see,” said the young man. He stepped toward the body; his father caught him by the arm.
“What would you do, fool?” said he. “You ought never to touch the body of a murdered person without legal authority.”
“You think so?”
“Certainly. There are penalties for it.”
“Then, come along and let’s inform the Mayor.”
“Why? as if people hereabouts were not against us enough already! Who knows that they would not accuse us—”
“But, father—”
“If we go and inform Monsieur Courtois, he will ask us how and why we came to be in Monsieur de Tremorel’s park to find this out. What is it to you, that the countess has been killed? They’ll find her body without you. Come, let’s go away.”
But Philippe did not budge. Hanging his head, his chin resting upon his palm, he reflected.
“We must make this known,” said he, firmly. “We are not savages; we will tell Monsieur Courtois that in passing along by the park in our boat, we perceived the body.”
Old Jean resisted at first; then, seeing that his son would, if need be, go without him, yielded.
They re-crossed the ditch, and leaving their fishing-tackle in the field, directed their steps hastily toward the mayor’s house.
Orcival, situated a mile or more from Corbeil, on the right bank of the Seine, is one of the most charming villages in the environs of Paris, despite the infernal etymology of its name. The gay and thoughtless Parisian, who, on Sunday, wanders about the fields, more destructive than the rook, has not yet discovered this smiling country. The distressing odor of the frying from coffee-gardens does not there stifle the perfume of the honeysuckles. The refrains of bargemen, the brazen voices of boat-horns, have never awakened echoes there. Lazily situated on the gentle slopes of a bank washed by the Seine, the houses of Orcival are white, and there are delicious shades, and a bell-tower which is the pride of the place. On all sides vast pleasure domains, kept up at great cost, surround it. From the upper part, the weathercocks of twenty chateaux may be seen. On the right is the forest of Mauprevoir, and the pretty country-house of the Countess de la Brиche; opposite, on the other side of the river, is Mousseaux and Petit-Bourg, the ancient domain of Aguado, now the property of a famous coach-maker; on the left, those beautiful copses belong to the Count de Tremorel, that large park is d’Etiolles, and in the distance beyond is Corbeil; that vast building, whose roofs are higher than the oaks, is the Darblay mill.
The mayor of Orcival occupies a handsome, pleasant mansion, at the upper end of the village. Formerly a manufacturer of dry goods, M. Courtois entered business without a penny, and after thirty years of absorbing toil, he retired with four round millions of francs.
Then he proposed to live tranquilly with his wife and children, passing the winter at Paris and the summer at his country-house.
But all of a sudden he was observed to be disturbed and agitated. Ambition stirred his heart. He took vigorous measures to be forced to accept the mayoralty of Orcival. And he accepted it, quite in self-defence, as he will himself tell you. This office was at once his happiness and his despair; apparent despair, interior and real happiness.
It quite befits him, with clouded brow, to rail at the cares of power; he appears yet better when, his waist encircled with the gold-laced scarf, he goes in triumph at the head of the municipal body.
Everybody was sound asleep at the mayor’s when the two Bertauds rapped the heavy knocker of the door. After a moment, a servant, half asleep, appeared at one of the ground-floor windows.
“What’s the matter, you rascals?” asked he, growling.
Jean did not think it best to revenge an insult which his reputation in the village too well justified.
“We want to speak to Monsieur the Mayor,” he answered. “There is terrible need of it. Go call him, Monsieur Baptiste; he won’t blame you.”
“I’d like to see anybody blame me,” snapped out Baptiste.
It took ten minutes of talking and explaining to persuade the servant. Finally, the Bertauds were admitted to a little man, fat and red, very much annoyed at being dragged from his bed so early. It was M. Courtois.
They had decided that Philippe should speak.
“Monsieur Mayor,” he said, “we have come to announce to you a great misfortune. A crime has been committed at Monsieur de Tremorel’s.”
M. Courtois was a friend of the count’s; he became whiter than his shirt at this sudden news.
“My God!” stammered he, unable to control his emotion, “what do you say—a crime!”
“Yes; we have just discovered a body; and as sure as you are here, I believe it to be that of the countess.”
The worthy man raised his arms heavenward, with a wandering air.
“But where, when?”
“Just now, at the foot of the park, as we were going to take up our nets.”
“It is horrible!” exclaimed the good M. Courtois; “what a calamity! So worthy a lady! But it is not possible—you must be mistaken; I should have been informed—”
“We saw it distinctly, Monsieur Mayor.”
“Such a crime in my village! Well, you have done wisely to come here. I will dress at once, and will hasten off—no, wait.” He reflected a moment, then called:
“Baptiste!”
The valet was not far off. With ear and eye alternately pressed against the key-hole, he heard and looked with all his might. At the sound of his master’s voice he had only to stretch out his hand and open the door.
“Monsieur called me?”
“Run to the justice of the peace,” said the mayor. “There is not a moment to lose. A crime has been committed—perhaps a murder —you must go quickly. And you,” addressing the poachers, “await me here while I slip on my coat.”
The justice of the peace at Orcival, M. Plantat—“Papa Plantat,” as he was called—was formerly an attorney at Melun. At fifty, Mr. Plantat, whose career had been one of unbroken prosperity, lost in the same month, his wife, whom he adored, and his two sons, charming youths, one eighteen, the other twenty-two years old. These successive losses crushed a man whom thirty years of happiness left without defence against misfortune. For a long time his reason was despaired of. Even the sight of a client, coming to trouble his grief, to recount stupid tales of self-interest, exasperated him. It was not surprising that he sold out his professional effects and good-will at half price. He wished to establish himself at his ease in his grief, with the certainty of not being disturbed in its indulgence.
But the intensity of his mourning diminished, and the ills of idleness came. The justiceship of the peace at Orcival was vacant, and M. Plantat applied for and obtained it. Once installed in this office, he suffered less from ennui. This man, who saw his life drawing to an end, undertook to interest himself in the thousand diverse cases which came before him. He
