 CHAPTER VII A SOUND OF VOICE IS RULES FROM THE OTHER SIDE of the house, no doubt near the well. The sound grew more distinct. A number of people flocked into the house. Some of them went upstairs to the first floor, while the sergeant arrived with a young man of whom Renine and Orteins were able to distinguish only the tall figure. Jérôme Vignal said she. Yes, said Renine. They are examining Madame de Gaulle first, upstairs in her bedroom. A quarter of an hour passed. Then the persons on the first floor came downstairs and went in. They were the procurators' deputy, his clerk, a commissary of police, and two detectives. Madame de Gaulle was shown in, and the deputy asked Jérôme Vignal to step forward. Jérôme Vignal's face was certainly that of the strong man whom Orteins had depicted in her letter. He displayed no uneasiness, but rather a decision and a resolute will. Natalie, who was short and very slight, with a feverish light in her eyes, nevertheless produced the same impression of quiet confidence. The deputy, who was examining the disordered furniture and the traces of the struggle, invited her to sit down and said to Jérôme. Monsieur, I have not asked you many questions so far. This is a summary inquiry which I am conducting in your presence, and which will be continued later by the examining magistrate. And I wish, above all, to explain to you the very serious reasons for which I asked you to interrupt your journey and to come back here with Madame de Gaulle. You are now in a position to refute the truly distressing charges that are hanging over you. I therefore ask you to tell me the exact truth. Mr. Deputy, replied Jérôme, the charges in question trouble me very little. The truth for which you are asking will defeat all the lies which Chance has accumulated against me. It is this. He reflected for an instant, and then, in clear, frank tones, said, I love Madame de Gaulle. The first time I met her, I conceived the greatest sympathy and admiration for her. But my affection has always been directed by the sole thought of her happiness. I love her, but I respect her even more. Madame de Gaulle must have told you, and I tell you again, that she and I exchanged our first few words last night. He continued in a lower voice. I respect her the more in as much as she is exceedingly unhappy. All the world knows that every minute of her life was a martyrdom. Her husband persecuted her with ferocious hatred and frantic jealousy. Ask the servants. They will tell you of the long suffering of Nathalie de Gaulle, of the blows which she received, and the insults which she had to endure. I tried to stop this torture by restoring to the rites of appeal which the mere stranger may claim when unhappiness and injustice pass a certain limit. I went three times to Old de Gaulle and begged him to interfere. But I found in him an almost equal hatred towards his daughter-in-law, the hatred which many people feel for anything beautiful and noble. At last I resolved on direct action, and last night I took a stab with regard to Nathalie de Gaulle, which was a little unusual, I admit, but which seemed likely to succeed considering the man's character. I swear, Mr. Deputy, that I had no other intention than to talk to Nathalie de Gaulle. Knowing certain particulars of his life which enabled me to bring effective pressure to bear upon him, I wished to make use of this advantage in order to achieve my purpose. If things turned out differently, I am not holy to blame. So, I went there a little before nine o'clock. The servants I knew were out. He opened the door himself. He was alone. Monsieur, said the Deputy, interrupting him, you are saying something, as Madame de Gaulle, for that matter, did just now, which is manifestly opposed to the truth. Mathias de Gaulle did not come home last night until eleven o'clock. We have two definite proofs of this, his father's evidence, and the prints of his feet in the snow, which fell from a quarter past nine o'clock to eleven. Mr. Deputy, Jérôme Vignal declared, without heeding the bad effect which his obstinacy was producing. I am relating things as they were, and not as they may be interpreted. But to continue. That clock marked ten minutes to nine when I entered this room. Monsieur de Gaulle, believing that he was about to be attacked, had taken down his gun. I placed my revolver on the table, out of reach of my hand, and sat down. I want to speak to you, Monsieur, I said. Please listen to me. He did not stir and did not utter a single syllable. So I spoke. And straightway, crudely, without any previous explanations which might have softened the bluntness of my proposal, I spoke the few words which I had prepared beforehand. I have spent some months, Monsieur, I said, in making careful enquiries into your financial position. You have mortgaged every foot of your land. You have signed bills which will shortly be falling due, and which it will be absolutely impossible for you to honour. You have nothing to hope for from your father, whose own affairs are in a very bad condition. So you are ruined. I have come to save you. He watched me, still without speaking, and sat down, which I took to mean that my suggestion was not entirely displeasing. Then I took a sheave of banknotes from my pocket, placed it before him and continued. Here is sixty thousand francs, Monsieur. I will buy the Manoir au Puy, its lents and dependencies, and take over the mortgages. The sum named is exactly twice what they are worth. I saw his eyes glittering. He asked my conditions. Only one, I said, that you go to America. Mr. Deputy, we sat discussing for two hours. It was not that my offer aroused his indignation. I should not have risked it if I had not known with whom I was dealing. But he wanted more and haggled greedily, though he refrained from mentioning the name of Madame de Gaulle, to whom I myself had not once alluded. We might have been two men engaged in a dispute and seeking an agreement on common ground, whereas it was the happiness and the whole destiny of a woman that were at stake. At last, wary of the discussion, I accepted a compromise and we came to terms, which I resolved to make definite then and there. Two letters were exchanged between us, one in which he made the Manoir au Puy over to me for the sum which I had paid him, and one which he pocketed immediately, by which I was to send him as much more in America, on the day on which the decree of divorce was pronounced. So the affair was settled. I am sure that at that moment he was accepting in good faith. He looked upon me less as an enemy and a rival than as a man who was doing him a service. He even went so far as to give me the key of the little door which opens on the fields so that I might go home by the shortcut. Unfortunately, while I was speaking of my cap and grey coat, I made the mistake of leaving on the table the letter of sale which he had signed. In a moment, Matthias de Gaulle had seen the advantage which he could take of my slip. He could keep his property, keep his wife, and keep the money. Quick as lightning he tucked away the paper, hit me over the head with the butt end of his gun, threw the gun on the floor and seized me by the throat with both hands. He had reckoned without his host. I was the stronger of the two, and after a sharp but short struggle I mastered him and tied him up with a cord which I found lying in a corner. Mr. Deputy, if my enemies' resolve was sudden, mine was no less so. Since, when all was sad, he had accepted the bargain, I would force him to keep it, at least in so far as I was interested. A very few steps brought me to the first floor. I had not a doubt that Madame de Gaulle was there and had heard the sound of our discussion. Switching on the lights of my pocket torch, I looked into three bedrooms. The fourth was locked. I knocked at the door. There was no reply. But this was one of the moments in which a man allows no obstacle to stand in his way. I had seen a hammer in one of the rooms. I picked it up and smashed in the door. Yes, Natalie was lying there on the floor in a dead faint. I took her in my arms, carried her downstairs, and went through the kitchen. On seeing the snow outside, I had once realized that my footprints would be easily traced. But what did it matter? Was there any reason why I should put Matthias de Gaulle off the scent? Not at all. With the sixty thousand francs in his possession, as well as the paper in which I undertook to pay him a likesam on the day of his divorce, to say nothing of his house and land, he would go away, leaving Natalie de Gaulle to me. Nothing was changed between us, except one thing. Instead of awaiting his good pleasure, I had at once seized the precious pledge which I coveted. What