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At

Chalons

I

was

put

upon

the

Saone

,

thence

I

passed

on

to

the

Rhone

,

whence

I

descended

,

merely

with

the

current

,

to

Arles

;

at

Arles

I

was

again

placed

on

my

litter

,

and

continued

my

journey

to

Marseilles

.

My

recovery

lasted

six

months

.

I

never

heard

you

mentioned

,

and

I

did

not

dare

inquire

for

you

.

When

I

returned

to

Paris

,

I

learned

that

you

,

the

widow

of

M.

de

Nargonne

,

had

married

M.

Danglars

.

"

What

was

the

subject

of

my

thoughts

from

the

time

consciousness

returned

to

me

?

Always

the

same

--

always

the

child

's

corpse

,

coming

every

night

in

my

dreams

,

rising

from

the

earth

,

and

hovering

over

the

grave

with

menacing

look

and

gesture

.

I

inquired

immediately

on

my

return

to

Paris

;

the

house

had

not

been

inhabited

since

we

left

it

,

but

it

had

just

been

let

for

nine

years

.

I

found

the

tenant

.

I

pretended

that

I

disliked

the

idea

that

a

house

belonging

to

my

wife

's

father

and

mother

should

pass

into

the

hands

of

strangers

.

I

offered

to

pay

them

for

cancelling

the

lease

;

they

demanded

6,000

francs

.

I

would

have

given

10,000

--

I

would

have

given

20,000

.

I

had

the

money

with

me

;

I

made

the

tenant

sign

the

deed

of

resilition

,

and

when

I

had

obtained

what

I

so

much

wanted

,

I

galloped

to

Auteuil

.

"

No

one

had

entered

the

house

since

I

had

left

it

.

It

was

five

o'clock

in

the

afternoon

;

I

ascended

into

the

red

room

,

and

waited

for

night

.

There

all

the

thoughts

which

had

disturbed

me

during

my

year

of

constant

agony

came

back

with

double

force

.

Отключить рекламу

The

Corsican

,

who

had

declared

the

vendetta

against

me

,

who

had

followed

me

from

Nimes

to

Paris

,

who

had

hid

himself

in

the

garden

,

who

had

struck

me

,

had

seen

me

dig

the

grave

,

had

seen

me

inter

the

child

--

he

might

become

acquainted

with

your

person

--

nay

,

he

might

even

then

have

known

it

.

Would

he

not

one

day

make

you

pay

for

keeping

this

terrible

secret

?

Would

it

not

be

a

sweet

revenge

for

him

when

he

found

that

I

had

not

died

from

the

blow

of

his

dagger

?

It

was

therefore

necessary

,

before

everything

else

,

and

at

all

risks

,

that

I

should

cause

all

traces

of

the

past

to

disappear

--

that

I

should

destroy

every

material

vestige

;

too

much

reality

would

always

remain

in

my

recollection

.

It

was

for

this

I

had

annulled

the

lease

--

it

was

for

this

I

had

come

--

it

was

for

this

I

was

waiting

.

Night

arrived

;

I

allowed

it

to

become

quite

dark

.

I

was

without

a

light

in

that

room

;

when

the

wind

shook

all

the

doors

,

behind

which

I

continually

expected

to

see

some

spy

concealed

,

I

trembled

.

I

seemed

everywhere

to

hear

your

moans

behind

me

in

the

bed

,

and

I

dared

not

turn

around

.

My

heart

beat

so

violently

that

I

feared

my

wound

would

open

.

At

length

,

one

by

one

,

all

the

noises

in

the

neighborhood

ceased

.

I

understood

that

I

had

nothing

to

fear

,

that

I

should

neither

be

seen

nor

heard

,

so

I

decided

upon

descending

to

the

garden

.

"

Listen

,

Hermine

;

I

consider

myself

as

brave

as

most

men

,

but

when

I

drew

from

my

breast

the

little

key

of

the

staircase

,

which

I

had

found

in

my

coat

--

that

little

key

we

both

used

to

cherish

so

much

,

which

you

wished

to

have

fastened

to

a

golden

ring

--

when

I

opened

the

door

,

and

saw

the

pale

moon

shedding

a

long

stream

of

white

light

on

the

spiral

staircase

like

a

spectre

,

I

leaned

against

the

wall

,

and

nearly

shrieked

.

