III
It was a revelation, that visit of Mme. de Thaller's; and there wasno need of very much perspicacity to guess her anxiety beneath herbursts of laughter, and to understand that it was a bargain she hadcome to propose. It was evident, therefore, that Marius de Tregarsheld within his hands the principal threads of that complicatedintrigue which had just culminated in that robbery of twelvemillions. But would he be able to make use of them? What were hisdesigns, and his means of action? That is what Maxence could not inany way conjecture.
He had no time to ask questions.
"Come," said M. Tregars, whose agitation was manifest,--"come, letus breakfast: we have not a moment to lose."
And, whilst his servant was bringing in his modest meal,
"I am expecting M. d'Escajoul," he said. "Show him in as soon ashe comes."
Retired as he had lived from the financial world, Maxence had yetheard the name of Octave d'Escajoul.
Who has not seen him, happy and smiling, his eye bright, and his lipruddy, notwithstanding his fifty years, walking on the sunny sideof the Boulevard, with his royal blue jacket and his eternal whitevest? He is passionately fond of everything that tends to make lifepleasant and easy; dines at Bignon's, or the Cafe Anglais; playsbaccarat at the club with extraordinary luck; has the most comfortableapartment and the most elegant coupe in all Paris. With all this,he is pleased to declare that he is the happiest of men, and iscertainly one of the most popular; for he cannot walk three blockson the Boulevard without lifting his hat at least fifty times, andshaking hands twice as often.
And when any one asks, "What does he do?" the invariable answer is,"Why he operates."
To explain what sort of operations, would not be, perhaps, veryeasy. In the world of rogues, there are some rogues more formidableand more skillful than the rest, who always manage to escape the handof the law. They are not such fools as to operate in person,--notthey! They content themselves with watching their friends andcomrades. If a good haul is made, at once they appear and claimtheir share. And, as they always threaten to inform, there is nohelp for it but to let them pocket the clearest of the profit.
Well, in a more elevated sphere, in the world of speculation, it isprecisely that lucrative and honorable industry which M. d'Escajoulcarries on. Thoroughly master of his ground, possessing a superiorscent and an imperturbable patience, always awake, and continuallyon the watch, he never operates unless he is sure to win.
And the day when the manager of some company has violated hischarter or stretched the law a little too far, he may be sure tosee M. d'Escajoul appear, and ask for some little--advantages,and proffer, in exchange, the most thorough discretion, and evenhis kind offices.
Two or three of his friends have heard him say,
"Who would dare to blame me? It's very moral, what I am doing."
Such is the man who came in, smiling, just as Maxence and Marius deTregars had sat down at the table. M. de Tregars rose to receive him.
"You will breakfast with us?" he said.
"Thank you," answered M. d'Escajoul. "I breakfasted precisely ateleven, as usual. Punctuality is a politeness which a man owes tohis stomach. But I will accept with pleasure a drop of that oldCognac which you offered me the other evening."
He took a seat; and the valet brought him a glass, which he set onthe edge of the table. Then,
"I have just seen our man," he said.
Maxence understood that he was referring to M. de Thaller.
"Well?" inquired M. de Tregars.
"Impossible to get any thing out of him. I turned him over andover, every way. Nothing!"
"Indeed!"
"It's so; and you know if I understand the business. But what canyou say to a man who answers you all the time, 'The matter is inthe hands of the law; experts have been named; I have nothing tofear from the most minute investigations'?"
By the look which Marius de Tregars kept riveted upon M. d'Escajoul,it was easy to see that his confidence in him was not without limits.He felt it, and, with an air of injured innocence,
"Do you suspect me, by chance," he said, "to have allowed myself tobe hoodwinked by Thaller?"
And as M. de Tregars said nothing, which was the most eloquent ofanswers,
"Upon my word," he insisted, "you are wrong to doubt me. Was ityou who came after me? No. It was I, who, hearing through Marcoletthe history of your fortune, came to tell you, 'Do you want to knowa way of swamping Thaller?' And the reasons I had to wish thatThaller might be swamped: I have them still. He trifled with me,he 'sold' me, and he must suffer for it; for, if it came to be knownthat I could be taken in with impunity, it would be all over with mycredit."
