The Little Old Portrait

“Marguerite hesitated.

”‘It is as I said!’ she exclaimed hurriedly. ‘She must start at once —at once, I say – if she would not share the fate of her uncle and aunt!’

”‘How can we persuade her to leave her– the Countess!’ said Pierre, in despair.

”‘Better leave her dead than dying,’ said Marguerite, and though the words were almost coarse, the intense earnestness of the tone made them not seem so. Just then a step made both Pierre and the girl look round. It was Edmée. Pale almost as her dead mother, she came forward.

”‘I have heard,’ she said. ‘I opened the door to see who it was. Marguerite, I trust you —she did. Is it really as bad as you say? Is the danger so near?’

”‘Near!’ repeated Marguerite; ‘it is here! I came to do what I could, though with but small hopes of seeing you. It is Victorine; she has not rested till she found where you were, and now it is only a question of a few hours.’

”‘I will be ready,’ said Edmée, to the great surprise of both her hearers. ‘When you tell me to go, Marguerite, I will go. I have no right to risk Pierre’s life; he has risked it for me – that was his own doing. And I know he would not go without me. Besides, I promised – I promised my darling; she seemed to have known it would come so, and she made me promise to go, even if I could not stay to see her laid in the grave. Living, I could never have left her. Oh, Pierrot, it is hard!’ she went on, turning to him, and clasping her hands, while the tears ran down her face again, ‘must we already say we are glad she is dead?’

“Pierre could not answer, but Marguerite did so for him.

”‘Yes, my poor child, it is so. You must say it and feel it.’

“Her voice seemed to recall Edmée’s thoughts.

”‘There is one thing,’ she said, looking now at Marguerite. ‘You understand – I will not go without Edmond.’

”‘Then,’ said the girl, in a sudden burst of passion, ‘you may stay, for all I will do to save you. Child, you are mad! But you, you, Pierre Germain, you should have influence with her. Tell her she is mad.’

”‘No, Marguerite,’ said Pierre, ‘we cannot desert him. If Edmée could be saved without my help, I would gladly stay with him and entreat her to go. But she cannot go alone. And I, too, promised to protect the poor boy.’

”‘Then you are both mad!’ said Marguerite, and she burst away as she spoke. But Pierre was too quick for her. He caught her before she had reached the stair.

”‘Marguerite,’ he said, ‘you thanked me once for my pity, and the very little I was able to do for you in your sorrow. You said you would never forget it. I too have never forgotten your wrongs and sorrows. I have no reason to risk danger for that boy’s sake – I have no love for him. But I have promised – and besides, how cowardly would it be to desert a creature so weak and helpless! Marguerite, you will not fail us? – for your dead brother Louis’s sake be generous, and return good for evil.’

“A stifled groan from the girl when he named her brother was the only sound for a moment. Then she turned again.

”‘For his sake! – a strange revenge,’ she muttered. Then she said aloud, though speaking softly —

”‘Be ready then – all three of you. In two hours I will be back. But you have made it much more difficult for me, and for yourselves,’ and with these words she was gone.

“Pierre hastened to tell Edmée that she had given in, and together they set to work to arrange the few, terribly few things belonging to the Countess and her daughter, so that they would be ready to carry away. Edmond seemed dazed and stupid. His cousin had to pack for him too; he would scarcely speak, and seemed indifferent to everything. Pierre dared not leave Edmée alone, and yet he was anxious to go back to pay his poor landlady a little sum he owed her, and to collect his own little bundle. It was a dreadful afternoon. Every sound on the stairs made Edmée start and shiver with horror, and yet every time she glanced at the still, cold form on the bed, her heart seemed to burst with fresh agony at the thought of deserting all that was left her of her mother.

“The thankfulness of both Pierre and the young girl was great when, an hour after Marguerite had left, Sister Angelique returned with the priest in disguise. They had already made arrangements for the burial of the Countess. It was to be in the night, so that in secret, with the help of one or two he could trust, the good priest would be able to read the service for the dead. He did not tell – and not till long afterwards did Edmée know – that for the necessary expense he had parted with his watch, the last remains of his happier days! Pierre hurried to his lodgings, whence he returned only just in time, for Marguerite was already waiting. She had brought a gown of her own, which she had shortened for Edmée, and made Pierre dress Edmond in the suit he had in his bundle, replacing it by that which young de Sarinet had hitherto worn. He submitted, but in silence, and with no word of thanks. Pierre thought him merely dazed and stupid with sorrow, but Marguerite darted angry looks at him with her dark eyes.

