The Matapan affair

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Although Albert Doutrelaise had retired at a very late hour, he woke up early the next morning. Lovers, as a rule, require very little sleep.

He had learnt the night before that the girl he loved had deep sorrows which she revealed only to her God : he knew that she wept in secret, and that she prayed for strength to bear her trials, and he hoped that her thoughts turned to him, for on rising from her knees she had approached her window and looked in the direction of his. He could not doubt but what he had divined the cause of her grief, and he promised himself that he would speedily bring Julien back into the right path. While he was reflecting upon the best mode of procedure, his valet came in to light the fire, as he did every morning at nine o'clock. At the same time he brought a bundle of letters and papers, which he deposited on the table by the side of the bed. One of the letters was addressed in a handwriting which Albert recognized at once. " What can that simpleton Courtaumer have to say to me?" he muttered, as he glanced at the address. "We parted at midnight, and he sends me a message before daybreak. Something serious must have happened. He is as quarrelsome as the devil, and possibly he got into some difficulty last night. Let us see."

On opening the epistle he read the following enigmatical words : " An utter defeat, my dear fellow. The combat has ceased for want of the sinews of war, though I don't regard myself as finally beaten, by any means. If you are in a position to furnish me with fresh supplies, drop in after breakfast, between one and two o'clock. If you can't, we will say no more about it. I salute you. Your faithful comrade, Jacques de Courtaumer,"

" Fool ! " growled Doutrelaise, " he has been losing again, and a pretty sum evidently, since he is obliged to call upon me. Upon my word ! he would have done better to have remained in the navy than to abandon his profession and come to Paris to squander his fortune. I shall help him, of course, but really this occurs a little too often. I am not a millionaire. Besides, why doesn't he apply to his brother ? But what nonsense ! his brother is a magistrate, a married man and the father of a family. He would be furiously angry, and would refuse to lend him a farthing. There is really no one else but me to extricate him from his embarrassment. But I am going to make him promise, upon his word of honour, not to begin again." Thereupon, Albert crumpled up his friend's letter and prepared to open another. "Whose writing is this?" he murmured, as he tried to decipher a few lines written in a very irregular hand. " Heaven grant that it is not a request for another loan ! " But the signature made him open his eyes in astonishment, "Julien de la Calprenede !" he exclaimed. " Ah, this is quite a surprise ! This is the first time in his life that he ever wrote to me. Something of a very serious nature must have occurred — and yet all he says is : ' My dear Sir : — You will greatly oblige me if you will kindly meet me at the Cafe" de la Paix, at 11 a.m. this morning, in the breakfast-room on the right, as you enter the establishment. I have a great favour to ask of you.' Another loan, as I supposed. So I was not mistaken last night : it was really he. To what straits must he be reduced to think of pawning a family jewel which probably did not belong to him ! But I shall be very glad to help him out of his trouble. He can have no idea of the pleasure his application gives me. His sister

THE MATAPAN AFFAIR.

shall grieve no more, for I am sure that it was on her brother's account she wept. A strange idea this to ask me to meet him at a caf<5. Why did he not call upon me ? It would have been much easier."

In the meantime, Doutrelaise had sprung out Of bed, and begun to dress. In answer to his inquiry, his valet informed him that it was Julien who had left the letter — Julien already dressed to go out, although he seldom or never rose before noon.

This information strengthened Albert in the belief that the young man's position was a desperate one, so he hastened over his toilet. At half-past ten he was ready, and he started out, not forgetting to place in his pocket the opal the disappearance of which must necessarily cause young Calprenede no little anxiety. "Who knows?" Albert said to himself; "he perhaps only wishes to ask me to return it to him. He suspects that I was the person he met in the dark, and he did not discover until this morning that the jewel was missing from the necklace. I will wait and see if he shows any inclination to broach the subject, and if he doesn't, I will speak to him about it."