I fear therefore was not so much any subsequent attack on the part of Matthias de Gaulle, but rather the indignant reproaches of his wife. What would she say when she realized that she was a prisoner in my hands? The reasons why I escaped reproach Madame de Gaulle has, I believe, had the frankness to tell you. Love calls forth love. That night in my house, broken by emotion, she confessed her feeling for me. She loved me as I loved her. Our destinies were henceforth mingled. She and I set out at five o'clock this morning, not foreseeing for an instant that we were amenable to the law. Jérôme Vignal's story was finished. He had told it straight off the reel, like a story learned by heart, and incapable of revision in any detail. There was a brief pause, during which Houghton's whispered. It all sounds quite possible, and in any case very logical. There are the objections to come, said Hainin. Wait till you hear them. They are very serious. There's one in particular. The deputy procurator stated it at once. And what became of M. de Gaulle in all this? M. de Gaulle asked Jérôme, Yes, you have related, with an accent of great sincerity, a series of facts which I am quite willing to admit. Unfortunately, you have forgotten the point of the first importance, what became of M. de Gaulle. You tied him up here in this room. Well, this morning he was gone. Of course, Mr. Deputy, Mathias de Gaulle accepted the bargain in the end, and went away. By what road? No doubt by the road that leads to his father's house. Where are his footprints? The expense of snow is an impartial witness. After your fight with him, we see you, on the snow, moving away. Why don't we see him? He came, and did not go away again. Where is he? There's not a trace of him, or rather. The deputy lowered his voice. Or rather, yes, there are some traces on the way to the well, and around the well. Traces which prove that the last struggle of all took place there. And after that, there's nothing. Not a thing. Jérôme shrugged his shoulders. You have already mentioned this, Mr. Deputy, and it implies a charge of homicide against me. I have nothing to say to it. Have you anything to say to the fact that your revolver was picked up within 15 yards of the well? No. Or to the strange coincidence between the three shots heard in the night, and the three cartridges missing from your revolver? No, Mr. Deputy, there was not, as you believe, a last struggle by the well, because I left Monsieur de Gaulle tied up in this room, and because I also left my revolver here. On the other hand, if shots were heard, they were not fired by me. A casual coincidence, therefore? That's a matter for the police to explain. My only duty is to tell the truth, and you are not entitled to ask more of me. And if that truth conflicts with the facts observed, it means that the facts are wrong, Mr. Deputy. As you please, but until the day when the police are able to make them agree with your statements, you will understand that I am obliged to keep you under arrest. And Madame de Gaulle asked Jérôme greatly distressed. The deputy did not reply. He exchanged a few words with the commissary of police, and then, back on into a detective, ordered him to bring up one of the two modern cars. Then he turned to Natalie. Madame, you have heard Monsieur Vignal's evidence. He agrees word for word with your own. Monsieur Vignal declares in particular that you had fainted when he carried you away. But did you remain unconscious all the way? It seemed as though Jérôme's composure had increased Madame de Gaulle's assurance. She replied, I did not come to Monsieur until I was at the château. It's most extraordinary. Didn't you hear the three shots which were heard by almost everyone in the village? I did not. And did you see nothing of what happened beside the well? Nothing did happen. Monsieur Vignal has told you so. Then what has become of your husband? I don't know. Come, Madame, you really must assist the officers of the law and at least tell us what you think. Do you believe that there may have been an accident, and that possibly Monsieur de Gaulle, who had been to see his father and had more to drink than usual, lost his balance and fell into the well? When my husband came back from seeing his father, he was not in the least intoxicated. His father, however, has stated that he was. His father and he had drunk two or three bottles of wine. His father is not telling the truth. But the snow tells the truth, Madame, said the deputy irritably, and the line of his footprints wavers from side to side. My husband came in at half past eight, Monsieur, before the snow had begun to fall. The deputy struck the table with his fist. But really, Madame, you're going right against the evidence that sheet of snow cannot speak false. I may accept your denial of matters that cannot be verified, but these footprints in the snow, in the snow, he controlled himself. The motor car drew up outside the windows, forming a sudden resolve, he said to Natalie. You will be good enough to hold yourself at the disposal of the authorities, Madame, and to remain here in the manor house. And he made a sign to the sergeant to remove Jehrom Vinyal in the car. The game was lost for the two lovers. Barely united, they had to separate and to fight far away from each other against the most grievous accusations. Jehrom took a step towards Natalie. They exchanged a long, sorrowful look. Then he bowed to her and walked to the door in the wake of the sergeant of Jandah. Halt! cried the voice. Sergeant, right about, turn! Jehrom Vinyal, stay where you are! The ruffled deputy raised his head, as did the other people present. The voice came from the ceiling. The bullseye window had opened, and Henin, leaning through it, was waving his arms. I wish to be heard. I have several remarks to make, especially in respect of the zigzag footprints. It all lies in that. Matthias had not been drinking. He had turned round and put his two legs through the opening, saying to Wachtons who tried to prevent him. Don't move. No one will disturb you. And, releasing his hold, he dropped into the room. The deputy appeared dumbfounded. But really, monsieur, who are you? Where do you come from? Henin brushed the dust from his clothes, and replied, Excuse me, Mr. Deputy, I ought to have come the same way as everybody else, but I was in a hurry. Besides, if I had come in by the door instead of falling from the ceiling, my words would not have made the same impression. The infuriated deputy advanced to meet him. Who are you? Prince Henin, I was with the sergeant this morning when he was pursuing his investigations. Was not I sergeant? Since then I have been hunting about for information. That's why, wishing to be present at the hearing, I found a corner in the little private room. You were there. You had the audacity. One must need the audacious when the truth is at stake. If I had not been there, I should not have discovered just the one little clue which I missed. I should not have known that Matthias de Gaulle was not the least bit drunk. Now, that's the key to the riddle. When we know that, we know the solution. The deputy found himself in a rather ridiculous position. Since he had failed to take the necessary precautions to ensure the secrecy of his inquiry, it was difficult for him to take any steps against the interloper, he growled. Let's have done with this. What are you asking? A few minutes of your attention, and with what object? To establish the innocence of Missier Vignole and Madame de Gaulle. He was wearing that comb ear, that sort of indifferent look, which was peculiar to him in moments of action, when the crisis of the drama depended solely upon himself. Orhtans felt a thrill pass through her, and at once became full of confidence. They're saved, she thought, with sudden emotion. I asked him to protect that young creature, and he's saving her from prison and despair. Jerome and Natalie must have experienced the same impression of sudden hope, for they had drawn nearer to each other, as though this stranger, descended from the clouds, had already given them the right to clasp hands. The deputy shrugged his shoulders. The prosecution will have every means when the time comes of establishing their innocence for itself, you will be called. It would be better to establish it here now, and a delay might lead to grievous consequences. I happen to be in a hurry. Two or three minutes will do. Two or three minutes to explain a case like this. No longer, are you sure, you? Are you as certain of it as all that? I am now. I have been thinking hard since this morning. The deputy realized that this was one of those gentry who stick to you like a leech, and that there was nothing for it but to