Why shouldn't
I make use of this wicked woman?" thought Mademoiselle Marguerite.
"I can conceal from her what I don't wish her to know, and with a
little skill I can make her carry to her employers such
information as will serve my plans. By watching her, I shall soon
discover my enemy; and who knows if, by this means, I may not
succeed in finding an explanation of the fatality that pursues
me?"
When Mademoiselle Marguerite returned to her place beside the
count's bedside, she had calmly and irrevocably made up her mind.
She would not only retain Madame Leon in her service, but she
would display even greater confidence in her than before. Such a
course was most repugnant to Marguerite's loyal, truthful nature;
but reason whispered to her that in fighting with villains, it is
often necessary to use their weapons; and she had her honor, her
life, and her future to defend. A strange and but imperfectly
defined suspicion had entered her mind. To-night, for the first
time, she thought she could discover a mysterious connection
between Pascal's misfortunes and her own. Was it mere chance
which had struck them at the same time, and in much the same
manner? Who would have profited by the abominable crime which had
dishonored her lover, had it not been for M. de Chalusse's death
and her own firmness? Evidently the Marquis de Valorsay, for whom
Pascal's flight had left the field clear.
All these thoughts were well calculated to drive away sleep; but
the poor girl was only twenty, and it was the second night she had
watched by the count's bedside.
Pages:
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435