The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3), Gaston Leroux [best pdf ebook reader TXT] 📗
- Author: Gaston Leroux
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Boris, "Married Her For Her Great Beauty. She Was A Beautiful Girl
Of The Caucasus, Of Excellent Family Besides, That Feodor
Feodorovitch Had Known When He Was In Garrison At Tiflis."
"In Short," Said Rouletabille, "The Day That General Trebassof Dies
Madame Trebassof, Who Now Possesses Everything, Will Have Nothing,
And The Daughter, Who Now Has Nothing, Will Have Everything."
"Exactly That," Said Michael.
"That Doesn't Keep Matrena Petrovna And Natacha Feodorovna From
Deeply Loving Each Other," Observed Boris.
The Little Party Drew Near The "Point." So Far The Promenade Had
Been Along Pleasant Open Country, Among The Low Meadows Traversed
By Fresh Streams, Across Which Tiny Bridges Had Been Built, Among
Bright Gardens Guarded By Porcelain Dwarfs, Or In The Shade Of
Small Weeds From The Feet Of Whose Trees The Newly-Cut Grass Gave
A Seasonal Fragrance. All Was Reflected In The Pools - Which Lay
Like Glass Whereon A Scene-Painter Had Cut The Green Hearts Of The
Pond-Lily Leaves. An Adorable Country Glimpse Which Seemed To Have
Been Created Centuries Back For The Amusement Of A Queen And
Preserved, Immaculately Trimmed And Cleaned, From Generation To
Generation, For The Eternal Charm Of Such An Hour As This On The
Banks Of The Gulf Of Finland.
Now They Had Reached The Bank Of The Gulf, And The Waves Rippled To
The Prows Of The Light Ships, Which Dipped Gracefully Like Huge And
Rapid Sea-Gulls, Under The Pressure Of Their Great White Sails.
Along The Roadway, Broader Now, Glided, Silently And At Walking
Part 1 Chapter 5 (By Rouletabille's Order The General Promenades) Pg 53Pace, The Double File Of Luxurious Equipages With Impatient Horses,
The Open Carriages In Which The Great Personages Of The Court Saw
The View And Let Themselves Be Seen. Enormous Coachmen Held The
Reins High. Lively Young Women, Negligently Reclining Against The
Cushions, Displayed Their New Paris Toilettes, And Kept Young
Officers On Horseback Busy With Salutes. There Were All Kinds Of
Uniforms. No Talking Was Heard. Everyone Was Kept Busy Looking.
There Rang In The Pure, Thin Air Only The Noise Of The Champing Bits
And The Tintinnabulation Of The Bells Attached To The Hairy Finnish
Ponies' Collars. And All That, So Beautiful, Fresh, Charming And
Clear, And Silent, It All Seemed More A Dream Than Even That Which
Hung In The Pools, Suspended Between The Crystal Of The Air And The
Crystal Of The Water. The Transparence Of The Sky And The
Transparence Of The Gulf Blended Their Two Unrealities So That One
Could Not Note Where The Horizons Met.
Rouletabille Looked At The View And Looked At The General, And In
All His Young Vibrating Soul There Was A Sense Of Infinite Sadness,
For He Recalled Those Terrible Words In The Night: "They Have Gone
Into All The Corners Of The Russian Land, And They Have Not Found
A Single Corner Of That Land Where There Are Not Moanings." "Well,"
Thought He, "They Have Not Come Into This Corner, Apparently. I
Don't Know Anything Lovelier Or Happier In The World." No, No,
Rouletabille, They Have Not Come Here. In Every Country There Is
A Corner Of Happy Life, Which The Poor Are Ashamed To Approach,
Which They Know Nothing Of, And Of Which Merely The Sight Would
Turn Famished Mothers Enraged, With Their Thin Bosoms, And, If It
Is Not More Beautiful Than That, Certainly No Part Of The Earth Is
Made So Atrocious To Live In For Some, Nor So Happy For Others As
In This Scythian Country, The Boreal Country Of The World.
Meanwhile The Little Group About The General's Rolling-Chair Had
Attracted Attention. Some Passers-By Saluted, And The News Spread
Quickly That General Trebassof Had Come For A Promenade To "The
Point." Heads Turned As Carriages Passed; The General, Noticing
How Much Excitement His Presence Produced, Begged Matrena Petrovna
To Push His Chair Into An Adjacent By-Path, Behind A Shield Of
Trees Where He Would Be Able To Enjoy The Spectacle In Peace.
He Was Found, Nevertheless, By Koupriane, The Chief Of Police, Who
Was Looking For Him. He Had Gone To The Datcha And Been Told
There That The General, Accompanied By His Friends And The Young
Frenchman, Had Gone For A Turn Along The Gulf. Koupriane Had Left
His Carriage At The Datcha, And Taken The Shortest Route After Them.
He Was A Fine Man, Large, Solid, Clear-Eyed. His Uniform Showed
His Fine Build To Advantage. He Was Generally Liked In St.
Petersburg, Where His Martial Bearing And His Well-Known Bravery
Had Given Him A Sort Of Popularity In Society, Which, On The Other
Hand, Had Great Disdain For Gounsovski, The Head Of The Secret
Police, Who Was Known To Be Capable Of Anything Underhanded And
Had Been Accused Of Sometimes Playing Into The Hands Of The
Nihilists, Whom He Disguised As Agents-Provocateurs, Without
Anybody Really Doubting It, And He Had To Fight Against These
Part 1 Chapter 5 (By Rouletabille's Order The General Promenades) Pg 54Widespread Political Suspicions.
