CHAPTER VII
THE OWNER OF GROSBOIS
My host was as good as his word, for, when a noise in my room awoke me
in the morning, it was to find him standing by the side of my bed, so
composed in his features and so drab in his attire, that it was hard to
associate him with the stirring scenes of yesterday and with the
repulsive part which he had played in them. Now in the fresh morning
sunlight he presented rather the appearance of a pedantic schoolmaster,
an impression which was increased by the masterful, and yet benevolent,
smile with which he regarded me. In spite of his smile, I was more
conscious than ever that my whole soul shrank from him, and that I
should not be at my ease until I had broken this companionship which had
been so involuntarily formed. He carried a heap of clothes over one
arm, which he threw upon a chair at the bottom of my bed.
'I gather from the little that you told me last night,' said he, 'that
your wardrobe is at present somewhat scanty. I fear that your inches
are greater than those of anyone in my household, but I have brought a
few things here amongst which you may find something to fit you.
Here, too, are the razors, the soap, and the powder-box. I will return
in half an hour, when your toilet will doubtless be completed.'
I found that my own clothes, with a little brushing, were as good as
ever, but I availed myself of his offer to the extent of a ruffled shirt
and a black satin cravat. I had finished dressing and was looking out
of the window of my room, which opened on to a blank wall, when my host
returned. He looked me all over with a keenly scrutinising eye, and
appeared to be satisfied with what he saw.
'That will do! That will do very well indeed!' said he, nodding a
critical head. 'In these times a slight indication of travel or hard
work upon a costume is more fashionable than the foppishness of the
Incroyable. I have heard ladies remark that it was in better taste.
Now, sir, if you will kindly follow me.
His solicitude about my dress filled me with surprise, but this was soon
forgotten in the shock which was awaiting me. For as we passed down the
passage and into a large hall which seemed strangely familiar to me,
there was a full-length portrait of my father standing right in front of
me. I stood staring with a gasp of astonishment, and turned to see the
cold grey eyes of my companion fixed upon me with a humorous glitter.
'You seem surprised, Monsieur de Laval,' said he.
'For God's sake,' said I, 'do not trifle with me any further! Who are
you, and what is this place to which you have taken me?'
For answer he broke into one of his dry chuckles, and, laying his skinny
brown hand upon my wrist, he led me into a large apartment. In the
centre was a table, tastefully laid, and beyond it in a low chair a
young lady was seated, with a book in her hand. She rose as we entered,
and I saw that she was tall and slender, with a dark face, pronounced
features, and black eyes of extraordinary brilliancy. Even in that one
glance it struck me that the expression with which she regarded me was
by no means a friendly one.
'Sibylle,' said my host, and his words took the breath from my lips,
'this is your cousin from England, Louis de Laval. This, my dear
nephew, is my only daughter, Sibylle Bernac.'
'Then you--'
'I am your mother's brother, Charles Bernac.'
'You are my Uncle Bernac!' I stammered at him like an idiot. 'But why
did you not tell me so?' I cried.
'I was not sorry to have a chance of quietly observing what his English
education had done for my nephew. It might also have been harder for me
to stand your friend if my comrades had any reason to think that I was
personally interested in you. But you will permit me now to welcome you
heartily to France, and to express my regret if your reception has been
a rough one. I am sure that Sibylle will help me to atone for it.
He smiled archly at his daughter, who continued to regard me with a
stony face.
I looked round me, and gradually the spacious room, with the weapons
upon the wall, and the deer's heads, came dimly back to my memory.
That view through the oriel window, too, with the clump of oaks in the
sloping park, and the sea in the distance beyond, I had certainly seen
it before. It was true then, and I was in our own castle of Grosbois,
and this dreadful man in the snuff-coloured coat, this sinister plotter
with the death's-head face, was the man whom I had heard my poor father
curse so often, the man who had ousted him from his own property and
installed himself in his place. And yet I could not forget that it was
he also who, at some risk to himself, had saved me the night before, and
my soul was again torn between my gratitude and my repulsion.
We had seated ourselves at the table, and as we ate, this newly-found
uncle of mine continued to explain all those points which I had failed
to understand.
'I suspected that it was you the instant that I set eyes upon you,' said
he. 'I am old enough to remember your father when he was a young
gallant, and you are his very double--though I may say, without
flattery, that where there is a difference it is in your favour.
And yet he had the name of being one of the handsomest men betwixt Rouen
and the sea. You must bear in mind that I was expecting you, and that
there are not so many young aristocrats of your age wandering about
along the coast. I was surprised when you did not recognise where you
were last night. Had you never heard of the secret passage of
Grosbois?'
It came vaguely back to me that in my childhood I had heard of this
underground tunnel, but that the roof had fallen in and rendered it
useless.
'Precisely,' said my uncle. 'When the castle passed into my hands, one
of the very first things which I did was to cut a new opening at the end
of it, for I foresaw that in these troublesome times it might be of use
to me; indeed, had it been in repair it might have made the escape of
your mother and father a very much easier affair.'
His words recalled all that I had heard and all that I could remember of
those dreadful days when we, the Lords of the country side, had been
chased across it as if we had been wolves, with the howling mob still
clustering at the pier-head to shake their fists and hurl their stones
at us. I remembered, too, that it was this very man who was speaking to
me who had thrown oil upon the flames in those days, and whose fortunes
had been founded upon our ruin. As I looked across at him I found that
his keen grey eyes were fixed upon me, and I could see that he had read
the thoughts in my mind.