I

seemed

to

be

going

mad

.

At

last

I

mastered

my

agitation

.

I

descended

the

staircase

step

by

step

;

the

only

thing

I

could

not

conquer

was

a

strange

trembling

in

my

knees

.

I

grasped

the

railings

;

if

I

had

relaxed

my

hold

for

a

moment

,

I

should

have

fallen

.

I

reached

the

lower

door

.

Outside

this

door

a

spade

was

placed

against

the

wall

;

I

took

it

,

and

advanced

towards

the

thicket

.

I

had

provided

myself

with

a

dark

lantern

.

In

the

middle

of

the

lawn

I

stopped

to

light

it

,

then

I

continued

my

path

.

"

It

was

the

end

of

November

,

all

the

verdure

of

the

garden

had

disappeared

,

the

trees

were

nothing

more

than

skeletons

with

their

long

bony

arms

,

and

the

dead

leaves

sounded

on

the

gravel

under

my

feet

.

My

terror

overcame

me

to

such

a

degree

as

I

approached

the

thicket

,

that

I

took

a

pistol

from

my

pocket

and

armed

myself

.

I

fancied

continually

that

I

saw

the

figure

of

the

Corsican

between

the

branches

.

I

examined

the

thicket

with

my

dark

lantern

;

it

was

empty

.

I

looked

carefully

around

;

I

was

indeed

alone

--

no

noise

disturbed

the

silence

but

the

owl

,

whose

piercing

cry

seemed

to

be

calling

up

the

phantoms

of

the

night

.

I

tied

my

lantern

to

a

forked

branch

I

had

noticed

a

year

before

at

the

precise

spot

where

I

stopped

to

dig

the

hole

.

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"

The

grass

had

grown

very

thickly

there

during

the

summer

,

and

when

autumn

arrived

no

one

had

been

there

to

mow

it

.

Still

one

place

where

the

grass

was

thin

attracted

my

attention

;

it

evidently

was

there

I

had

turned

up

the

ground

.

I

went

to

work

.

The

hour

,

then

,

for

which

I

had

been

waiting

during

the

last

year

had

at

length

arrived

.

How

I

worked

,

how

I

hoped

,

how

I

struck

every

piece

of

turf

,

thinking

to

find

some

resistance

to

my

spade

!

But

no

,

I

found

nothing

,

though

I

had

made

a

hole

twice

as

large

as

the

first

.

I

thought

I

had

been

deceived

--

had

mistaken

the

spot

.

I

turned

around

,

I

looked

at

the

trees

,

I

tried

to

recall

the

details

which

had

struck

me

at

the

time

.

A

cold

,

sharp

wind

whistled

through

the

leafless

branches

,

and

yet

the

drops

fell

from

my

forehead

.

I

recollected

that

I

was

stabbed

just

as

I

was

trampling

the

ground

to

fill

up

the

hole

;

while

doing

so

I

had

leaned

against

a

laburnum

;

behind

me

was

an

artificial

rockery

,

intended

to

serve

as

a

resting-place

for

persons

walking

in

the

garden

;

in

falling

,

my

hand

,

relaxing

its

hold

of

the

laburnum

,

felt

the

coldness

of

the

stone

.

On

my

right

I

saw

the

tree

,

behind

me

the

rock

.

I

stood

in

the

same

attitude

,

and

threw

myself

down

.

I

rose

,

and

again

began

digging

and

enlarging

the

hole

;

still

I

found

nothing

,

nothing

--

the

chest

was

no

longer

there

!

"

"

The

chest

no

longer

there

?

"

murmured

Madame

Danglars

,

choking

with

fear

.

"

Think

not

I

contented

myself

with

this

one

effort

,

"

continued

Villefort

.

"

No

;

I

searched

the

whole

thicket

.

I

thought

the

assassin

,

having

discovered

the

chest

,

and

supposing

it

to

be

a

treasure

,

had

intended

carrying

it

off

,

but

,

perceiving

his

error

,

had

dug

another

hole

,

and

deposited

it

there

;

but

I

could

find

nothing

.

Then

the

idea

struck

me

that

he

had

not

taken

these

precautions

,

and

had

simply

thrown

it

in

a

corner

.

In

the

last

case

I

must

wait

for

daylight

to

renew

my

search

.

I

remained

in

the

room

and

waited

.

"

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