The Secret Of The Night(Fiscle Part 3) by Gaston Leroux (readera ebook reader txt) 📕

Martyrs Already!"

"You Have Replied To Me,  Sire,  In Such A Way That You Make Me

Understand There Is No Sacrifice - Even To The Sacrifice Of Your

Amour-Propre The Greatest A Ruler Can Suffer - No Sacrifice Too

Dear To Ransom From Death One Of These Martyrs."

"Ah,  Ah!  These Gentlemen Lay Down Conditions To Me!  Money.  Money.

They Need Money.  And At How Much Do They Rate The Head Of The

General?"

"Sire,  That Does Not Touch Your Majesty,  And I Never Will Come To

Offer You Such A Bargain.  That Matter Concerns Only Natacha

Feodorovna,  Who Has Offered Her Fortune!"

"Her Fortune!  But She Has Nothing."

"She Will Have One At The Death Of The General.  Now She Engages To

Give It All To The Revolutionary Committee The Day The General Dies

- If He Dies A Natural Death!"

The Emperor Rose,  Greatly Agitated.

"To The Revolutionary Party!  What Do You Tell Me!  The Fortune Of

The General!  Eh,  But These Are Great Riches."

"Sire,  I Have Told You The Sercet.  You Alone Should Know It And

Guard It Forever,  And I Have Your Sacred Word That,  When The Hour

Comes,  You Will Let The Prize Go Where It Is Promised.  If The

General Ever Learns Of Such A Thing,  Such A Treaty,  He Would Easily

Arrange That Nothing Should Remain,  And He Would Denounce His

Daughter Who Has Saved Him,  And Then He Would Promptly He The Prey

Of His Enemies And Yours,  From Whom You Wish To Save Him.  I Have

Told The Secret Not To The Emperor,  But To The Representative Of

God On The Russian Earth.  I Have Confessed It To The Priest,  Who

Is Bound To Forget The Words Uttered Only Before God.  Allow Natacha

Feodorovna Her Own Way,  Sire!  And Her Father,  Your Servant,  Whose

Life Is So Dear To You,  Is Saved.  At The Natural Death Of The

General His Fortune Will Go To His Daughter,  Who Has Disposed Of

It."

Rouletabille Stopped A Moment To Judge Of The Effect Produced.  It

Was Not Good.  The Face Of His August Listener Was More And More

In A Frown.

The Silence Continued,  And Now The Reporter Did Not Dare To Break

It.  He Waited.

Finally,  The Emperor Rose And Walked Forward And Backward Across

The Room,  Deep In Thought.  For A Moment He Stopped At The Window

And Waved Paternally To The Little Tsarevitch,  Who Played In The

Park With The Grand-Duchesses.

Then He Returned To Rouletabille And Pinched His Ear.

"But,  Tell Me,  How Have You Learned All This?  And Who Then Has

Poisoned The General And His Wife,  In The Kiosk,  If Not Natacha?"

"Natacha Is A Saint.  It Is Nothing,  Sire,  That She Has Been Raised

In Luxury,  And Vows' Herself To Misery;  But It Is Sublime That She

Guards In Her Heart The Secret Of Her Sacrifice From Everyone,  And,

In Spite Of All,  Because Secrecy Is Necessary And Has Been Required

Of Her.  See Her Guarding It Before Her Father,  Who Has Been Brought

To Believe In The Dishonor Of His Daughter,  And Still To Be Silent

When A Word Would Have Proved Her Innocent; Guarding It Face To Face

With Her Fiance,  Whom She Loves,  And Repulses Because Marriage Is

Forbidden To The Girl Who Is Supposed To Be Rich And Who Will Be

Poor; Guarding It,  Above All - And Guarding It Still - In The Depths

Of The Dungeon,  And Ready To Take The Road To Siberia Under The

Accusation Of Assassination,  Because That Ignominy Is Necessary For

The Safety Of Her Father.  That,  Sire - Oh,  Sire,  Do You See!"

"But You,  How Have You Been Able To Penetrate Into This Guarded

Secret?"

"By Watching Her Eyes.  By Observing,  When She Believed Herself

Alone,  The Look Of Terror And The Gleams Of Love.  And,  Beyond All,

By Looking At Her When She Was Looking At Her Father.  Ah,  Sire,

There Were Moments When On Her Mystic Face One Could Read The Wild

Joy And Devotion Of The Martyr.  Then,  By Listening And By Piecing

Together Scraps Of Phrases Inconsistent With The Idea Of Treachery,

But Which Immediately Acquired Meaning If One Thought Of The

Opposite,  Of Sacrifice.  Ah,  That Is It,  Sire!  Consider Always The

Alternative Motive.  What I Finally Could See Myself,  The Others,

Who Had A Fixed Opinion About Natacha,  Could Not See.  And Why Had

They Their Fixed Opinion?  Simply Because The Idea Of Compromise

With The Nihilists Aroused At Once The Idea Of Complicity!  For

Such People It Is Always The Same Thing - They Never Can See But

The One Side Of The Situation.  But,  Nevertheless,  The Situation

Had Two Sides,  As All Situations Have.  The Question Was Simple.