”‘You will wish you had taken my advice about him before you get to the end of your journey,’ she muttered to Pierre.

“Then she gave them directions. They were to start at once, walking quietly through the town till they came to a little wine-shop in a street which she clearly described to them.

”‘There you must ask for the Citizeness Dupuis,’ she said. ‘She is a short stout woman. She will say little to you, but you may trust her. She will give you a good dinner in the room behind the shop, and there you must stay till I come. Pay no attention to anything you see or hear – be deaf and dumb. I will bring your things with me, and what you cannot carry away will be kept for you till I can send it to Valmont.’

“In the same dry, hard manner she stood by while Edmée, in a passion of grief, threw herself on the bed where lay her mother, and kissed for the last time the soft white face already cold with the iciness of death. Sister Angelique had drawn Edmond aside, and was whispering good advice to him, which he seemed to receive more meekly than might have been expected; but even she, trained as she was to Self-control through the most painful scenes, broke down when Edmée at last tore herself away from the Countess’s room, and sobbed her farewell in the kind Sister’s arms.

”‘Good-bye, my child. The good Father and I will do all we can – trust us. In more peaceful days you may be able to visit her grave. God bless you, my sweet child, and take comfort in the thought that to-day’s sorrow might have come in a more terrible form.’

”‘I know, I know,’ said Edmée. ‘I am ready now, Marguerite. Poor Marguerite!’ she added, almost caressingly; ‘how good you are! I want to be resigned, but you can understand how hard it is.’

“But Pierre, who was standing close to her, heard the girl mutter under her breath, ‘No, I understand nothing. I have no heart, no feelings any more, thank God.’

“The boy shuddered, but intense pity softened his horror at her words. ‘She knows not what she says,’ he thought. ‘Her actions show how good and generous a heart she had.’

“Marguerite accompanied them only to the door, and then repeated her directions.

”‘Speak to each other in an ordinary way as you go along,’ she said. ‘You must hide your grief till there is no one to remark you. Speak to her of Valmont, of country things, Pierre; it is best for you to speak with your country accent,’ though, to tell the truth, he had but little, for in Touraine, as you know, the pronunciation, even of the peasants, is unusually good.

“They reached the place indicated without difficulty, and on saying they were there to wait for the Citizeness Marguerite, the short stout woman at once led them into a little back parlour, where she served them a good meal. Poor things! they were very hungry by this time, and it was a better dinner than any of the three had tasted for many days. (Often has my mother told me how strangely shocked she was at herself for being so hungry – in such circumstances).

“Edmond remained silent, and took no notice of Pierre’s little overtures of friendliness, so young Germain ended by leaving him alone. It grew very dreary after their dinner – they had nothing to do, and for, no doubt, a good reason, the Citizeness Dupuis left them without a light. As it grew darker, several men in blouses, and a few women, strolled into the shop, which at first had been empty, and Edmée began to understand Marguerite’s warning. For such snatches of talk as came to them were far from reassuring, and as the evening went on and more wine was drunk, the loud laughing, the coarse jokes about ‘Madame Guillotine,’ and the good work she had done lately, the threats of what was yet to be done, grew so terrible, that more than once Edmée put her fingers in her ears. But she had to take them out again to sooth Edmond, who became wildly excited, at one moment declaring he would burst into the shop and tell the wretched hounds what he thought of them, and who he was, with a touch of his old braggadocio; and next, bursting into tears, and saying it was all a trick, Marguerite had decoyed them there to betray them, and as soon as she came would herself give them up to their enemies. Pierre could not think her capable of such hideous treachery, but still his mind misgave him somewhat, and when at last Marguerite herself came in by another door from that by which they had entered, he had been on the point of suggesting to Edmée to take flight and trust to themselves.

”‘What is the matter?’ said the girl, when she had lighted a small taper and saw the state that Edmond was in.