Well-Informed Men Declared That The Death Of The Previous "Prime
Minister," Who Had Been Blown Up Before Varsovie Station When He Was
On His Way To The Tsar At Peterhof, Was Gounsovski's Work And That
In This He Was The Instrument Of The Party At Court Which Had Sworn
The Death Of The Minister Which Inconvenienced It.* On The Other
Hand, Everyone Regarded Koupriane As Incapable Of Participating In
Any Such Horrors And That He Contented Himself With Honest
Performance Of His Obvious Duties, Confining Himself To Ridding The
Streets Of Its Troublesome Elements, And Sending To Siberia As Many
As He Could Of The Hot-Heads, Without Lowering Himself To The
Compromises Which, More Than Once, Had Given Grounds For The Enemies
Of The Empire To Maintain That It Was Difilcult To Say Whether The
Chiefs Of The Russian Police Played The Part Of The Law Or That Of
The Revolutionary Party, Even That The Police Had Been At The End
Of A Certain Time Of Such Mixed Procedure Hardly Able To Decide
Themselves Which They Did.
____________________________________________________________________
Rumored Cause Of Plehve's Assassination.
____________________________________________________________________
This Afternoon Koupriane Appeared Very Nervous. He Paid His
Compliments To The General, Grumbled At His Imprudence, Praised Him
For His Bravery, And Then At Once Picked Out Rouletabille, Whom He
Took Aside To Talk To.
"You Have Sent My Men Back To Me," Said He To The Young Reporter.
"You Understand That I Do Not Allow That. They Are Furious, And
Quite Rightly. You Have Given Publicly As Explanation Of Their
Departure - A Departure Which Has Naturally Astonished, Stupefied
The General's Friends - The Suspicion Of Their Possible Participation
In The Last Attack. That Is Abominable, And I Will Not Permit It.
My Men Have Not Been Trained In The Methods Of Gounsovski, And It
Does Them A Cruel Injury, Which I Resent, For That Matter,
Personally, To Treat Them This Way. But Let That Go, As A Matter
Of Sentiment, And Return To The Simple Fact Itself, Which Proves
Your Excessive Imprudence, Not To Say More, And Which Involves You,
You Alone, In A Responsibility Of Which You Certainly Have Not
Measured The Importance. All In All, I Consider That You Have
Strangely Abused The Complete Authority That I Gave You Upon The
Emperor's Orders. When I Learned What You Had Done I Went To Find
The Tsar, As Was My Duty, And Told Him The Whole Thing. He Was More
Astonished Than Can Be Expressed. He Directed Me To Go Myself To
Find Out Just How Things Were And To Furnish The General The Guard
You Had Removed. I Arrive At The Isles And Not Only Find The Villa
Open Like A Mill Where Anyone May Enter, But I Am Informed, And Then
I See, That The General Is Promenading In The Midst Of The Crowd,
At The Mercy Of The First Miserable Venturer. Monsieur Rouletabille,
Part 1 Chapter 5 (By Rouletabille's Order The General Promenades) Pg 55I Am Not Satisfied. The Tsar Is Not Satisfied. And, Within An Hour,
My Men Will Return To Assume Their Guard At The Datcha."
Rouletabille Listened To The End. No One Ever Had Spoken To Him In
That Tone. He Was Red, And As Ready To Burst As A Child's Balloon
Blown Too Hard. He Said:
"And I Will Take The Train This Evening."
"You Will Go?"
"Yes, And You Can Guard Your General All Alone. I Have Had Enough
Of It. Ah, You Are Not Satisfied! Ah, The Tsar Is Not Satisfied!
It Is Too Bad. No More Of It For Me. Monsieur, I Am Not Satisfied,
And I Say Good-Evening To You. Only Do Not Forget To Send Me From
Here Every Three Or Four Days A Letter Which Will Keep Me Informed
Of The Health Of The General, Whom I Love Dearly. I Will Offer Up
A Little Prayer For Him."
Thereupon He Was Silent, For He Caught The Glance Of Matrena
Petrovna, A Glance So Desolated, So Imploring, So Desperate, That
The Poor Woman Inspired Him Anew With Great Pity. Natacha Had Not
Returned. What Was The Young Girl Doing At That Moment? If Matrena
Really Loved Natacha She Must Be Suffering Atrociously. Koupriane
Spoke; Rouletabille Did Not Hear Him, And He Had Already Forgotten
His Own Anger. His Spirit Was Wrapped In The Mystery.
"Monsieur," Koupriane Finished By Saying, Tugging His Sleeve, "Do
You Hear Me? I Pray You At Least Reply To Me. I Offer All Possible
Excuses For Speaking To You In That Tone. I Reiterate Them. I Ask
Your Pardon. I Pray You To Explain Your Conduct, Which Appeared
Imprudent To Me But Which, After All, Should Have Some Reason. I
Have To Explain To The Emperor. Will You Tell Me? What Ought I To
Say To The Emperor?"
"Nothing At All," Said Rouletabille. "I Have No Explanation To
Give You Or The Emperor, Or To Anyone. You Can Offer Him My Utmost
Homage And Do Me The Kindness To Vise My Passport For This Evening."
And He Sighed:
"It Is Too Bad, For We Were Just About To See Something Interesting."
Koupriane Looked At Him. Rouletabille Had Not Quitted Matrena
Petrovna's Eyes, And Her Pallor Struck Koupriane.
"Just A Minute," Continued The Young Man. "I'm Sure There Is
Someone Who Will Miss Me - That Brave Woman There. Ask Her Which
She Prefers, All Your Police, Or Her Dear Little Domovoi. We Are
Good Friends Already. And - Don't Forget To Present My Condolences
To Her When The Terrible Moment Has Come."
It Was Koupriane's Turn To Be Troubled.
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