Memoirs of Arsène Lupin, Maurice Leblanc [librera reader txt] 📗

the one and the other. Hence it is for you to make the choice, monseigneur. Take the matter in hand, make the necessary negotiations. And when you tell me into whose hands this sacred stone should be delivered, I will reveal its hiding-place!’

“Cardinal Bonnechose had listened to the story without interrupting. But at the end of it he told the chevalier frankly that he found it rather hard to credit. Thereupon the chevalier left the room and came back in a couple of minutes carrying a small sandalwood casket.

“ ’Here is the casket of which the dead priest told me,’ he said. ‘I found it buried in front of the block of granite; and I though it wiser to have it here. Take it away with you, monseigneur, and have the several hundred precious stones it contains valued. You will then be satisfied that the story I have told you is true, and that that worthy priest was right to talk about incalculable riches, since the block of granite contains⁠—so he assured me⁠—ten thousand stones as fine as these.’

“The insistence of the chevalier and this proof which he adduced, prevailed with the cardinal. He undertook to make the necessary investigations and to summon the old gentleman to him as soon as he had discovered the proper destination of the treasure.

“The interview ended with this promise. The Archbishop had the firmest intention of fulfilling it; but the events which followed delayed him. These events, as you know, were the declaration of war on Germany and the disasters which followed it. The heavy duties of his double task took up all his time. The Empire fell in ruin. France was invaded. Months passed.

“When Rouen was threatened, the cardinal, desirous of sending to England certain documents which he reckoned of great importance, decided to send with them the sandalwood casket. On the fourth of December, the eve of the entry of the Germans into Rouen, a confidential servant of the name of Jaubert drove off in a dogcart along the road to Havre, where he was to embark.

“Two days later the cardinal learned that the body of Jaubert had been found in the forest of Rouvray, in a ravine ten kilometers from Rouen. The case containing the documents was brought back to him. The horse, the dogcart, and the sandalwood casket had disappeared. Investigation made it clear that the unfortunate servant had fallen in with a squadron of German cavalry making a reconnaissance beyond Rouen and robbing and murdering the well-to-do inhabitants of that town, flying to Havre in their carriages.

“Then came another piece of bad luck. At the beginning of January the cardinal had word that the Chevalier des Aubes, brokenhearted at the defeat of his country, had not survived it. Before dying he had sent a message to the cardinal. It ran:

“ ‘The word of the formula which reveals the position of the block of granite is carved on the inside of the lid of casket.⁠ ⁠… I have buried the candlestick in my garden.’

“So nothing whatever was left. The casket had been stolen, nothing was left to prove the truth that the story of the Chevalier des Aubes contained a word of truth. No one had examined the stones. Were they real, or were they imitation? Did the sandalwood casket merely contain some stage jewels and colored pebbles?

“Little by little doubt invaded the mind of the cardinal, a doubt so tenacious that in the end he decided to keep silent about the matter. The narrative of the Chevalier des Aubes must be considered an old man’s wanderings. It would be dangerous to spread abroad such trash. Therefore he would keep silence. But⁠—”

“But?” repeated Ralph, whom such trash interested enormously.

“But, before finally making up his mind,” Josephine went on, “he wrote out this memorandum concerning his visit to the Château de Gueures and the events which followed it, and either it got mislaid, or he forgot all about it; and some years after his death it was found in one of his theological books when his library was sold by auction.”

“Who found it?” said Ralph sharply.

“Beaumagnan.”

She had related this story, with her head a little bowed, in the rather monotonous voice of a schoolgirl reciting a lesson she has learned by heart. When now she raised her eyes, she was astonished by Ralph’s expression.

“What on earth’s the matter with you?” she said quickly, staring at him.

“I find all this immensely exciting,” he said. “Consider, Josine: step by step, by the confidential information of three old men, who have passed on the torch from one to the other, we go back rather more than a century, and there we come into touch with a legend⁠—what do I say? with a formidable secret rather⁠—which goes back to the Middle Ages. The chain is unbroken. Every link is in its place. And as the last link in this chain behold Beaumagnan. What has Beaumagnan done? Must we declare him worthy of his role, or relieve him of it? Am I to ally myself with him or tear the torch from his hand?”

Ralph’s exaltation made it quite clear to Josephine that he would not allow her to break off her narrative. She hesitated, however, for the most important words, perhaps⁠—at any rate, the most serious⁠—remained to be spoken, the words which assigned to her her role.

But he said sharply: “Go on, Josine. The path that lies before us is magnificent. We will tread it together and together we will enjoy the reward which is waiting for us at the end of it.”

This was fairly reassuring; and she went on:

“Beaumagnan is explained in one word; and that word is ‘ambition.’ From the very beginning he made his religious vocation, which is real enough, the servant of his ambition, which is boundless; and the two of them guided him into the Society of Jesus, in which he holds a post of considerable importance. The discovery of the cardinal’s memorandum made him lose his head. Immense vistas have opened before