and to show her how vain all her precautions and her
vigilance had been, the girl was telling her lover
in the country dialect, and in a cooing and delightful
voice, how she adored him and that she belonged to
him....
Madame de Maurillac is in a lunatic asylum, and Fabienne
has married the gardener.
What could she have done better?
Just at the time when the Concordat was in
its most flourishing condition, a young man belonging
to a wealthy and highly respected middle class family
went to the office of the head of the police at P——,
and begged for his help and advice, which was immediately
promised him.
“My father threatens to disinherit me,”
the young man then began, “although I have never
offended against the laws of the State, of morality
or of his paternal authority, merely because I do not
share his blind reverence for the Catholic Church
and her Ministers. On that account he looks upon
me, not merely as Latitudinarian, but as a perfect
Atheist, and a faithful old manservant of ours, who
is much attached to me, and who accidentally saw my
father’s will, told me in confidence that he
had left all his property to the Jesuits. I think
this is highly suspicious, and I fear that the priests
have been maligning me to my father. Until less
than a year ago, we used to live very quietly and
happily together, but ever since he has had so much
to do with the clergy, our domestic peace and happiness
are at an end.”
“What you have told me,” the official
replied, “is as likely as it is regrettable,
but I fail to see how I can interfere in the matter.
Your father is in the full possession of all his mental
faculties, and can dispose of all his property exactly
as he pleases. I also think that your protest
is premature; you must wait until his will can legally
take effect, and then you can invoke the aid of justice;
I am sorry to say that I can do nothing for you.”
“I think you will be able to,” the young
man replied; “for I believe that a very clever
piece of deceit is being carried on here.”
“How? Please explain yourself more clearly.”
“When I remonstrated with him, yesterday evening,
he referred to my dead mother, and at last assured
me, in a voice of the deepest conviction, that she
had frequently appeared to him, and had threatened
him with all the torments of the damned, if he did
not disinherit his son, who had fallen away from God,
and leave all his property to the Church. Now
I do not believe in ghosts.”
