"'Have you had bad news, or are you ill?' his wife asked him timidly,
while Rosalie helped her to undress. He made no reply. "'You can go, Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret to her maid; 'I can put in
my curl-papers myself.' --She scented disaster at the mere aspect of her
husband's face, and wished to be alone with him. As soon as Rosalie
was gone, or supposed to be gone, for she lingered a few minutes in the
passage, Monsieur de Merret came and stood facing his wife, and said
coldly, 'Madame, there is some one in your cupboard!' She looked at her
husband calmly, and replied quite simply, 'No, monsieur.' "This 'No' wrung Monsieur de Merret's heart; he did not believe it; and
yet his wife had never appeared purer or more saintly than she seemed
to be at this moment. He rose to go and open the closet door. Madame de
Merret took his hand, stopped him, looked at him sadly, and said in a
voice of strange emotion, 'Remember, if you should find no one there,
everything must be at an end between you and me.' "The extraordinary dignity of his wife's attitude filled him with deep
esteem for her, and inspired him with one of those resolves which need
only a grander stage to become immortal. "'No, Josephine,' he said, 'I will not open it. In either event we
should be parted for ever. Listen; I know all the purity of your soul, I
know you lead a saintly life, and would not commit a deadly sin to save
your life.' --At these words Madame de Merret looked at her husband with
a haggard stare.--'See, here is your crucifix,' he went on. 'Swear to
me before God that there is no one in there; I will believe you--I will
never open that door.' "Madame de Merret took up the crucifix and said, 'I swear it.' "'Louder,' said her husband; 'and repeat: "I swear before God that there
is nobody in that closet."' She repeated the words without flinching. "'That will do,' said Monsieur de Merret coldly. After a moment's
silence: 'You have there a fine piece of work which I never saw before,'
said he, examining the crucifix of ebony and silver, very artistically
wrought. "'I found it at Duvivier's; last year when that troop of Spanish
prisoners came through Vendome, he bought it of a Spanish monk.' "'Indeed,' said Monsieur de Merret, hanging the crucifix on its nail;
and he rang the bell. "He had to wait for Rosalie. Monsieur de Merret went forward quickly
to meet her, led her into the bay of the window that looked on to the
garden, and said to her in an undertone:

"'I know that Gorenflot wants to marry you, that poverty alone prevents
your setting up house, and that you told him you would not be his wife
till he found means to become a master mason.--Well, go and fetch him;
tell him to come here with his trowel and tools. Contrive to wake no one
in his house but himself. His reward will be beyond your wishes. Above
all, go out without saying a word--or else!' and he frowned. "Rosalie was going, and he called her back. 'Here, take my latch-key,'
said he. "'Jean!' Monsieur de Merret called in a voice of thunder down the
passage. Jean, who was both coachman and confidential servant, left his
cards and came. "'Go to bed, all of you,' said his master, beckoning him to come close;
and the gentleman added in a whisper, 'When they are all asleep--mind,
_asleep_--you understand?--come down and tell me.' "Monsieur de Merret, who had never lost sight of his wife while giving
his orders, quietly came back to her at the fireside, and began to tell
her the details of the game of billiards and the discussion at the club. When Rosalie returned she found Monsieur and Madame de Merret conversing
amiably. "Not long before this Monsieur de Merret had had new ceilings made to
all the reception-rooms on the ground floor. Plaster is very scarce at
Vendome; the price is enhanced by the cost of carriage; the gentleman
had therefore had a considerable quantity delivered to him, knowing
that he could always find purchasers for what might be left. It was this
circumstance which suggested the plan he carried out. "'Gorenflot is here, sir,' said Rosalie in a whisper. "'Tell him to come in,' said her master aloud. "Madame de Merret turned paler when she saw the mason. "'Gorenflot,' said her husband, 'go and fetch some bricks from the
coach-house; bring enough to wall up the door of this cupboard; you can
use the plaster that is left for cement.' Then, dragging Rosalie and the
workman close to him--'Listen, Gorenflot,' said he, in a low voice,
'you are to sleep here to-night; but to-morrow morning you shall have a
passport to take you abroad to a place I will tell you of. I will give
you six thousand francs for your journey. You must live in that town for
ten years; if you find you do not like it, you may settle in another,
but it must be in the same country. Go through Paris and wait there till
I join you. I will there give you an agreement for six thousand francs
more, to be paid to you on your return, provided you have carried out
the conditions of the bargain. For that price you are to keep perfect
silence as to what you have to do this night. To you, Rosalie, I will
secure ten thousand francs, which will not be paid to you till your
wedding day, and on condition of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get
married, you must hold your tongue. If not, no wedding gift!' "'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.' "Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on the
door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting display
of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise. Madame de
Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks, and when her
husband was at the other end of the room to say to Rosalie: 'My dear
child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if only you will tell
Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she added aloud quite
coolly: 'You had better help him.' "Monsieur and Madame de Merret were silent all the time while Gorenflot
was walling up the door. This silence was intentional on the husband's
part; he did not wish to give his wife the opportunity of saying
anything with a double meaning. On Madame de Merret's side it was pride
or prudence. When the wall was half built up the cunning mason took
advantage of his master's back being turned to break one of the two
panes in the top of the door with a blow of his pick. By this Madame de
Merret understood that Rosalie had spoken to Gorenflot. They all three
then saw the face of a dark, gloomy-looking man, with black hair and
flaming eyes. "Before her husband turned round again the poor woman had nodded to the
stranger, to whom the signal was meant to convey, 'Hope.' "At four o'clock, as the day was dawning, for it was the month of
September, the work was done. The mason was placed in charge of Jean,
and Monsieur de Merret slept in his wife's room. "Next morning when he got up he said with apparent carelessness, 'Oh,
by the way, I must go to the Maire for the passport.'