Norbert’s sole thought was that this letter must have come from Diana,
and throwing the man a coin, hurried to a spot where it was light enough
to read the missive. He did not, however, recognize Diana’s firm, bold
hand on the envelope.
“Who the devil can this be from?” thought Norbert, as he tore open
the outer covering. The paper within was soiled and greasy, and the
handwriting was of the vilest description, it was full of bad spelling,
and ran thus:--
“Sir,--
“I hardly dare tell you the truth, and yet my conscience will give me
no relief until I do so. I can no longer bear to see a gentleman such as
you are deceived by a woman who has no heart or honorable feeling. Your
wife is unfaithful to you, and will soon make you a laughing stock to
all. You may trust to this being true, for I am a respectable woman,
and you can easily find out if I am lying to you. Hide yourself this
evening, so that you may command a view of the side-door in the wall
of your garden, and between half-past ten and eleven you will see your
wife’s lover enter. It is a long time since he has been furnished with
a key. The hour for the meeting has been judiciously fixed, for all the
servants will be out; but I implore you not to be violent, for I would
not do your wife any harm, but I feel that you ought to be warned.
“From one
“WHO KNOWS.”
Norbert ran through the contents of this infamous anonymous letter in an
instant. The blood surged madly through his brain, and he uttered a howl
of fury. His servants ran in to see what was the matter.
“Where is the fellow who brought this letter?” said he. “Run after him
and bring him back to me.”
In a few minutes the sturdy grooms made their appearance, pushing in the
messenger, who seemed over-powered with tears.
“I am not a thief,” exclaimed he. “It was given to me, but I will give
it back.”
He was alluding to the louis given to him by Norbert, for the largeness
of the sum made him think that the donor had made a mistake.
“Keep the money,” said the Duke; “I meant it for you; but tell me who
gave this letter to you.”
“I can’t tell you,” answered the man. “If I ever saw him before, may my
next glass of wine choke me. He got out of a cab just as I was passing
near the bridge, and calling to me, said, ‘Look at this letter; at
half-past seven take it to the Duke de Champdoce, who lives by his
stables in the road to the Forest. Do you know the place?’ ‘Yes,’ I
says, and then he slips the letter and a five-franc piece into my hand,
got back into the cab, and off he went.”
“What was the man like?” asked he.
“Well, I can hardly say. He wasn’t young or old, or short or tall.
I recollect he had a gold watch-chain on, but that was about all I
noticed.”
“Very well; you can be off.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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