submit. In a rather bantering tone, he asked, Does your thinking enable you to tell us the exact spot where Monsieur Mathias de Gaulle is at the moment? Heineen took out his watch and answered, In Paris, Mr. Deputy, in Paris, alive then? Alive, and what is more, in the pink of health? I'm delighted to hear it. But then what's the meaning of the footprints around the well and the presence of that revolver and those three shots? Simply camouflage. Oh, really, camouflage contrived by whom? By Mathias de Gaulle himself. That's curious, and with what object? With the object of passing himself off for dead and of arranging subsequent matters in such a way that Monsieur Vignale was bound to be accused of the death, the murder. An ingenious theory, the deputy agreed, still in a satirical tone. What do you think of it, Monsieur Vignale? It is a theory which fledged through my own mind, Mr. Deputy, replied Jehan. It is quite likely that after our struggle and after I had gone, Mathias de Gaulle conceived a new plan by which this time his hatred would be fully gratified. He both loved and detested his wife. He held me in the greatest loathing. This must be his revenge. His revenge would cost him dear, considering that, according to your statement, Mathias de Gaulle was to receive a second sum of 60,000 francs from you. He would receive that sum in another quarter, Mr. Deputy. My examination of the financial position of the de Gaulle family revealed to me the fact that the father and son had taken out a life insurance policy in each other's favor. With the son dead, or passing for dead, the father would receive the insurance money and indemnify his son. You mean to say, as the deputy with a smile, that in all this camouflage, as you call it, Monsieur de Gaulle, the elder would act as his son's accomplice? Heineen took up the challenge. Just so, Mr. Deputy, the father and son are accomplices. Then we shall find the son at the father's. You would have found him there last night. What became of him? He took the train at Pompignin. That's a mere supposition. No, a certainty. A moral certainty, perhaps, but you'll admit there's not the slightest proof. The deputy did not wait for a reply. He considered that he had displayed an excessive goodwill and that patience has its limits, and he put an end to the interview. Not the slightest proof, he repeated, taking up his head. And above all, above all, there's nothing in what you've said that can contradict, in the very least, the evidence of that relentless witness, the snow, to go to his father, but tears de Gaulle must have left this house. Which way did he go? Hang it all, Monsieur Vignal told you, by the road which leads from here to his father's. There are no tracks in the snow. Yes, there are. But they show him coming here and not going away from here. It's the same thing. What? Of course it is. There's more than one way of walking. One doesn't always go ahead by following one's nose. In what other way can one go ahead? By walking backwards, Mr. Deputy. These few words, spoken very simply, but in a clear tone, which gave full value to every syllable, produced a profound silence. Those present, at once grasped, their extreme significance, and, by adapting it to the actual happenings, perceived in a flash the impenetrable truth, which suddenly appeared to be the most natural thing in the world. Hanin continued his argument, stepping backwards in the direction of the window, he said, If I want to get to that window, I can, of course, walk straight up to it, but I can just as easily turn my back to it and walk that way, in either case I reach my goal. Here's the gist of it all. At half past eight, before the snow fell, Monsieur de Gaulle comes home from his father's house. Monsieur Vignole arrives twenty minutes later. There is a long discussion and a struggle, taking up three hours in all. It is then, after Monsieur Vignole has carried off Madame de Gaulle and made his escape, that Monsieur de Gaulle, foaming at the mouth, wild with rage, but suddenly seeing his chance of taking the most terrible revenge, hits upon the ingenious idea of using against his enemy the very snowfall upon whose evidence you are now relying. He therefore plans his own murder, or rather the appearance of his murder, and of his fall to the bottom of the well, and makes off backwards, step by step, thus recording his arrival instead of his departure on the white page. The deputies neared no longer. This eccentric intruder suddenly appeared to him in the light of a person worthy of attention, whom it would not do to make fun of, he asked. And how could he have left his father's house in a trap quite simply, who drove it, the father. This morning the sergeant and I saw the trap and spoke to the father, who was going to mark it as usual. The son was hidden under the tilt. He took the train at Pompignac and is in Paris by now. Hanin's explanation, as promised, had taken hardly five minutes. He had based it solely on logic and the probabilities of the case, and yet not a jot was left of the distressing mystery in which they were floundering. The darkness was dispelled. The whole truth appeared. Adam de Gaulle wept for joy, and Jérôme Vignal thanked the good genius who was changing the course of events with a stroke of his magic wand. Shall we examine those footprints together, Mr. Deputy, asked Hanin, do you mind? The mistake which the sergeant and I made this morning was to investigate only the footprints left by the alleged murderer and to neglect Matthias de Gaulle's. Why, indeed, should they have attracted our attention? Yet it was precisely there that the crux of the whole affair was to be found. They stepped into the orchard and went to the well. It did not need a long examination to observe that many of the footprints were awkward, hesitating, too deeply sunk at the heel and toe, and deferring from one another in the angle at which the feet were turned. This clumsiness was unavoidable, said Hanin. Matthias de Gaulle would have needed a regular apprenticeship before his backward progress could have equaled his ordinary gait. And both his father and he must have been aware of this, at least as regards the zigzags which you see here, since all de Gaulle went out of his way to tell the sergeant that his son had had too much drink. And he added, indeed, it was a detection of this falsehood that suddenly enlightened me. When Madame de Gaulle stated that her husband was not drunk, I thought of the footprints and guessed the truth. The deputy frankly accepted his part in the matter and began to laugh. There's nothing left for it but to send detectives after the bogus corpse. On what grounds, Mr. Deputy, asked Hanin, Matthias de Gaulle has committed no offence against the law. There's nothing criminal in trampling the soil around the well and shifting the position of a revolver that doesn't belong to you, in firing three shots or in walking backwards to one's father's house. What can we ask of him? The sixty thousand francs? I presume that this is not Missievineal's intention and that he does not mean to bring a charge against him. Certainly not, said Jerome. Well, what then? The insurance policy in favor of the survivor? But there would be no misdemeanor unless the father claimed payment. And I should be greatly surprised if he did. Hello, here the old chap is. You also know all about it. All the Gaulle was coming along, gesticulating as he walked. His easygoing features were screwed up to express sorrow and anger. Where's my son? He cried. It seems the Brutes killed him. My poor Matthias dead. Oh, that scoundrel of a vignale. And he shook his fist at Jerome. The deputy said bluntly. A word with you, Monsieur de Gaulle, do you intend to claim your rights under a certain insurance policy? Well, what do you think? Said the old man off his guard. The fact is your son's not dead. People are even saying that you were a partner in his little schemes and that you stuffed him under the tilt of your trap and drove him to the station. The old fellow spat on the ground, stretched out his hand as though he were going to take a solemn oath, stood for an instant without moving. And then suddenly changing his mind and his tactics with ingenious cynicism, he relaxed his features, assumed a conciliatory attitude and burst out laughing. That black guard Matthias, so he tried to pass himself off as dead, what a rascal. And he reckoned on me to collect insurance money and send it to him as if I should be capable of such a low dirty trick. You don't know me, my boy. And without waiting for more, shaking with merriment like a jolly old fellow amused by a funny story, he took his departure, not forgetting, however, to set his great hobnail boots on each of the compromising footprints which his son had left behind him. Later, when Henin went back to the manor to let Hortan south, he found that she had disappeared. He called and asked for her at her cousin, Hermelins. Hortan sent downward, asking him to excuse her. She was feeling a little tired and was lying down. Capital, Vatrenin, capital, she avoids me. Therefore, she loves me. The end is not far off. End of Chapter 7, Part 2 Chapter 8, Part 1 of the Eight Strokes of the Clock. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leni. The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Mohiss Leblanc. Chapter 8, Part 1. At the sign of Mercury. Je m'adame Daniele, la rencière, Nier-Basicourt. Paris, November 30th. My dearest friend, there has been no letter from you for a fortnight, so I don't expect now to receive one for the troublesome date of the 5th of December, which we fixed as the last day of our partnership. I rather wish it would come, because you will then be relieved from a contract which no longer seems to give you pleasure, to me the seven battles which we fought and won together were a time of endless delight and enthusiasm. I was living beside you. I was conscious of all the good which that more active and stirring existence was doing you. My happiness was so great that I dare not speak of it to you or let you see anything of my secret feelings, except my desire to please you and my passionate devotion. Today you have had enough of your brother in arms. Your will shall be law. But though I bow to your decree, may I remind you what it was that I always believed our final adventure would be? May I repeat your words, not one of which I have forgotten? I demand, you said, that you shall restore to me a small, antique clasp made of a carnelian set in a filigree mound. It came to me from my mother, and everyone knew that it used to bring her happiness, and me too. Since the day when it vanished from my jewel case, I have had nothing but unhappiness. Restore it to me, my good genius. And, when I asked you when the clasp had disappeared, you answered with a laugh. Seven years ago, or eight, or nine, I don't know exactly. I don't know when. I don't know how. I know nothing about it. You were challenging me, were you not, and you set me that condition because it was one which I could not fulfill? Nevertheless, I promised, and I should like to keep my promise. What I have tried to do, in order to place life before you in a more favorable light, would seem purposeless if your confidence feels the lack of this talisman to which you attach so great a value. We must not laugh at these little superstitions. They are often the mainspring of our best actions. Dear friend, if you had helped me, I should have achieved yet one more victory, alone and hard pushed by the proximity of the date I have failed. Not, however, without placing things on such a footing that the undertaking, if you care to follow it up, has the greatest chance of success. And you will follow it up, won't you? We have entered into a mutual agreement which we are bound to honor. It behooves you, within a fixed time, to inscribe in the book of our common life eight good stories, to which we shall have brought energy, logic, perseverance, some subtlety and occasionally a little heroism. This is the eighth of them. It is for you to act, so that it may be written in its proper place on the fifth of December before the clock strikes eight in the evening. And, on that day, you will act as I shall now tell you. First of all, and above all, my dear, do not complain that my instructions are fanciful. Each of them is an indispensable condition of success. First of all, cut in your cousin's garden three slender lengths of rush. Plate them together and bind up the two ends so as to make a rude switch like a child's whiplash. When you get to Paris, buy a long necklace of jet beads cut into facets and shorten it so that it consists of 75 beads of almost equal size. Under your winter cloak wear a blue woollen gown. A toque with red leaves on it. Round your neck a feather boa. No gloves, no rings. In the afternoon take a cab along the left bank of the river to the church of Saint-etienne-Dumont. At four o'clock exactly there will be near the holy water basin just inside the church an old woman dressed in black saying her prayers on a silver rosary. She will offer you holy water. Give her your necklace. She will count the beads and hand it back to you. After this you will walk behind her. You will cross an arm of the Seine and she will lead you down a lonely street in the Île Saint-Louis to a house which you will enter by yourself. On the ground floor of this house you will find a youngish man with a very pasty complexion. Take off your cloak and then say to him I have come to fetch my clasp. Do not be astonished by his agitation or dismay. Keep calm in his presence. If he questions you, if he wants to know your reason for replying to him or what impels you to make that request give him no explanation. Your replies must be confined to these brief formulas. I have come to fetch what belongs to me. I don't know you. I don't know your name. But I am obliged to come to you like this. I must have my clasp returned to me. I must. I honestly believe that if you have the firmness not to swerve your attitude whatever farce the man may play you will be completely successful. But the contest must be a short one and the issue will depend solely on your confidence in yourself and your certainty of success. It will be a sort of match in which you must defeat your opponent in the first round. If you remain impassive you will win. If you show hesitation or uneasiness you can do nothing against him. He will escape you and regain the upper hand after a first moment of distress and the game will be lost in a few minutes. There's no midway house between victory or defeat. In the latter event you would be obliged. I beg you to pardon me for saying so again to accept my collaboration. I offer it to you in advance my dear and without any conditions while stating quite plainly that all that I have been able to do for you and all that I may yet do gives me no other right than that of thanking you and devoting myself more than ever to the woman who represents my joy, my whole life. Orthans, after reading the letter folded it up and put it away at the back of a drawer saying in a resolute voice I shan't go. To begin with, although she had formerly attached some slight importance to this trinket which she had regarded as a basket she felt very little interest in it now that the period of her trials was apparently at an end. She could not forget that figure 8 which was the serial number of the next adventure. To launch herself upon it meant taking up the interrupted chain going back to Renine and giving him a pledge which, with his powers of suggestion he would know how to turn to account. Two days before the 5th of December she was still in the same frame of mind. So she was on the morning of the 4th. But suddenly without even having to contend against preliminary subterfuges she ran out into the garden cut three lengths of rush plated them as she used to do in her childhood and at twelve o'clock had herself driven to the station. She was uplifted by an eager curiosity. She was unable to resist all the amusing and novel sensations which the adventure proposed by Heineen promised her. It was really too tempting. The jet necklace the taupe with the autumn leaves the old woman with the silver rosary she resists their mysterious appeal and how could she refuse this opportunity of showing Heineen what she was capable of doing. And then after all she said to herself laughing he's summoning me to Paris now eight o'clock is dangerous to me at a spot three hundred miles from Paris in that old deserted Château de Halingo but nowhere else the only clock that can strike the threatening hour is down there under lock and key a prisoner. She searched Paris that evening on the morning of the fifth she went out and bought a jet necklace which she reduced to seventy-five beads put on a blue gown and a taupe with red leaves and at four o'clock precisely entered the church of Saint-etienne-Dumont her heart was throbbing violently this time she was alone and how acutely she now felt the strength of that support which from unreflecting fear rather than any reasonable motive she looked around her almost hoping to see him but there was no one there no one except an old lady in black standing beside the holy water basin Orthans went up to her the old lady who held a silver rosary in her hands offered her holy water and then began to count the beads of the necklace which Orthans gave her she whispered seventy-five that's right come without