The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac (best ereader for graphic novels TXT) 📕

"Wait till it is quite dark, and we'll play him a comedy that shall

fool him finely."

Accordingly, ten minutes later, the fishwife, with a vim that

delighted the usurer, organized for the innocent porter the comedy of

a _monsieur_ who would not, out of politeness, let her accompany him to

the door; she herself with equal politeness insisting. Appearing to

conduct the sham physician into the street gate she pretended that the

wind had blown out of her lamp, and under pretext of relighting it she

put out that of Perrache. All this racket, accompanied by exclamations

and a bewildering loquacity, was so briskly carried out that the

porter, if summoned before the police-court, would not have hesitated

to swear that the doctor, whose arrival he had witnessed, left the

house between nine and ten o'clock.

When the two accomplices were thus in tranquil possession of the field

of operations Madame Cardinal hung up her rabbit's-hair shawl before

the window to exclude all possible indiscretion on the part of a

neighbor. In the Luxembourg quarter life quiets down early. By ten

o'clock all the sounds in the house as well as those out of doors were

stilled, and Cerizet declared that the moment had come to go to work;

by beginning at once they were certain that the sleeper would remain

under the influence of the drug; besides, if the booty were found at

once, Madame Cardinal could, under pretence of a sudden attack on her

patient, which required her to fetch a remedy from the apothecary, get

the porter to open the street gate for her without suspicion. As all

porters pull the gate-cord from their beds, Cerizet would be able to

get away at the same time without notice.

Powerful in advice, Cerizet was a very incapable hand in action; and,

without the robust assistance of Mere Cardinal he could never have

lifted what might almost be called the corpse of the former

drum-major. Completely insensible, Toupillier was now an inert mass,

a dead-weight, which could, fortunately, be handled without much

precaution, and the athletic Madame Cardinal, gathering strength from

her cupidity, contrived, notwithstanding Cerizet's insufficient

assistance, to effect the transfer of her uncle from one bed to the

other.

On rummaging the bed from which the body was moved, nothing was found,

and Madame Cardinal, pressed by Cerizet to explain why she had

confidently asserted that her uncle "was lying on one hundred thousand

francs in gold," was forced to admit that a talk with Madame Perrache,

and her own fervid imagination were the sole grounds of her certainty.

Cerizet was furious; having for one whole day dallied with the idea

and hope of fortune, having, moreover, entered upon a dangerous and

compromising course of action, only to find himself, at the supreme

moment, face to face with--nothing! The disappointment was so bitter

that if he had not been afraid of the muscular strength of his future

mother-in-law, he would have rushed upon her with some frantic

intention.

His anger, however, spent itself in words. Harshly abused, Madame

Cardinal contented herself by remarking that all hope was not lost,

and then, with a faith that ought to have moved mountains, she set to

work to empty the straw from the mattress she had already vainly

explored in all directions. But Cerizet would not allow that extreme

measure; he remarked that after the autopsy of a straw mattress such

detritus would remain upon the floor as must infallibly give rise to

suspicion. But the Cardinal, who thought this caution ridiculous, was

determined to, at least, take apart the flock bedstead. The passion of

the search gave extraordinary vigilance to her senses, and as she

raised the wooden side-frame she heard the fall of some tiny object on

the floor. Seizing the light she began to search in the mound of filth

of all kinds that was under the bed, and finally laid her hand on a

bit of polished steel about half an inch long, the use of which was to

her inexplicable.

"That's a key!" cried Cerizet, who was standing beside her with some

indifference, but whose imagination now set off at a gallop.

"Ha! ha! you see I was right," cried the Cardinal. "But what can it

open?" she added, on reflection; "nothing bigger than a doll's house."

"No," said Cerizet, "it is a modern invention, and very strong locks

can be opened with that little instrument."

With a rapid glance he took in all the pieces of furniture in the

room; went to the bureau and pulled out the drawers; looked in the

stove, in the table; but nowhere did he find a lock to which the

little key could be adapted.

Suddenly the Cardinal had a flash of illumination.

"See here!" she said. "I remarked that the old thief, as he lay on his

bed, never took his eyes off the wall just opposite to him."

"A cupboard hidden in the wall!" cried Cerizet, seizing the light

eagerly; "it is not impossible!"

Examining attentively the door of the alcove, which was opposite the

bed's head, he could see nothing there but a vast accumulation of dust

and spiders' webs. He next employed the sense of touch, and began to

rap and sound the wall in all directions. At the spot to which

Toupillier's constant gaze was directed he thought he perceived in a

very narrow space a slight sonority, and he presently perceived that

he was rapping on wood. He then rubbed the spot vigorously with his

handkerchief, and beneath the thick layer of dust and dirt which he

thus removed he found a piece of oak plank carefully inserted in the

wall. On one side of this plank was a small round hole; it was that of

the lock which the key fitted!

While Cerizet was turning the key, which worked with great difficulty,

Madame Cardinal, holding the light, was pale and breathless; but, oh!

cruel deception! the cupboard, at last unlocked and open, showed only

an empty space, into which the light in her hand fell uselessly.

