第48章

Two days later，there was a letter from Prudence，and for the next fortnight Marguerite seemed to have done with her mysterious sad moods，for which she never stopped asking me to forgive her now that they had ceased.

However，the carriage did not come back.

'How is it that Prudence hasn't returned your brougham？'I asked one day.

'One of the horses is sick，and the carriage needs some repairs.It's better for all that to be done while we are still here where we don't need a carriage，than to wait until we get back to Paris.'

Prudence came down to see us a few days after this and confirmed what Marguerite had told me.

The two women went for a stroll by themselves in the garden，and when I joined them they changed the subject they had been discussing.

That evening，as she was going，Prudence complained of the cold and asked Marguerite to lend her an Indian shawl.

And so a month went by during which Marguerite was gayer and more loving than she had ever been.

However，the carriage had not come back，and the Indian shawl had not been returned.All this puzzled me in spite of myself and，since I knew in which drawer Marguerite kept Prudence's letters，I took advantage of a moment when she was at the bottom of the garden，hurried to the drawer and tried to open it.But it was no use：it was double-locked.

I then searched through the drawers where her trinkets and diamonds were normally kept.They opened without difficulty，but the jewel-cases had disappeared-along with their contents，naturally.

A pang of fear shot through my heart.

I was about to go and ask Marguerite to tell me exactly why these items were missing.But I knew for certain that she would not admit the truth.

So I said：'My dear Marguerite，I want to ask if it's all right for me to go up to town.No one where I live knows where I am，and there must have been letters from my father.I expect he's worried.I must write to him.'

'Go，my dear，'she said.'But be back soon.'

I left.

I hurried round to Prudence's at once.

'Look here，'I said，without preamble of any sort，'answer me frankly：where are Marguerite's horses？'

'Sold.'

'Her shawl？'

'Sold.'

'The diamonds？'

'Pawned.'

'And who did the selling and the pawning？'

'I did.'

'Why didn't you tell me about all this？'

'Because Marguerite ordered me not to.'

'And why didn't you ask me for money？'

'Because she wouldn't let me.'

'And what's the money been spent on？'

'Paying debts.'

'So she owes great deal？'

'There's thirty thousand francs or so outstanding.I told you，dear，didn't I？You just wouldn't believe me.Well then，are you convinced now？The upholsterer，who had the Duke as her guarantor，was shown the door when he went to see the Duke who wrote him a letter the next day saying that he wouldn't lift a finger for Mademoiselle Gautier.The man wanted money.He was given something on account-the few thousand francs I asked you for.Then some kind souls let him know that his non-paying customer had been dropped by the Duke and was living with some young man who had no money.The other creditors were likewise told.They demanded money，and repossessed some of their goods.Marguerite wanted to sell everything，but it was too late and，besides，I should have been against it.She had to pay of course，and to avoid asking you for money，she sold her horses and her Indian shawls and pawned her jewels.Do you want the buyers'receipts and the pawn tickets？'

And，pulling out a drawer，Prudence showed me the papers.