第212章

The Rain of Blood.

"As the jeweller returned to the apartment, he cast around him a scrutinizing glance -- but there was nothing to excite suspicion, if it did not exist, or to confirm it, if it were already awakened.Caderousse's hands still grasped the gold and bank-notes, and La Carconte called up her sweetest smiles while welcoming the reappearance of their guest.

`Well, well,' said the jeweller, `you seem, my good friends, to have had some fears respecting the accuracy of your money, by counting it over so carefully directly I was gone.' -- `Oh, no,' answered Caderousse, `that was not my reason, I can assure you; but the circumstances by which we have become possessed of this wealth are so unexpected, as to make us scarcely credit our good fortune, and it is only by placing the actual proof of our riches before our eyes that we can persuade ourselves that the whole affair is not a dream.' The jeweller smiled.-- `Have you any other guests in your house?' inquired he.-- `Nobody but ourselves,'

replied Caderousse; `the fact is, we do not lodge travellers -- indeed, our tavern is so near the town, that nobody would think of stopping here.-- `Then I am afraid I shall very much inconvenience you.' -- `Inconvenience us? Not at all, my dear sir,' said La Carconte in her most gracious manner.

`Not at all, I assure you.' -- `But where will you manage to stow me?' -- `In the chamber overhead.' -- `Surely that is where you yourselves sleep?' -- `Never mind that; we have a second bed in the adjoining room.' Caderousse stared at his wife with much astonishment.

"The jeweller, meanwhile, was humming a song as he stood warming his back at the fire La Carconte had kindled to dry the wet garments of her guest; and this done, she next occupied herself in arranging his supper, by spreading a napkin at the end of the table, and placing on it the slender remains of their dinner, to which she added three or four fresh-laid eggs.Caderousse had once more parted with his treasure -- the banknotes were replaced in the pocket-book, the gold put back into the bag, and the whole carefully locked in the cupboard.He then began pacing the room with a pensive and gloomy air, glancing from time to time at the jeweller, who stood reeking with the steam from his wet clothes, and merely changing his place on the warm hearth, to enable the whole of his garments to be dried.

"`There,' said La Carconte, as she placed a bottle of wine on the table, `supper is ready whenever you are.' -- `And you?' asked Joannes.-- `I don't want any supper,' said Caderousse.-- `We dined so very late,' hastily interposed La Carconte.-- `Then it seems I am to eat alone,' remarked the jeweller.-- `Oh, we shall have the pleasure of waiting upon you,' answered La Carconte, with an eager attention she was not accustomed to manifest even to guests who paid for what they took.

"From time to time Caderousse darted on his wife keen, searching glances, but rapid as the lightning flash.The storm still continued.`There, there,' said La Carconte; `do you hear that? upon my word, you did well to come back.' --`Nevertheless,' replied the jeweller, `if by the time I have finished my supper the tempest has at all abated, I shall make another start.' -- `It's the mistral,' said Caderousse, `and it will be sure to last till to-morrow morning.' He sighed heavily.-- `Well,' said the jeweller, as he placed himself at table, `all I can say is, so much the worse for those who are abroad.' -- `Yes,' chimed in La Carconte, `they will have a wretched night of it.'

"The jeweller began eating his supper, and the woman, who was ordinarily so querulous and indifferent to all who approached her, was suddenly transformed into the most smiling and attentive hostess.Had the unhappy man on whom she lavished her assiduities been previously acquainted with her, so sudden an alteration might well have excited suspicion in his mind, or at least have greatly astonished him.Caderousse, meanwhile, continued to pace the room in gloomy silence, sedulously avoiding the sight of his guest;but as soon as the stranger had completed his repast, the agitated inn-keeper went eagerly to the door and opened it.

`I believe the storm is over,' said he.But as if to contradict his statement, at that instant a violent clap of thunder seemed to shake the house to its very foundation, while a sudden gust of wind, mingled with rain, extinguished the lamp he held in his hand.Trembling and awe-struck, Caderousse hastily shut the door and returned to his guest, while La Carconte lighted a candle by the smouldering ashes that glimmered on the hearth.`You must be tired,' said she to the jeweller; `I have spread a pair of white sheets on your bed; go up when you are ready, and sleep well.'

"Joannes stayed for a while to see whether the storm seemed to abate in its fury, but a brief space of time sufficed to assure him that, instead of diminishing, the violence of the rain and thunder momentarily increased; resigning himself, therefore, to what seemed inevitable, he bade his host good-night, and mounted the stairs.He passed over my head and I heard the flooring creak beneath his footsteps.The quick, eager glance of La Carconte followed him as he ascended, while Caderousse, on the contrary, turned his back, and seemed most anxiously to avoid even glancing at him.