Allowing this bacchante to give vent to her despair by saluting her

much-beloved uncle with the harshest epithets, Cerizet quietly

inserted his arm into the cupboard, and after feeling it over at the

back, he cried out, "An iron safe!" adding, impatiently, "Give me more

light, Madame Cardinal."

Then, as the light did not penetrate to the depths of the cupboard, he

snatched the candle from the bottle, where, in default of a

candlestick, the Cardinal had stuck it, and, taking it in his hand,

moved it carefully over all parts of the iron safe, the existence of

which was now a certainty.

"There is no visible lock," he said. "There must be a secret opening."

"Isn't he sly, that old villain!" exclaimed Madame Cardinal, while

Cerizet's bony fingers felt the side of the safe over minutely.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, after groping for ten minutes, "I have it!"

During this time Madame Cardinal's life seemed actually suspended.

Under the pressure which Cerizet now applied, the iron side rose

quickly into the thickness of the wall above, and in the midst of a

mass of gold thrown pell-mell into a large excavation that was now

exposed to view, lay a case of red morocco, which, from its size and

appearance, gave promise of magnificent booty.

"I take the diamonds for myself," said Cerizet, when he had opened the

case and seen the splendid jewels it contained; "you won't know how to

get rid of them. I'll leave you the gold for your share. As for the

house and the money in the Funds, they are not worth the trouble it

would be to get the old fellow to make a will."

"Not so fast, my little man!" replied the Cardinal, who thought this

decision rather summary; "we will first count the money--"

"Hush!" exclaimed Cerizet, apparently listening to a sound.

"What is it?" asked the Cardinal.

"Don't you hear some one moving below?"

"No, I hear nothing."

Cerizet, making her a sign to be silent, listened attentively.

"I hear a step on the stairs," he said, a moment later.

Then he hastily replaced the morocco case, and made desperate but

unavailing efforts to lower the panel.

"Yes!" cried Madame Cardinal, terrified; "some one is really coming."

Then, fastening to a hope of safety, she added, "I dare say it is that

insane girl; they say she walks at night."

At any rate, the insane girl (if it were she) had a key to the room,

for a moment later, this key was inserted in the lock. With a rapid

glance Madame Cardinal measured the distance to the door; should she

have time to push the bolt? No; certain that it was then too late, so

she blew out the candle to give herself at least some chances in the

darkness.

Useless effort! the intruder who now appeared had brought a candle

with him.

When Madame Cerizet saw that she had to do with a small, old man of

puny appearance, she flung herself before him with flaming eyes, like

a lioness from whom the hunter is seeking to take her cubs.

"Be calm, my good woman," said the little man, in a jeering tone; "the

police are sent for; they will be here in a moment."

At the word "police" the Cardinal's legs gave way.

"But, monsieur," she said, "why the police? we are not robbers."

"No matter for that; if I were in your place I shouldn't wait for

them," said the little old man; "they make unfortunate mistakes

sometimes."

"Can I clear out?" asked the woman, incredulously.

"Yes, if you empty your pockets of anything which has, _by accident_,

got into them."

"Oh! my good monsieur, I haven't a thing in my hands or my pockets; I

wasn't here to harm any one,--only to nurse my poor dear uncle; you

can search me."

"Come, be off with you! that will do," said the old man.

Madame Cardinal did not oblige him to repeat the order, and she

rapidly disappeared down the staircase.

Cerizet made as though he would take the same road.

"You, monsieur, are quite another thing," said the little old man.

"You and I must talk together; but if you are tractable, the affair

between us can be settled amicably."

Whether it was that the narcotic had ceased to operate, or that the

noise going on about Toupillier put an end to his sleep, he now opened

his eyes and cast around him the glance of a man who endeavors to

remember where he is; then, seeing his precious cupboard open, he

found in the emotion that sight produced the strength to cry out two

or three times, "Help! help! robbers!" in a voice that was loud enough

to rouse the house.

"No, Toupillier," said the little old man; "you have not been robbed;

I came here in time to prevent it; nothing has been taken."

"Why don't you arrest that villain?" shouted the old pauper, pointing

to Cerizet.

"Monsieur is not a thief," replied the old man. "On the contrary, he

came up with me to lend assistance." Then, turning to Cerizet, he

added, in a low voice: "I think, my good friend, that we had better

postpone the interview I desire to have with you until to-morrow. Come

at ten o'clock to the adjoining house, and ask for Monsieur du

Portail. After what has passed this evening, there will, I ought to

warn you, be some danger to you in not accepting this conference. I

shall find you elsewhere, infallibly; for I have the honor to know who

you are; you are the man whom the Opposition journals were accustomed

to call 'the courageous Cerizet.'"

In spite of the profound sarcasm of this remark, Cerizet, perceiving

that he was not to be treated more rigorously than Madame Cardinal,

felt so pleased with this conclusion that he promised, very readily,

to keep the appointment, and then slipped away with all the haste he

could. 

The next day Cerizet did not fail to appear at the rendezvous given to

him. Examined, at first, through the wicket of the door, he was

admitted, after giving his name, into the house, and was ushered

immediately to the study of Monsieur du Portail, whom he found