As Doutrelaise went down the stairs he met young Anatole Bourleroy, who was evidently returning after a night of dissipation, for his face was haggard and his clothing disordered. The bow exchanged between them was decidedly cool. On the second landing below Albert found himself face to face with M. Matapan ; and he was not a little surprised to see that he was ringing at the door of M. de la Calprenede's apartment. The nabob had a radiant air, and was arrayed with an elegance that became him well. He greeted his tenant with a wave of the hand and a friendly smile. The wave of the hand clearly signified : "I haven't time to talk with you this morning ; " so Doutrelaise passed on, saying to himself : ' ' What is he doing here at this hour ? The count doesn't receive guests in the morning, or at least he only sees persons who call on business, and I don't suppose that Monsieur Matapan collects his rents in person — besides, it is more than a month since quarter-day."

He heard the door open, and a short parley took place between one of the count's servants and M. Matapan, who was then admitted. "Wonders will never cease," thought Albert. " It is quite evident that he was expected. I did not fancy there was much congeniality between the landlord and that tenant. This foreign millionaire doesn't belong to the same sphere as the Calprenedes ; and yet, here he is calling upon them before mid-day in the most unceremonious fashion — hardly though, for his toilet has evidently been made with the greatest care. All this is inexplicable, unless — and why not ? — unless Julien has conceived the unfortunate idea of borrowing money of him."

To tell the truth, the love-sick Doutrelaise was greatly exercised in mind about this early visit, and yet he had no just cause to distrust M. Matapan, who had always treated him with the greatest possible courtesy. In fact, the landlord was on excellent terms with all his tenants, and it would have been extremely ungracious in them to reproach him for living according to his tastes. He certainly had a right to love solitude, especially as he was a bachelor ; to eat sometimes at home, sometimes at a restaurant ; to go off unexpectedly, without telling any one where he was bound, or when he intended to return ; to live like a miser for months together, and then scatter his gold right and left when ever the fancy seized him. On reflection, Doutrelaise decided that he was attaching undue importance to a very trivial incident, and by the time he had reached the street door, his thoughts had taken an entirely different course.

The doorkeeper chanced to be standing on the threshold, as solemn and sanctimonious as usual. Doutrelaise, who very rarely accosted him, suddenly resolved to obtain some information from him in a roundabout way concerning the encounter of the evening before. " Monsieur Marchefroid," he remarked carelessly, "I narrowly escaped breaking my neck on the stairs last evening. The lamp was not lighted as usual, and I could not find my candle."

"You surprise me, sir," replied the doorkeeper. " I lighted the lamp myself before going to bed."

"Then one of the tenants must have extinguished it when he came in."

" Was it for you, sir, that I opened the door at half past twelve ? "

"Yes."

' ' Then no one could have touched the lamp, for I lighted it at midnight, and from that time until you came in, no one entered the house."

" You must be mistaken, for on going upstairs I came in contact with some one who could have entered but a minute or two in advance of me."

" I assure you, sir, that such a thing was impossible. I was in bed, but not asleep ; I was reading, and I am certain that I didn't open the door until you came in."

"That's very strange. I am perfectly sure that I met _a gentleman on the stairs between the first and second floor. I was unable to recognize him in the darkness, and I did not speak to him, but I thought it was young Monsieur de la Calprenede."

' ' Ah ! he comes and goes at all hours of the night. I have been intending to complain to the landlord for some time. The young man's habits are not suited to a respectable house. But he wasn't here at midnight. He rang at a quarter past two, went up to his room, and left the house again twenty minutes afterwards. Nor is this all ; at six o'clock he repeated the performance. If monsieur does not believe me, he can ask the young gentleman himself," the majestic doorkeeper added, by way of conclusion, and with an air of offended dignity.

"I believe you, of course, Monsieur Marchefroid," replied Albert ; " besides Monsieur de la Calprenede has an undoubted right to come and go when he pleases. Only take care in future that I'm not obliged to find my way up in the dark."