another word she toddled along under the light of the street lamps crossed the Pont de Tournel to the Île Saint-Louis and went down an empty street leading to a crossroads where she stopped in front of an old house with wrought iron balconies go in she said and the old lady went away Orthans now saw a prosperous looking shop which occupied almost the whole of the ground floor and whose windows blazing with electric light displayed a huddled array of old furniture and antiquities she stood there for a few seconds gazing at it absently a signboard bore the words the mercury together with the name of the owner of the shop Tancaldi higher up on a projecting cornice which ran on a level with the first floor a small niche sheltered a terracotta mercury poised on one foot with wings to his sandals and the caduceus in his hand as Orthans noted was leaning a little too far forward in the order of his flight and ought logically to have lost his balance and taken a header into the street now she said under her breath she turned the handle of the door and walked in despite the ringing of the bells actuated by the opening door no one came to meet her the shop seemed to be empty however at the extreme end there was a room at the back of the shop and after that another both crammed with furniture and knickknacks many of which looked very valuable Orthans followed a narrow gangway which twisted and turned between two walls built up of cupboards cabinets and console tables went up two steps and found herself in the last room of all a man was sitting at a writing desk and looking through some account books without turning his head he said I'm at your service madam please look round you this room contained nothing but articles of a special character which gave it the appearance of some alchemist's laboratory in the middle ages stuffed owls skeletons, skulls copper alembics, astrolabes and all round hanging on the walls emulates of every description mainly hands of ivory or coral with two fingers pointing to word of ill-luck are you wanting anything in particular, madam? asked Monsieur Pancaldi closing his desk and rising from his chair it's the man, I thought Orthans he had in fact an uncommonly pasty complexion a little fork-beard flacked with gray lengthened his face which was surmounted by a bald pallet forehead beneath which gleamed a pair of small prominent, restless, shifty eyes Orthans, who had not removed her veil or cloak, replied I want a clasp there in this showcase he said leading the way to the connecting room Orthans glanced over the glass case and said, no, no I don't see what I'm looking for I don't want just any clasp but a clasp which I lost out of a jewel case some years ago and which I have to look for here she was astounded to see the commotion displayed on his features his eyes became haggard here? I don't think you are in the least likely what sort of clasp is it a carnelian mounted in gold filigree of the 1830s period I don't understand, he stammered why do you come to me she now removed her veil and laid aside her cloak he stepped back as though terrified by the sight of her and whispered, the blue gown the toke and, can I believe my eyes the jet necklace it was perhaps the whiplash that excited him most violently he pointed his finger at it began to stagger where he stood and ended by beating the air with his arms like a drowning man and fainting away in a chair Orthans did not move whatever farce he may play have the courage to remain impassive perhaps he was not playing a farce nevertheless she forced herself to be calm and indifferent this lasted for a minute or two after which Monsieur Pancaldi recovered from his swoon wiped away the perspiration streaming down his forehead and striving to control himself resumed in a trembling voice why do you apply to me because the clasp is in your possession who told you that he said without denying the accusation how do you know I know because it is so nobody has told me anything I came here positive that I should find my clasp and with the immovable determination to take it away with me but do you know me, do you know my name I don't know you I did not know your name before I read it over your shop to me you are simply the man who is going to give me back what belongs to me he was greatly agitated he kept on walking to and fro in a small empty space surrounded by a circle of piled up furniture at which he hid out idiotically at the risk of bringing it down Ortans felt that she had the whip-hand of him and profiting by his confusion she said suddenly in a commanding and threatening tone where is the thing you must give it back to me I insist upon it Pankaldi gave way to a moment of despair he folded his hands and mumbled a few words of entreaty then defeated and suddenly resigned he said more distinctly you insist I do, you must give it to me yes, yes, I must I agree speak, speak, no, but write I will write my secret and that will be the end of me he turned to his desk and feverishly wrote a few lines on a sheet of paper which he put into an envelope and sealed it see, he said here's my secret it was my whole life and so saying he suddenly pressed against his temple a revolver which he had produced from under a pile of papers which he fired with a quick movement Ortan struck up his arm the bullet struck the mirror of a chivalred glass but Pankaldi collapsed and began to groan as though he were wounded Ortan made a great effort not to lose her composure Hanin warned me, she reflected the man to play at her he has kept the envelope he has kept his revolver I won't be taken in by him nevertheless, she realized that the attempt at suicide and the revolver shot had completely unnerved her all her energies were dispersed like the sticks of a bundle whose string has been cut and she had a painful impression that the man who was groveling at her feet was in reality slowly getting the better of her she sat down exhausted as Hanin had foretold, the duel had not lasted longer than a few minutes but it was she who had succumbed thanks to her feminine nerves for the very moment when she felt entitled to believe that she had won the man Pankaldi was fully aware of this and without troubling to invent a transition he sees his germides leapt to his feet cut a sort of agile caper before Ortan's eyes and cried in a jeering tone now, we are going to have a little chat but it would be a nuisance to be at the mercy of the first passing customer, wouldn't it? he ran to the street door opened it and pulled down the iron shutter which closed the shop then, still hopping and skipping he came back to Ortan's oof, I really thought I was done for one more effort, madame and you would have pulled it off but then, I'm such a simple chap it seemed to me that you had come from the back of beyond as an emissary of providence to call me to account and like a fool I was about to give the thing back ah, Mademoiselle Ortan's let me call you so let me call you by that name Mademoiselle Ortan's what you lack to use a vulgar expression is gut he sat down beside her and with a malicious look sad savagely the time has come to speak out who contrived this business? not you, huh? it's not your style then who? I have always been honest in my life scriplessly honest except once in the matter of that clasp the story was buried and forgotten here it is, suddenly raked up again why? that's what I want to know Ortan's was no longer even attempting to fight he was bringing to bear upon her all his verile strength all his spite, all his fears all the threats expressed in his furious gestures and on his features which were both ridiculous and evil speak, I want to know if I have a secret foe let me defend myself against him. who is he? who sent you here? who urged you to take action? is it a rival incensed by my good luck who once in his turn to benefit by the clasp? speak, can't you, damn it all or I swear by heaven I'll make you she had an idea that he was reaching out for his revolver and stepped back holding her arms before her in the hope of escaping End of Chapter 8 Part 1 Chapter 8 Part 2 Chapter 8 Part 2 of the Eight Strokes of the Clock this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Linny The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Mohitz Leblanc Chapter 8 Part 2 They thus struggled against each other and Ortan's, who was becoming more frightened, not so much of the attack as of her assailants distorted face was beginning to scream when Pankaldi suddenly stood motionless with his arms before him his fingers outstretched and his eyes staring above Ortan's head Who's there? How did you get in? he asked in a stifled voice Ortan did not even need to turn round to feel assured that Renyin was coming to her assistance