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I simply said the cause was serious, and of a nature to fully justify a deadly meeting; that we, Monsieur de Meilhan and myself, left Guéret at six o'clock in the morning; when three miles from the town, we left the high-road of Limoges and entered that part of the woods called the Little Cascade, where we dismounted and awaited the arrival of M. de Villiers, who, in a few minutes, rode up to us, accompanied by two army-officers as seconds.
She was even accused of saying that the doctor had attributed the death to this cause. This, said the indictment, was a lie. Dr Lasmolles declared that he had questioned Lacoste about the supposed hernia, and that the old man denied having any such thing. What had brought about Lacoste's fatal illness was the wine Meilhan had made him drink at Rigeupeu fair.
I preferred to apply to Madame de Meilhan. On our return to the château I questioned her, and learned that my beautiful unknown was named Madame Louise Guérin. At that word "Madame" my heart contracted. Wherefore? I could not tell. Afterwards I learned that she was a widow and poor, that she lived by the labor of those pretty fingers which I had seen dabbling in the water.
Even now, when we are parted for ever, I believe, that if God ever created two beings for each other, we are those two beings, and if every soul has a sister spirit, her soul is the sister spirit of mine. M. de Meilhan loves her; who would not love her? But what he loves in her is visible beauty: the slope of her shoulders, the perfection of her contours.
She did not know that her husband was complaining outside about her. She denied all knowledge of the arsenic found in Lacoste's body, but suggested that it might have come from one or other of the medicines he took. Questioned with regard to her intimacy with Meilhan, she declared that she knew nothing of his morals.
Ah! mother! my mother! why am I left to struggle all alone in this unfeeling world! EDGAR DE MEILHAN to the PRINCE DE MONBERT, Saint Dominique Street, Paris. RICHEPORT, June 8th 18 . She is here! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums! The same day that you found Irene, I recovered Louise!
A broken hope, crushed, extinguished; a happiness vanished ere fully seen! During the four days that I was at Richeport, I began to remark the existence between M. de Meilhan and myself of a sullen, secret, unavowed but real irritation, when a letter from M. de Monbert solved the enigma by convincing me that I was in the way under that roof. Fool, why did I not see it myself and sooner?
Who is he? A friend of Madame de Meilhan, and a stranger to me!... He a stranger!... to me!... No, no, he loves me, I know he does ... but why did he not tell me so! Has some one come between us? Perhaps a suspicion separates us.... Oh! he may think I am in love with Edgar! horrible idea! the thought kills me.... I will write to him; would you not advise it? What shall I tell him?
One last hope remained; I persuaded myself that if Louise had not loved M. de Meilhan she would have left Richeport at the same time that I did. I got out at Pont de l'Arche, and prowled like a felon about the scenes where happiness had come to me. I wandered about for an hour, when I saw the letter-carrier coming to the post-office for the letters to be delivered at the neighboring châteaux.
Did Lacoste suffer from the ailments attributed to him by his wife, and was he in the habit of dosing himself? Did Meilhan receive money from Mme Lacoste, and, particularly, did she propose to allow him the supposed annuity?
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