And to put an end to a conversation which had lasted too long already, Doutrelaise went off. To reach the Cafe1 de la Paix he merely had to follow the Boulevard Haussmann as far as the Rue Auber, and as it was only half past ten there was no need of haste. So he walked slowly, devoting his leisure to reflecting on the information just received. This was such a direct contradiction of the conclusions he had arrived at the previous evening, that he was tempted to believe that the doorkeeper had not told the truth, or at least only a portion of it. Julien de la Calprenede must have returned for the first time a little in advance of Doutrelaise ; still that would not prevent him ringing again at two o clock if he had gone out again in the meantime. House porters sleep soundly, and M. Marchefroid while dozing over his paper might have mechanically pulled the cord that opened the door almost without being aware of it. The more Albert thought over the matter, the more firmly he was persuaded that he had solved the mystery. But suddenly, a very forcible objection'occurred to him. "I had been talking at least ten minutes to Jacques de Courtaumer on the doorstep before I decided to ring," he said to himself. "If Julien had gone in while we were talking on the side-walk I should certainly have seen him, and if he had entered the house a quarter of an hour before I did, I shouldn't have met him on the staircase. He could have reached his room long before."

While viewing the affair under this new aspect, he noticed two women walking swiftly along side by side on the other side of the street. One of them was dressed very plainly, and a thick veil concealed her features ; but all the same there was an air of remarkable elegance about her. Her companion was evidently a servant, and when she turned, perhaps intentionally, he recognised Mademoiselle de la Calprenede's maid and by induction he also recognised Mademoiselle Arlette herself. Where was she going ? To take a music or drawing lesson ? This was the thought that first occurred to him ; but he quickly recollected that Mademoiselle Arlette was over twenty and that her education had been completed eighteen months before. Then he remembered that he had just seen M. Matapan enter the count's apartments, and the idea that the young lady might have taken a walk to avoid an introduction to that gentleman occurred to him. But this supposition seemed too absurd to be entertained for a moment. However on reaching the square formed by the intersection of the Boulevard Haussmann and the Boulevard Malesherbes, Mademoiselle Arlette and her attendant turned to the left, and Doutrelaise saw them enter the church of Saint-Augustine. The mystery was solved now. The young girl had gone out to pray.

He was not surprised at this, for she was very devout ; but he recollected having seen her on her knees in her room only a few hours before, and he again said to himself that some great misfortune must be threatening her or hers ; that her only hope was in God, and that she only thought of imploring His aid. And Doutrelaise, who thought he had discovered the cause of her grief, swore that he would speedily allay it.

He fancied that all that was necessary was a conversation with the brother who caused her so much anxiety, and knowing this brother was awaiting him at the Cafe de la Paix, he hastened there, walking with such swiftness that he arrived considerably in advance of the young fellow he expected to see. It was not yet eleven o'clock, and the establishment was empty. In Paris, late breakfasts are the fashion, and the waiters, who knew Doutrelaise, were surprised to see him appear before noon. He seated himself at the end of the room in a corner where one could talk without fear of being overheard, and while waiting for Julien, as he intended to play the host, he ordered a couple of dozen oysters as a sort of announcement of his intention. But the oysters arrived before the guest, and Doutrelaise had plenty of time to prepare for conversation. Twenty minutes or so had elapsed before Julien made his appearance. He was a tall young fellow, as dark as his sister was fair. He had irregular features, singularly changeful eyes, and a restless, nervous physiognomy, with an air of haughtiness that chilled one a trifle at first. This morning he was paler than usual, and his haggard face showed plainly enough that he had passed a sleepless night. When he perceived Doutrelaise he hastened towards him, and it is needless to say that he was most cordially received. Albert offered him both hands, and without giving him time to utter the slightest thanks, exclaimed : "I received your letter this morning. Thank you for having thought of me. Consider your request granted, whatever it may be. But let us breakfast first ; I am famishing. "

" That isn't the case with me," murmured Julien.

