He had longed for positive information
and he had obtained it; but it had upset all his plans and
annihilated all his hopes. Imagining that the count's heirs had
been lost sight of, he had determined to find them and make a
bargain with them, before they learned that they were worth their
millions. But on the contrary, these heirs were close at hand,
watching M. de Chalusse, and knowing their rights so well that
they were ready to fight for them. "For it was certainly the
count's sister who wrote the letter which I have in my pocket," he
murmured. "Not wishing to receive him at her own home, she
prudently appointed a meeting at a hotel. But what about this
name of Huntley? Is it really hers, or is it only assumed for the
occasion? Is it the name of the man who enticed her from home, or
is it the name given to the son from whom she has separated
herself?"
But after all what was the use of all these conjectures? There was
but one certain and positive thing, and this was that the money he
had counted upon had escaped him; and he experienced as acute a
pang as if he had lost forty thousand francs a second time.
Perhaps, at that moment, he was sorry that he had severed his
connection with the marquis. Still, he was not the man to
despond, however desperate his plight might appear, without an
attempt to better his situation. He knew how many surprising and
sudden changes in fortune have been brought about by some
apparently trivial action.
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