'We must let bygones be bygones,' said he. 'Those are quarrels of the
last generation, and Sibylle and you represent a new one.'
My cousin had not said one word or taken any notice of my presence, but
at this joining of our names she glanced at me with the same hostile
expression which I had already remarked.
'Come, Sibylle,' said her father, 'you can assure your cousin Louis
that, so far as you are concerned, any family misunderstanding is at an
end.'
'It is very well for us to talk in that way, father,' she answered.
'It is not your picture that hangs in the hall, or your coat-of-arms
that I see upon the wall. We hold the castle and the land, but it is
for the heir of the de Lavals to tell _us_ if he is satisfied with
this.' Her dark scornful eyes were fixed upon me as she waited for my
reply, but her father hastened to intervene.
'This is not a very hospitable tone in which to greet your cousin,' said
he harshly. 'It has so chanced that Louis' heritage has fallen to us,
but it is not for us to remind him of the fact.'
'He needs no reminding,' said she.
'You do me an injustice,' I cried, for the evident and malignant scorn
of this girl galled me to the quick. 'It is true that I cannot forget
that this castle and these grounds belonged to my ancestors--I should be
a clod indeed if I _could_ forget it--but if you think that I harbour
any bitterness, you are mistaken. For my own part, I ask nothing better
than to open up a career for myself with my own sword.'
'And never was there a time when it could be more easily and more
brilliantly done,' cried my uncle. 'There are great things about to
happen in the world, and if you are at the Emperor's court you will be
in the middle of them. I understand that you are content to serve him?
'I wish to serve my country.'
'By serving the Emperor you do so, for without him the country becomes
chaos.'
'From all we hear it is not a very easy service,' said my cousin.
'I should have thought that you would have been very much more
comfortable in England--and then you would have been so much safer
also.'
Everything which the girl said seemed to be meant as an insult to me,
and yet I could not imagine how I had ever offended her. Never had I
met a woman for whom I conceived so hearty and rapid a dislike. I could
see that her remarks were as offensive to her father as they were to me,
for he looked at her with eyes which were as angry as her own.
'Your cousin is a brave man, and that is more than can be said for
someone else that I could mention,' said he.
'For whom?' she asked.
'Never mind!' he snapped, and, jumping up with the air of a man who is
afraid that his rage may master him, and that he may say more than he
wished, he ran from the room.
She seemed startled by this retort of his, and rose as if she would
follow him. Then she tossed her head and laughed incredulously.
'I suppose that you have never met your uncle before?' said she, after a
few minutes of embarrassed silence.
'Never,' answered I.
'Well, what do you think of him now you _have_ met him?'
Such a question from a daughter about her father filled me with a
certain vague horror. I felt that he must be even a worse man than I
had taken him for if he had so completely forfeited the loyalty of his
own nearest and dearest.
'Your silence is a sufficient answer,' said she, as I hesitated for a
reply. 'I do not know how you came to meet him last night, or what
passed between you, for we do not share each other's confidences.
I think, however, that you have read him aright. Now I have something
to ask you. You had a letter from him inviting you to leave England and
to come here, had you not?'
'Yes, I had.'
'Did you observe nothing on the outside?'
I thought of those two sinister words which had puzzled me so much.
'What! it was you who warned me not to come?'
'Yes, it was I. I had no other means of doing it.'
'But why did you do it?'
'Because I did not wish you to come here.'
'Did you think that I would harm you?'
She sat silent for a few seconds like one who is afraid of saying too
much. When her answer came it was a very unexpected one:
'I was afraid that you would be harmed.'
'You think that I am in danger here?'
'I am sure of it.'
'You advise me to leave?'
'Without losing an instant.'
'From whom is the danger then?'
Again she hesitated, and then, with a reckless motion like one who
throws prudence to the winds, she turned upon me.
'It is from my father,' said she.
'But why should he harm me?'
'That is for your sagacity to discover.'
'But I assure you, mademoiselle, that in this matter you misjudge him,'
said I. 'As it happens, he interfered to save my life last night.'
'To save your life! From whom?'
'From two conspirators whose plans I had chanced to discover.'
'Conspirators!' She looked at me in surprise.
'They would have killed me if he had not intervened.'
'It is not his interest that you should be harmed yet awhile. He had
reasons for wishing you to come to Castle Grosbois. But I have been
very frank with you, and I wish you to be equally so with me. Does it
happen--does it happen that during your youth in England you have ever--
you have ever had an affair of the heart?'
Everything which this cousin of mine said appeared to me to be stranger
than the last, and this question, coming at the end of so serious a
conversation, was the strangest of all. But frankness begets frankness,
and I did not hesitate.
'I have left the very best and truest girl in the world behind me in
England,' said I. 'Eugenie in her name, Eugenie de Choiseul, the niece
of the old Duke.'
My reply seemed to give my cousin great satisfaction. Her large dark
eyes shone with pleasure.
'You are very attached?' she asked.
'I shall never be happy until I see her.'
'And you would not give her up?'
'God forbid!'
'Not for the Castle of Grosbois?'
'Not even for that.'
My cousin held out her hand to me with a charmingly frank impulsiveness.
'You will forgive me for my rudeness,' said she. 'I see that we are to
be allies and not enemies.'
And our hands were still clasped when her father re-entered the room.
