第12章

I looked at this man，and some of my readers will understand，without my having to explain it to them，what I felt as I heard his words.

He sensed my feelings，no doubt，for he went on：

They say there were gents who ruined themselves for that girl，and that she had lovers who worshipped her；well，when I think that there's not one comes and buys her a single flower，then I say that it's peculiar and sad.Though this one can't complain.She's got a grave，and if there's only one as remembers her，he does right by the others as well.But we've got poor girls here of the same sort and the same age that get thrown into a pauper's grave，and it breaks my heart when I hear their poor bodies drop into the earth.And not a soul looks out for them once they're dead！It's not always very cheery，this job of ours，especially when you've got a bit of feeling left in you.But what do you expect？I can't help it.I got a fine-looking grown-up daughter of twenty，and whenever some dead girl her age is brought in，I think of her，and be it some great lady or a trollop，I can't help being upset.

But I expect I'm wearying you with all this talk，and you didn't come here to listen to me going on.I was told to take you to Mademoiselle Gautier's grave and here you are.Is there anything else I can do for you？'

'Do you know Monsieuer Duval's address？'I asked the man.

'Yes，he lives in the rue de，or at least that's where I went to get paid for all the flowers you see here.'

'Thank you，my man.'

I cast a final glance at the flower-strewn grave whose depths，despite myself，I would have gladly plumbed for a sight of what the earth had done with the beautiful creature who had been lowered into it，and then I came away，feeling very sad.

'Do you want to see Monsieur Duval，sir？'continued the gardener，who walked at my side.

'Yes.'

'The thing is，I'm pretty near certain that he's not back yet.Otherwise I'd have seen him here already.'

'So you are convinced that he hasn't forgotten Marguerite？'

'Not just convinced，I'd bet anything that this wanting to move her to another grave is his way of wanting to see her again.'

'How do you mean？'

'The first thing he said when he came to the cemetery was：'What do I have to do to see her again？'That can only happen if the body is shifted to another grave，and I told him all about the formalities that have to be gone through to secure a transfer，because，you know，before bodies can be moved from one grave to another，they must be identified，and only the family can authorize the operation which has to be supervised by a police superintendent.It was to get this authorization that Monsieur Duval went to see Mademoiselle Gautier's sister，and his first call will obviously be on us.'

We had arrived at the cemetery gates；I thanked the gardener again，slipping a few coins into his hand，and I went round to the address he had given me.

Armand was not back.

I left a note for him，asking him to come and see me as soon as he arrived，or to let me know where I might find him.

The following morning，I received a letter from Duval which informed me of his return and asked me to drop by，adding that，being worn out by fatigue，it was impossible for him to go out.