and that it was his inexplicable appearance that was causing the dealer such dismay As a matter of fact a slender figure stole through a heap of easy chairs and sofas and Renyin came forward with a tranquil step Who are you? repeated Pankaldi Where do you come from? From up there he said very amably pointing to the ceiling From up there? Yes, from the first floor I have been the tenant of the floor above this for the past three months I heard a noise just now I came out for help, so I came down But how did you get in here? By the staircase What staircase? The iron staircase at the end of the shop The man who owned it before you had a flat on my floor and used to go up and down by that hidden staircase You had the door shut off, I opened it But by what right, sir it amounts to breaking in Breaking in is allowed when there is a fellow creature to be rescued Once more, who are you? Prince Renyin and a friend of these ladies said Renyin bending over and kissing her hand Pankaldi seemed to be choking and mumbled Oh, I understand You instigated the plot It was you who sent the lady It was, Monsieur Pankaldi, it was And what are your intentions? My intentions are irreproachable No violence Simply a little interview When that is over, you will hand over what I in my turn have come to fetch What? The clasp? That never shouted the dealer Don't say no, it's a furgon conclusion No power on earth, sir can compel me to do such a thing Shall we send for your wife? Madame Pankaldi will perhaps realize the position better than you do The idea of no longer being alone with this unexpected adversary seemed to appeal to Pankaldi There was a bell on the table beside him He struck it three times Capital, exclaimed Renin You see, my dear, Monsieur Pankaldi is becoming quite amiable Not a trace left of the devil broken loose who was going for you just now No, Monsieur Pankaldi only has to find himself dealing with a man to recover his qualities of courtesy and kindness, a perfect sheep which does not mean that things will go quite of themselves Far from it, there's no more obstinate animal than a sheep Right at the end of the shop between the dealer's riding desk and the winding staircase a curtain was raised admitting a woman who was holding a door open She might have been 30 years of age very simply dressed she looked with the apron on her more like a cook than like the mistress of a household But she had an attractive face and a pleasing figure Orthans, who had followed Renin was surprised to recognize her as a maid whom she had had in her service when a girl Is that you, Lucienne? Are you Madame Pankaldi? The newcomer looked at her recognized her also and seemed embarrassed Renin said to her Your husband and I need your assistance, Madame Pankaldi to settle a rather complicated matter a matter in which you played an important part She came forward without a word obviously ill at ease asking her husband who did not take his eyes off her What is it? What do they want with me? What is he referring to? It's about the clasp Pankaldi was spread under his breath These few words were enough to make Madame Pankaldi realize to the full the seriousness of her position and she did not try to keep her countenance or to retort with futile protests She sank into a chair, sighing Oh, that's it I understand Mademoiselle Orthans has found the track Oh, it's all up with us There was a moment's respite The struggle between the adversaries had hardly began before the husband and wife adopted the attitude of the defeated persons whose only hope lay in the victor's clemency Staring motionless before her Madame Pankaldi began to cry Renin bent over her and said Do you mind if we go over the case from the beginning? We shall then see things more clearly and I am sure that our interview will lead to a perfectly natural solution This is how things happened Nine years ago when you were ladies made to Mademoiselle Orthans in the country you made the acquaintance of Monsieur Pankaldi who soon became your lover You were both of you Corsicans in other words, you came from a country where superstitions are very strong and where questions of good and bad luck the evil eye and spells and charms exerted a profound influence over the lives of one and all Now, it was said that your young mistress's class always brought luck to its owners That was why in a weak moment prompted by Monsieur Pankaldi you stole the class Six months afterwards you became Madame Pankaldi That's your whole story, is it not told in a few sentences? The whole story of two people who would have remained honest members of society if they had been able to resist the casual temptation I need not tell you how you both succeeded in life and how possessing your husband, believing its powers and twisting in yourselves you rose to the first rank of antiquarians Today, well off owning this shop, the mercury you attribute the success of your undertakings to that clasp To lose it would to your eyes spell bankruptcy and poverty Your whole life has been centered upon it It is your fetish It is the little household god who watches over you and guides your steps It is there Somewhere, hidden in this jungle And no one of course would ever have suspected anything For I repeat, you are decent people But for this one lapse If an accident had not led me to look into your affairs I need pause and continue That was two months ago Two months of minute investigations which presented no difficulty to me because having discovered your trail I hired a flat overhead and was able to use that staircase but all the same, two months wasted to a certain extent because I have not yet succeeded and heaven knows how I have ransacked this shop of yours There is not a piece of furniture that I have left unsearched not a plank in the floor that I have not inspected all to no purpose Yes, there was one thing an incidental discovery in a secret recess in your writing table, Pankaldi I turned up a little account book in which you have set down your remorse your uneasiness your fear of punishment and your dread of God's wrath It was highly imprudent of you, Pankaldi People don't write such confessions and above all they don't leave them lying about Be this as it may, I read them and I noted one passage which struck me as particularly important and was of use to me in preparing my plan of campaign Should she come to me the woman whom I robbed should she come to me as I saw her in her garden while Lucian was taking the clasp should she appear to me wearing the blue gown and the toque of red leaves with the jet necklace and the whip of three-plated rushes which she was carrying that day should she appear to me doesn't say I have come to claim my property then I shall understand that her conduct is inspired from on high and that I must obey the decree of providence That is what's written in your book, Pankaldi and it explains the conduct of the lady whom you call Mademoiselle Hortense acting on my instructions and in accordance with the setting thought out by yourself she came to you from the back of beyond to use your own expression a little more self-possession on her part and you know that she would have won the day unfortunately you are a wonderful actor your sham suicide put her out and you understood that this was not a decree of providence but simply an offensive on the part of your former victim I had no choice therefore but to intervene here I am and now let's finish the business Pankaldi that clasp no said the dealer who seemed to recover all his energy at the very thought of restoring the clasp and you madame Pankaldi I don't know where it is the wife declared very well then let us come to deeds madame Pankaldi you have a son of seven whom you love with all your heart this is Thursday and two of my friends are posted on the road by which he returns and in the absence of instructions to the contrary will kidnap him as he passes madame Pankaldi lost her head at once my son oh please please not that I swear that I know nothing my husband would never consent to confide in me Hainin continued next point this evening I shall lodge an information with the public prosecutor evidence the confessions in the account book consequences action by the police search of the premises and the rest Pankaldi was silent the others had a feeling that all these threats did not affect him and that protected by his fetish he believed himself to be invulnerable but his wife fell on her knees at Hainin's feet and stammered no no I entreat you it would be going to prison and I don't want to go and my son oh I entreat you Portans seized with compassion to Hainin to one side poor woman let me intercede for her set your mind at rest he said nothing is going to happen to her son but you're