The Compromise Was Certain.  But Why Had Natacha Compromised

Herself With The Nihilists?  Was It Necessarily In Order To Lose

Her Father?  Might It Not Be,  On The Contrary,  In Order To Save

Him?  When One Has Rendezvous With An Enemy It Is Not Necessarily

To Enter Into His Game,  Sometimes It Is To Disarm Him With An

Offer.  Between These Two Hypotheses,  Which I Alone Took The

Trouble To Examine,  I Did Not Hesitate Long,  Because Natacha's

Every Attitude Proclaimed Her Innocence: And Her Eyes,  Sire,  In

Which One Read Purity And Love,  Prevailed Always With Me Against

All The Passing Appearances Of Disgrace And Crime.

"I Saw That Natacha Negotiated With Them.  But What Had She To

Place In The Scales Against The Life Of Her Father?  Nothing

- Except The Fortune That She Would Have One Day.

"Some Words She Spoke About The Impossibility Of Immediate Marriage,

About Poverty Which Could Always Knock At The Door Of Any Mansion,

Remarks That I Was Able To Overhear Between Natacha And Boris

Mourazoff,  Which To Him Meant Nothing,  Put Me Definitely On The

Right Road.  And I Was Not Long In Ascertaining That The Negotiations

In This Formidable Affair Were Taking Place In The Very House Of

Trebassof!  Pursued Without By The Incessant Spying Of Koupriane,

Who Sought To Surprise Her In Company With The Nihilists,  Watched

Closely,  Too,  By The Jealous Supervision Of Boris,  Who Was Jealous

Of Michael Nikolaievitch,  She Had To Seize The Only Opportunities

Possible For Such Negotiations,  At Night,  In Her Own Home,  The Sole

Place Where,  By The Very Audacity Of It,  She Was Able To Play Her

Part In Any Security.

"Michael Nikolaievitch Knew Annouchka.  There Was Certainly The

Point Of Departure For The Negotiations Which That Felon-Officer,

Traitor To All Sides,  Worked At Will Toward The Realization Of His

Own Infamous Project.  I Do Not Think That Michael Ever Confided To

Natacha That He Was,  From The Very First,  The Instrument Of The

Revolutionaries.  Natacha,  Who Sought To Get In Touch With The

Revolutionary Party,  Had To Entrust Him With A Correspondence For

Annouchka,  Following Which He Assumed Direction Of The Affair,

Deceiving The Nihilists,  Who,  In Their Absolute Penury,  Following

The Revolt,  Had Been Seduced By The Proposition Of General

Trebassof's Daughter,  And Deceiving Natacha,  Whom He Pretended To

Love And By Whom He Believed Himself Loved.  At This Point In The

Affair Natacha Came To Understand That It Was Necessary To Propitiate

Michael Nikolaievitch,  Her Indispensable Intermediary,  And She

Managed To Do It So Well That Boris Mourazoff Felt The Blackest

Jealousy.  On His Side,  Michael Came To Believe That Natacha Would

Have No Other Husband Than Himself,  But He Did Not Propose To Marry

A Penniless Girl!  And,  Fatally,  It Followed That Natacha,  In That

Infernal Intrigue,  Negotiated For The Life Of Her Father Through

The Agency Of A Man Who,  Underhandedly,  Sought To Strike At The

General Himself,  Because The Immediate Death Of Her Father Before

The Negotiation Was Completed Would Enrich Natacha,  Who Had Given

Michael So Much To Hope.  That Frightful Tragedy,  Sire,  In Which

We Have Lived Our Most Painful Hours,  Appeared To Me,  Confident Of

Natacha's Innocence,  As Absolutely Simple As For The Others It

Seemed Complicated.  Natacha Believed She Had In Michael

Nikolaievitch A Man Who Worked For Her,  But He Worked Only For

Himself.  The Day That I Was Convinced Of It,  Sire,  By My Examination

Of The Approach To The Balcony,  I Had A Mind To Warn Natacha,  To Go

To Her And Say,  'Get Rid Of That Man.  He Will Betray You.  If You

Need An Agent,  I Am At Your Service.'  But That Day,  At Krestowsky,

Destiny Prevented My Rejoining Natacha; And I Must Attribute It To

Destiny,  Which Would Not Permit The Loss Of That Man.  Michael

Nikolaievitch,  Who Was A Traitor,  Was Too Much In The 'Combination,'

And If He Had Been Rejected He Would Have Ruined Everything.  I

Caused Him To Disappear!  The Great Misfortune Then Was That

Natacha,  Holding Me Responsible For The Death Of A Man She Believed

Innocent,  Never Wished To See Me Again,  And,  When She Did See Me,

Refused To Have Any Conversation With Me Because I Proposed That I

Take Michael's Place For Her With The Revolutionaries.  She Would

Have Nothing To Do With Me In Order To Protect Her Secret.  Meantime,

The Nihilists Believed They Were Betrayed By Natacha When They

Learned Of The Death Of Michael,  And They Undertook To Avenge Him.

They Seized Natacha,  And Bore Her Off By Force.  The Unhappy Girl

Learned Then,  That Same Evening,  Of The Attack Which Destroyed The

Datcha And,  Happily,  Still Spared Her Father.  This Time She Reached

A Definite Understanding With The Revolutionary Party.  Her Bargain

Was Made.  I Offer You For Proof Of It Only Her Attitude When She

Was Arrested,  And,  Even In That Moment,  Her Sublime