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Updated: May 3, 2025
Paul, Hortebise, and Catenac gazed upon each other with faces in which astonishment at the strange recital, and then at the power of the man who had collected these facts together, were mingled, and Catenac was the first who spoke. The sound of his own voice seemed gradually to dispel the vague sense of apprehension that hung about the office.
"Let me speak," broke in the doctor. "If we only needed time six months, say, or a year we should postpone our concluding act until then; but I, Hortebise, assure you that in two months, thanks to another discovery of my own will show you a scar that will pass muster, not perhaps before a fellow-practitioner, but certainly before the Duke."
"This won't do," muttered he; "it must be plastered, and then repapered." He picked up the bits of brick and plaster that lay on the floor, and threw them into the fire, and then pushed a large screen in front of the rough brickwork. He had just finished his work when Hortebise entered the room, with his perpetually smiling face.
But Tantaine interrupted him with a low laugh, terrible to listen to. "And why not?" said he. "Is it not better to kill than to be killed?" Hortebise trembled from head to foot. He had no objection to extorting money by the basest threats, but he drew the line at murder. "And suppose we were found out?" muttered he. "Nonsense! How could we be discovered?
Hortebise fumed, and cast a glance at Paul which seemed to say, "Be silent;" but the conceited young man paid no heed to it. "How long has this charming nurse been with you?" asked Tantaine in an unnatural voice. "Ever since I have been in bed," returned Paul with the air of a gay young fellow. "I wrote a note that I was unable to go over to her, so she came to me.
Then Hortebise breathed more freely, and, wiping the perspiration from his brow, felt that he had gained the victory. "It is a nefarious plot," said the Countess. "So it is, madame; but the facts remain. Only tell me one thing, have you any special objection to M. de Croisenois paying his addresses to your daughter?" "Certainly not."
As she uttered this sarcasm, there was a jesting look upon her features, but it elicited no smile from Hortebise, who, as he proceeded, grew more grave. "I may be foolish," he said; "but I had better be that than reopen some old wound." "Do not be afraid, doctor; speak out."
Mascarin and his confederate descended from their cab a little distance at the corner of the Avenue Matignon. Mascarin, in his dark suit, with his spotless white cravat and glittering spectacles, looked like some highly respectable functionary of State. Hortebise wore his usual smile, though his cheek was pale.
"And where," asked Mascarin quickly, "is this same young man? What is his name, and what does he do for a living?" "He is a painter; his name is Andre, and he lives " A blasphemous oath from Mascarin interrupted him. "This is the third time," said he fiercely, "that this cursed fellow has crossed our path; but I swear that it shall be the last." Hortebise and Catenac were livid with alarm.
"Can it be that you " "I ought to inform you," continued Mascarin, unheeding the interruption, "that we have every prospect of success; and, if we carry the matter through, we shall certainly have a million apiece." Hortebise had not the calm patience of his confederate, and exclaimed, "You understand it well enough. Say Yes or No."
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