two friends sheer bluff your application to the public prosecutor a mere threat and what are you trying to do to threaten them out of their wits in the hope of making them drop a remark we've tried every other means this is the last and it is a method which I find nearly all he succeeds remember our adventures but if the word which we expect to hear is not spoken it must be spoken said Hainin in a low voice we must finish the matter the hour is at hand his eyes met hers and she blushed crimson at the thought that the hour to which he was eluding was the eighth and that he had no other object than to finish the matter before that the eighth hour struck so you see on the one hand what you are risking he said to the Pankaudi pair the disappearance of your child and prison prison for certain since there is the book with its confessions and now on the other hand here's my offer twenty thousand francs if you hand over the class immediately this minute remember it isn't worth really no reply madame Pankaudi was crying and causing between each proposal I'll double my offer I'll treble it hang it all Pankaudi you're unreasonable I suppose you want me to make it around some I'll write a hundred thousand francs he held out his hand as if there was no doubt that they would give him the clasp madame Pankaudi was the first to yield and did so with a sudden outburst of rage against her husband well confess can't you speak up where have you hidden it you aren't going to be obstinate what if you are it means ruin and poverty and then there's our boy speak out do oh thanks whispered I mean this is madness the clasp has no value never fear said Hainin he's not going to accept but look at him how excited he is exactly what I wanted ah this you know is really exciting to make people lose their heads to rub them of all control over what they are thinking and saying and in the midst of their confusion in the storm that tosses them to and throw to catch sight of the tiny spark which will flash forth somewhere or other look at him look at the fellow a hundred thousand francs for a valueless pebble if not prison it's enough to turn any man's head Pankaudi in fact was gray in the face his lips were trembling and a drop of saliva was trickling from their corners it was easy to guess the seething turmoil of his whole being shaking by conflicting emotions by the clash between greed and fear suddenly he burst out and it was obvious that his words were pouring forth at random without his knowing in the least what he was saying a hundred thousand francs two hundred thousand five hundred thousand a million what's the use of millions one loses them they disappear they go there's only one thing that counts luck it's on your side what else against you and luck has been on my side these last nine years it has never betrayed me and you expect me to betray it why out of fear prison my son no harm will come to me so long as I compel luck to work on my behalf it's my servant it's my friend it clings to the clasp how can I tell it's the carnelian no doubt there are magic stones which hold happiness which hold fire or sulfur or gold Hennin kept his eyes fixed upon him watching for the least word the least modulation of the voice the curiosity dealer was now laughing with a nervous laugh while resuming the self-control of a man who feels sure of himself and he walked up to Hennin with jerky movements that revealed an increasing resolution millions my dear sir I wouldn't have them as a gift the little bit of stone which I possess is worth much more than that and the proof of it lies in all the pains which you are at to take it from me aha months devoted to looking for it as you yourself confess months in which you turned everything topsy-turvy while I who suspected nothing did not even defend myself why should I? the little thing defended itself all alone it does not want to be discovered and it shan't be it likes being here honest business that satisfies it pankaldi's luck why it's known to all the neighborhood among all the dealers I proclaim it from the house tops I am a lucky man I even made so bold as to take the god of luck mercury as my patron he too protects me see, I've got mercury all over my shop look up there on that shelf a whole row of statuettes like the one over the front door signed by a great sculptor who went smash and sold them to me would you like one, my dear sir? it will bring you luck to take your pick a present from pankaldi to make up to you for your defeat does that suit you? he put a stool against the wall under the shelf took down a statuette and plumped it into Hanin's arms and laughing heartily growing more and more excited as his enemies seemed to yield ground and to fall back before his spirit of attack well done, he accepts and the fact that he accepts shows that we are all agreed madame pankaldi, don't distress yourself your son's coming back, nobody's going to prison goodbye mademoiselle ochtans good day sir hope to see you again if you want to speak to me at any time just give three thumbs on the ceiling goodbye, don't forget your present and may mercury be kind to you goodbye my dear prince goodbye mademoiselle ochtans we are all agreed to the iron staircase gripped each of them by the arm intern and pushed them up to the little door hidden at the top of the stairs and the strange thing was that Hanin made no protest he did not attempt to resist he allowed himself to be led along like a naughty child that is taken up to bed less than five minutes had elapsed between the moment when he made his offer to pankaldi and the moment when pankaldi turned him out of the shop with a statuette in his arms the dining room and drawing room of the flat which Hanin had taken on the first floor looked out upon the street the table in the dining room was laid for two forgive me, won't you, said Hanin as he opened the door of the drawing room for ochtans I thought that whatever happened I should most likely see you this evening and that we might as well dine together don't refuse me this kindness which will be the last favor granted in our last adventure ochtans did not refuse him the manner in which the battle had ended was so different from everything that she had seen hitherto that she felt disconcerted at any rate why should she refuse seeing that the terms of the contract had not been fulfilled Hanin left the room to give an order to his manservant two minutes later he came back for ochtans it was then a little past seven there were flowers on the table and the statuette of mercury pankaldi's resin stood overtopping them may the god of luck preside over our repost, said Hanin he was full of animation and expressed his great delight at having her sitting opposite him yes, he explained I had to resort to powerful means and attract you by the bait of the most fabulous enterprises you must confess that my letter was jolly smart the three rushes, the blue gown simply irresistible and when I had thrown in a few puzzles of my own invention such as the 75 beads of the necklace and the old woman with the silver rosary I knew that you were bound to succumb to temptation don't be angry with me I wanted to see you and I wanted it to be today you have come and I thank you he next told her how he had got on the track of the stolen trinket you hoped, didn't you in laying down that condition that I shouldn't be able to fulfill it you made a mistake, my dear and the rest at the beginning was easy enough because it was based upon an undoubted fact the talismanic character attributed to the clasp I had only to hunt about and see whether among the people around you among your servants there was ever anyone upon whom that character may have exercised some attraction now, on the list of persons which I succeeded in drawing up I had once noticed the name of Mademoiselle Lucienne as coming from Corsica this was my starting point the rest was a mere concatenation of events Ortan stared at him in amazement how was it that he was accepting his defeat with such a careless air and even talking in a tone of triumph whereas really he had been soundly beaten by Pancaldi and even made to look just a trifle ridiculous she could not help letting him feel this and the fashion in which she did so betrayed a certain disappointment a certain humiliation everything is a concatenation of events very well but the chain is broken because when all is said though you know the thief you did not succeed in laying hands upon the stolen clasp the reproach was obvious Hennin had not accustomed her to failure and furthermore she was irritated to see how heedlessly he was accepting a blow which after all entailed the ruin of any hopes that he might have entertained he did not reply he had filled their two