" I know why, you had a late supper last night. I am very sorry for it, but I shall certainly quarrel with you if you don't help me in despatching these oysters, a cold partridge or two, and some wine that will restore your appetite."

" I can refuse you nothing, my dear Doutrelaise, as you have taken the trouble to come here."

" Nonsense ! I was delighted at the prospect of having your company at breakfast. But why didn't you call on me instead of writing ''. "

" I was obliged to go out early, and I didn't wish to disturb you."

" You wouldn't have done so, for I slept but little last night, and I fancy you did not get much more rest than I did. The fact is I generally leave you at the club when I go home nowadays. Did the game last until the morning ? "

" Probably, but I did not remain until it ended."

" Then you must have been winning, for a man never leaves the table while he is losing. He desires to retrieve his misfortune, and so plays on and on."

" That was the case with one of your friends last night."

"Monsieur de Courtaumer, eh? I suspected as much. .How much did he lose ? "

" About twenty-five thousand francs, I believe."

" A nice amount," said Doutrelaise, with a slight grimace. " Courtaumer isn't lucky at baccarat, and he would do as well to abjure it altogether. But how did you come off, my dear fellow ? "

"I didn't play."

" What, have you become suddenly wise? "

" Not exactly ; but I had no money, and — I owe a good deal."

" Still, it is a proof of wisdom not to run a risk of increasing one's indebtedness."

" I might have done so, however, had there not been reasons which obliged me to abstain. "

" Nevertheless your conduct is extremely meritorious."

" You would not say that if you knew my reasons."

"I don't ask them, my dear fellow ; and I repeat that I am entirely at your service."

" Thank you ; but before accepting your offer, allow me to explain. It isn't only a pecuniary service that I want to ask of you."

" So much the better. I and my purse are equally at your disposal."

" This is the position in which I find myself. A person has offended, yes, insulted me, and I desire to challenge him."

" I will act as your second, of course, if you desire it."

" I expected no less of you ; but that isn't all. My opponent is also my creditor ; I owe him a debt of honour, and I cannot fight with him until I have paid him."

" Such a thing would certainly be contrary to all the usual rules of duelling. He would probably refuse to accept your challenge, as he would have a perfect right to do. But you can pay him to-day, if you like."

" You can scarcely imagine what a service you are rendering me," murmured Julien. "Thanks to you, I shall be able to treat the scoundrel as he deserves."

"How has he wronged you, and to whom do you refer? "

"It is a matter connected with my sister, and any reconciliation or arbitration is entirely out of the question. She has been spoken of in 9. manner that displeases me, "

■run BM'AraS AFFAIR.

" Then you, of course, have a perfect right to demand satisfaction. But who has dared — "

"Who ? A scoundrel you know, at least by sight, for he belongs to our club and resides in the same house as ourselves— Anatole Bourleroy."

" What ! that vulgar idiot ! Really, this is too much, and he deserves a punishment I should be only too glad to administer in person. But your father has certainly never done him the honour to receive him, and if he has ever bowed to Mademoiselle de la Calprenede, it is probably because lie has met her going up or down the staircase. What can he have said about her ? "

"Nothing against her character. If he had dared to slander her I should have knocked him down without any .ceremony ; but he has indulged in insulting language respecting all of us — my sister, my father, and myself. "

' ' Are you sure of it ? "

"I heard it. Last night I reached the club very late. Three or four gentlemen were sitting round the fire in the red room talking. Their backs were turned towards me, and they did not see me when I entered. I recognised Bourleroy's voice, however, and he was telling the others that my father moved last month because he had become so reduced in circumstances as to be unable to pay his rent. "

" If that is all he said, his foolish tattle isn't worthy of notice," replied Doutrelaise, shrugging his shoulders. " Every one knows that it isn't true."

" Whether it is true or not matters little. I won't allow that conceited fool to meddle with my affairs. Besides, he did not confine himself to this revelation, but added that there was a very easy way for us to extricate ourselves from our embarrassment, as we need only marry my sister to a man who was sufficiently rich and sufficiently infatuated to take her without a dowry, and he declared that this man had been found."