After a moment of silence,
"Do you believe, then," asked M. de Tregars, "that M. de Thaller isinnocent?"
"Perhaps."
"That would be curious."
"Or else his measures are so well taken that he has absolutelynothing to fear. If Favoral takes everything upon himself, whatcan they say to the other? If they have acted in collusion, thething has been prepared for a long time; and, before commencingto fish, they must have troubled the water so well, that justicewill be unable to see anything in it."
"And you see no one who could help us?"
"Favoral--"
To Maxence's great surprise, M. de Tregars shrugged his shoulders.
"That one is gone," he said; "and, were he at hand, it is quiteevident that if he was in collusion with M. de Thaller, he wouldnot speak."
"Of course."
"That being the case, what can we do?"
"Wait."
M. de Tregars made a gesture of discouragement.
"I might as well give up the fight, then," he said, "and try tocompromise."
"Why so? We don't know what may happen. Keep quiet, be patient;I am here, and I am looking out for squalls."
He got up and prepared to leave.
"You have more experience than I have," said M. de Tregars; "and,since that's your opinion----"
M. d'Escajoul had resumed all his good humor.
"Very well, then, it's understood," he said, pressing M. de Tregars'hand. "I am watching for both of us; and if I see a chance, I comeat once, and you act."
But the outer door had hardly closed, when suddenly the countenanceof Marius de Tregars changed. Shaking the hand which M. d'Escajoulhad just touched,--"Pouah!" he said with a look of thoroughdisgust,--"pouah!"
And noticing Maxence's look of utter surprise,
"Don't you understand," he said, "that this old rascal has been sentto me by Thaller to feel my intentions, and mislead me by falseinformation? I had scented him, fortunately; and, if either one ofus is dupe of the other, I have every reason to believe that it willnot be me."
They had finished their breakfast. M. de Tregars called his servant.
"Have you been for a carriage?" he asked.
"It is at the door, sir."
"Well, then, come along."
Maxence had the good sense not to over-estimate himself. Perfectlyconvinced that he could accomplish nothing alone, he was firmlyresolved to trust blindly to Marius de Tregars.
He followed him, therefore; and it was only after the carriage hadstarted, that he ventured to ask,
"Where are we going?"
"Didn't you hear me," replied M. de Tregars, "order the driver totake us to the court-house?"
"I beg your pardon; but what I wish to know is, what we are goingto do there?"
"You are going, my dear friend, to ask an audience of the judge whohas your father's case in charge, and deposit into his hands thefifteen thousand francs you have in your pocket."
"What! You wish me to--"
"I think it better to place that money into the hands of justice,which will appreciate the step, than into those of M. de Thaller,who would not breathe a word about it. We are in a position wherenothing should be neglected; and that money may prove an indication."
But they had arrived. M. de
Tregars guided Maxence through thelabyrinth of corridors of the building, until he came to a longgallery, at the entrance of which an usher was seated reading anewspaper.
"M. Barban d'Avranchel?" inquired M. de Tregars.
"He is in his office," replied the usher.
"Please ask him if he would receive an important deposition in theFavoral case."
The usher rose somewhat reluctantly, and, while he was gone,
"You will go in alone," said M. de Tregars to Maxence. "I shallnot appear; and it is important that my name should not even bepronounced. But, above all, try and remember even the mostinsignificant words of the judge; for, upon what he tells you, Ishall regulate my conduct."
The usher returned.
"M. d'Avranchel will receive you," he said. And, leading Maxenceto the extremity of the gallery, he opened a small door, andpushed him in, saying at the same time,
"That is it, sir: walk in."