glasses with champagne and was slowly emptying his own with his eyes fixed on the statuette of mercury he turned it about on its pedestal and examined it with the eye of a delighted connoisseur what a beautiful thing is a harmonious line color does not uplift me so much as outline, proportion, symmetry and all the wonderful properties of form look at this little statue it is right, it is the work of a great artist the legs are both slender and muscular the whole figure gives an impression of buoyancy and speed, it is very well done there is only one fault a very slight one perhaps you have not noticed it yes I have, said Octans it struck me the moment I saw the sign outside you mean, don't you a certain lack of balance the god is leaning over too far on the leg that carries him, he looks as though he were going forward that's very clever of you, said Hainin the fault is almost imperceptible and it needs a trained eye to see it really, however as a matter of logic, the weight of the body ought to have its way and in accordance with natural laws the little god ought to take ahead her after a pause he continued I noticed that flaw on the first day how was it that I did not draw an inference at once I was shocked because the artist had sinned against an aesthetic law whereas I ought to have been shocked because he had overlooked the physical law as though art and nature were not blended together and as though the laws of gravity could be disturbed without some fundamental reason what do you mean, asked Octans puzzled by these reflections which seem so far removed from their secret thoughts what do you mean oh nothing, he said I'm only surprised that I didn't understand sooner why Mercury did not plum forward as he should have done the reason I imagine that Pancaldi when pulling the statuette about to make it serve his purpose must have disturbed its balance but that this balance was restored by something which holds the little god back and which makes up for his really too dangerous posture something you say yes, a counterweight Octans gave a start she too was beginning to see a little light she murmured a counterweight are you thinking that it might be in the pedestal, why not is that possible but if so, how did Pancaldi come to give you this statuette he never gave me this one Hanin declared I took this one myself but where and when just now while you were in the drawing room I got out of that window which is just over the signboard and beside the niche containing the little god and I exchanged the two, that is to say I took the statue which was outside and put the one which Pancaldi gave me in its place but doesn't that one lean forward no, no more than the others do on the shelf in his shop but Pancaldi is not an artist a lack of equilibrium does not impress him he will see nothing wrong and he will continue to think himself favored by luck which is another way of saying that luck will continue to favor him this is a statuette, the one used for the sign am I to break the pedestal and take her class part of the laden sheath soldered to the back of the pedestal which keeps Mercury steady no, no, there's no need for that Orton's hurriedly murmured Hanin's intuition his subtlety, the skill with which he had managed the whole business to her for the moment all these things remained in the background but she suddenly remembered that the eighth adventure was completed Hanin had surmounted every obstacle that the task had turned to his advantage and that the extreme limit of time fixed for the last of the adventures was not yet reached he had the cruelty to call attention to the fact a quarter to eight he said an oppressive silence fell between them both felt its discomfort to such a degree that they hesitated to make the least movement in order to break it, Hanin gested that worthy, Monsieur Pancaldi how good it was of him to tell me what I wish to know I knew, however that by exasperating him I should end by picking up the missing clue in what he said it was just as though one were to hand someone a flint and steel and suggest to him that he was to use it in the end the spark is obtained in my case what produced the spark was the unconscious but inevitable comparison which he drew between the carnelian clasp the element of luck the mercury, the god of luck that was enough I understood that this association of ideas arose from his having actually associated the two factors of luck by embodying one in the other or to speak more plainly by hiding the trinket in the statuette and I at once remembered the mercury outside the door and its defective poise Hanin suddenly interrupted himself it seemed to him that all his remarks were falling on deaf ears Ortans had put her hand to her forehead and thus veiling her eyes sat motionless and remote she was indeed not listening the end of this particular adventure and the manner in which Hanin had acted on this occasion no longer interested her what she was thinking of was the complex series of adventures amid which she had been living for the past three months and the wonderful behavior of the man who had offered her his devotion she saw, as in a magic picture the fabulous deeds performed by him all the good that he had done the life saved the sorrows as waged the order restored wherever his masterly will had been brought to bear nothing was impossible to him what he undertook to do, he did every aim that he set before him was attained in advance and all this without excessive effort with the calmness of one who knows his own strength and knows that nothing can resist it then, what could she do against him then, what could she do against him then, what could she do against him why should she defend herself and how if he demanded that she should yield would he not know how to make her do so and would this last adventure be any more difficult for him than the others supposing that she ran away did the wide world contain a retreat in which she would be safe from his pursuit from the first moment of their first meeting the end was certain, since Hanin had decreed that it should be so she still cast about her weapons for protection of some sword and she said to herself that though he had fulfilled the eight conditions and restored the Cornelian clasp to her before the eighth hour had struck she was nevertheless protected by the fact that this eighth hour was to strike on the clock of the Chateau de Halingon and not elsewhere it was a formal compact Hanin had said that day gazing on the lips which he longed to kiss the old brass pendulum will start swinging again and when, on the fixed day the clock once more strikes eight then she looked up he was not moving either but sat solemnly patiently waiting she was on the point of saying she was even preparing her words you know, our agreement says it must be the Halingon clock all the other conditions have been fulfilled but not this one so I am free, am I not? I promise, which moreover I never made but which in any case falls to the ground and I am perfectly free released from any scruple of conscience she had not time to speak at that precise moment there was a click behind her like that of a clock about to strike a first stroke sounded and a second and a third Orthans moaned she had recognized the very sound of the old clock the Halingon clock which three months ago by breaking in a supernatural manner the silence of the deserted chateau had set both of them on the road of the eight adventures she counted the strokes the clock struck eight ha! she murmured half-swooning and hiding her face in her hands the clock, the clock's here the one from over there I recognize its voice she said no more she felt that Renine had his eyes fixed upon her and this sapped all her energies besides had she been able to recover them she would have been no better off nor sought to offer him the least resistance for the reason that she did not wish to resist all the adventures were over but one remained to be undertaken the anticipation of which wiped out the memory of all the rest it was the adventure of love the most delightful the most bewildering the most adorable of all adventures she accepted fate's decree rejoicing in all that might come because she was in love she smiled in spite of herself as she reflected that happiness was again to enter her life at the very moment when her well-beloved was bringing her the Cornelian clasp the clock struck the hour for the second time Hortense raised her eyes to Renine she struggled a few seconds longer but she was like a charmed bird incapable of any movement of revolt and at the eighth stroke she fell upon his breast and offered him her lips End of Chapter 8, Part 2 End of The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Mojiz Leblanc