“Edmée and Pierre explained to her.

”‘Well, did I not warn you?’ she said. ‘Though I own I did not think it would have been so noisy to-night, and I had hoped to be here sooner. It will do that fool no harm, all the same,’ she added, and when Edmond, wild with fury, started up as if to strike her, she calmly seized his two arms and held them tightly behind his back, with a sort of contemptuous pity in her face, for she was very strong, twice as strong as poor thin Edmond.

”‘No, you shall not strike me, little Sarinet,’ she said, and as if moved by a spirit of contradiction, ‘I will save you in spite of yourself, you foolish boy.’

“Then in a stern, grave whisper she told them to come with her, and without waiting to say good-bye to the Citizeness Dupuis, who I daresay was not sorry to find them gone, she led them out by the way she had entered.

“In silence for some length of time the two boys followed their strange guide, who had made Edmée take her arm, she herself carrying the bag containing all of her small possessions that the last of the Valmonts had ventured to bring away. Marguerite chose the darkest and narrowest streets, but she seemed to know her way with wonderful cleverness, considering she was not a Parisian by birth or breeding. At last she stopped.

”‘I can go no further,’ she said. ‘If I stay so late my friends will wonder what I am doing. In ten minutes, taking the first road to your left, you will arrive at the barriers. I know the sergeant who at this hour will probably be there. Show him these papers; you will have no trouble. Pierre must speak. Tell him you mean to spend the night just outside the town, that you may be ready for a friend who is going your way in the morning, and ask him the nearest way to Choisy-le-roi. He will offer to send some one with you, as if out of good nature. Accept his offer. You may trust your guide, but you need not speak to him. He will take you to the cottage where you will spend the night. Start with the earliest dawn, and get as far as you can on your way before night. Do not hesitate to take any chance of getting on quicker, either in the public carriages if you meet them, or in any passing cart. The great thing is to get away far from Paris as fast as possible.’

”‘But,’ said Pierre, ‘we have no choice, my good Marguerite. We have no money.’

”‘I was coming to that,’ she said. ‘Here is more than enough for your journey in the only way in which you will dare to travel. I could give you more, but it would only expose you to danger.’

”‘But we cannot take your money, Marguerite,’ said Pierre. ‘At least only as a loan.’

”‘And also,’ began Edmée, and then she hesitated.

”‘I know,’ said the girl; ‘it is what the Countess said. She would rather have starved than take money from me, because she thought it ill come by. But this you can take without scruple.’ She turned slightly aside, so that only Pierre and Edmée could hear her. ‘The Hotel de Sarinet was sacked last week; yesterday they threw me for my share some of his mother’s jewels. I sold some; the rest I will pack among your things. I would not touch them. Now,’ she went on, ‘this is all I can do. You must now trust to your own sense and courage. It is only he,’ and she nodded towards Edmond, standing apart, ‘who may get you into trouble, as he nearly did to-night, mistrusting me for having brought you there – the safest place for you this evening, because the last they would have looked for you in! Now farewell.’

”‘Farewell, Marguerite, and God bless you!’ said Pierre and Edmée together, and the latter added, ‘If you would but have come with us, as my mother begged you.’

“But Marguerite shook her head.

”‘There will always be a home for you at Valmont,’ added Edmée, ‘and we will always pray for you, dear Marguerite.’

”‘Ah,’ said the poor girl, ‘you may do that. Your prayers may be heard; mine have never been answered.’

“And with these words she turned away, and was lost to sight.

“At first all happened as their protectress had said. The sergeant at the gates let them pass with some rough good-natured words loudly spoken, as if he never supposed them to be other than their papers and Pierre’s explanation represented them to be – two peasant lads and their sister making their way back to their friends in the country, as many of the better class poor, getting shocked at the state of things in Paris, were glad to do at that time. And after directing them to Choisy-le-roi, a second thought seemed to strike him. ‘I can do more than that,’ he said. ‘Here Jean, Choisy is your road. Show these little citizens the way,’ and up started a man, young or old they could not tell, for they never saw his face, which seemed muffled up, nor did he speak all the way. And they never knew who he was, nor for what motive he had rendered them this service.