It was a small room, with a low ceiling, and poorly furnished. Thefaded curtains and threadbare carpet showed plainly that more thanone judge had occupied it, and that legions of accused criminalshad passed through it. In front of a table, two men--one old, thejudge; the other young, the clerk--were signing and classifyingpapers. These papers related to the Favoral case, and were allindorsed in large letters: Mutual Credit Company.
As soon as Maxence appeared, the judge rose, and, after measuringhim with a clear and cold look:
"Who are you?" he interrogated.
In a somewhat husky voice, Maxence stated his name and surname.
"Ah! you are Vincent Favoral's son," interrupted the judge. "Andit was you who helped him escape through the window? I was goingto send you a summons this very day; but, since you are here, somuch the better. You have something important to communicate, Ihave been told."
Very few people, even among the most strictly honest, can overcomea certain unpleasant feeling when, having crossed the threshold ofthe palace of justice, they find themselves in presence of a judge.More than almost any one else, Maxence was likely to be accessibleto that vague and inexplicable feeling; and it was with an effortthat he answered,
"On Saturday evening, the Baron de Thaller called at our house afew minutes before the commissary. After loading my father withreproaches, he invited him to leave the country; and, in order tofacilitate his flight, he handed him these fifteen thousand francs.My father declined to accept them; and, at the moment of parting,he recommended to me particularly to return them to M. de Thaller.I thought it best to return them to you, sir."
"Why?"
"Because I wished the fact known to you of the money having beenoffered and refused."
M. Barban d'Avranchel was quietly stroking his whiskers, once of abright red, but now almost entirely white.
"Is this an insinuation against the manager of the Mutual Credit?"he asked.
Maxence looked straight at him; and, in a tone which affirmedprecisely the reverse,
"I accuse no one," he said.
"I must tell you," resumed the judge, "that M. de Thaller hashimself informed me of this circumstance. When he called at yourhouse, he was ignorant, as yet, of the extent of the embezzlements,and was in hopes of being able to hush up the affair. That's whyhe wished his cashier to start for Belgium. This system ofhelping criminals to escape the just punishment of their crimes isto be bitterly deplored; but it is quite the habit of your financialmagnates, who prefer sending some poor devil of an employe to hanghimself abroad than run the risk of compromising their credit byconfessing that they have been robbed."
Maxence might have had a great deal to say; but M. de Tregars hadrecommended him the most extreme reserve. He remained silent.
"On the other hand," resumed the judge, "the refusal to accept themoney so generously offered does not speak in favor of VincentFavoral. He was well aware, when he left, that it would require agreat deal of money to reach the frontier, escape pursuit, and hidehimself abroad; and, if he refused the fifteen thousand francs, itmust have been because he was well provided for already."
Tears of shame and rage started from Maxence's eyes. "I am certain,sir," he exclaimed, "that my father went off without a sou."
"What has become of the millions, then?" he asked coldly.
Maxence hesitated. Why not mention his suspicions? He dared not.
"My father speculated at the bourse," he stammered. "And he led ascandalous conduct, keeping up, away from home, a style of livingwhich must have absorbed immense sums."
"We knew nothing of it, sir; and our first suspicions were arousedby what the commissary of police told us."
The judge insisted no more; and in a tone which indicated that hisquestion was a mere matter of form, and he attached but littleimportance to the answer,
"You have no news from your father?" he asked.
"None whatever."
"And you have no idea where he has gone?"
"None in the least."
M. d'Avranchel had already resumed his seat at the table, and wasagain busy with his papers.
"You may retire," he said. "You will be notified if I need you."
Maxence felt much discouraged when he joined M. de Tregars at theentrance of the gallery.
"The judge is convinced of M. de Thaller's entire innocence," hesaid.
But as soon as he had narrated, with a fidelity that did honor tohis memory, all that had just occurred,
"Nothing is lost yet," declared M. de Tregars. And, taking fromhis pocket the bill for two trunks, which had been found in M.Favoral's portfolio,
"There," he said, "we shall know our fate."
Other People's Money Page 33