" And did he mention the gentleman's name ? " inquired Albert, turning pale.

"Yes; he spoke of our landlord, Monsieur Matapan. Think of the insolence of this fellow Bourleroy, who dares to intimate that my father would be a party to any such infamous bargain— for it would be a bargain. Matapan is fifty, and a perfect Blue-Beard. No one knows his origin, it is true ; but it is evident that he is not of noble birth, and that in itself is enough to make the honour of an alliance with our family an impossibility — "

Doutrelaise started. Neither was he a nobleman.

" To pretend that the Count de la Calprenede would sacrifice his daughter for the sake of this old parvenu's millions is an insult to all of us, and is not to be tolerated for a moment," resumed Julien.

" And yet you did tolerate it ? "

" You know why," replied Julien. " On the night before last Bourleroy won six thousand francs from me at ecarte\ I have lost heavily during the past two months, and I was obliged to ask a few days' indulgence. I was his debtor, and consequently obliged to be silent. I had sufficient self-control to leave the room. He did not suspect for a moment that I had heard him, or that I had been there. I returned home half frantic with rage, resolved to tell my father everything. Then I reflected that it was a matter in which I alone should act. So I went back to the club, hoping to find there some friend who would lend me the six thousand francs. In that case I intended to pay him at once, and then call him to account.

18 THE MATA±\a.IN APFAIK.

But there was no one there to whom I could apply for such a loan, and Bourleroy had left, so after waiting until four o'clock, I went home again and wrote to you."

"You acted wisely, my dear Julien. I will lend you the money with pleasure ; but allow me to give you a bit of advice ! I think Monsieur Bourleroy must receive a lesson ; but I think it would be unfortunate for Mademoiselle de la Calprenede's name to be mixed up in the quarrel in any way. I will devise a pretext, and if you will kindly consent, I will gladly take charge of the whole affair. "

" You forget, my clear sir, that this does not affect you in any way."

" Pardon me ; I have had the honour of being your father's guest, and I have the greatest respect for him and for all who bear his name. "

"I don't doubt it; but you are neither a relative nor a connection. What right have you to avenge an insult meant for us ? "

If Doutrelaise could have revealed what was in his heart, this rather ungracious question would have received a prompt reply ; but Julien's tone did not encourage him to tell the truth. " The right of a friend, since I have no other," he replied, without betraying how deeply the young man's words had wounded him.

" That doesn't suffice, and I shouldn't be worthy of your friendship if I yielded my place to you. I am the person to challenge Bourleroy — if you will really do me the favour I ask of you."

" Can you doubt it? " inquired Doutrelaise, drawing out his pocket-book.

"No, certainly not, since you have promised; but not here, I beg of you. There are some acquaintances of ours sitting not far from us."

"As you please," rejoined Albert. " Let us drink our wine, and talk of something else."

" Certainly, and of the ladies if you like. I forgot that you were in love."

' ' How do you know that 1 " exclaimed Doutrelaise.

" All your friends say so, and you blush whenever we refer to the subject. So they must be right. "

"That is only one of Courtaumer's jests. He cannot understand why I like to go to bed early."

" He told me at the club that he escorted you home at midnight."

" Yes, I entered the house a moment after you."

"What! after me ? Why I just told you that I didn't return home until two o'clock."

" Is that really so?"

" At a quarter past two, to be more exact."

" That's strange ! I thought it was you I met on the staircase.

" In that case I should have seen you."

"No, for the whole scene occurred in the most profound darkness."

" Scene ? what scene ? "

Albert thereupon proceeded to relate the episode, and his companion listened with the closest attention. "Yours was certainly a flattering conclusion so far as I am concerned," Julien exclaimed at the finish of the narrative. " What could have led you to suppose that I prowl about the staircase at night for the purpose of attacking people."

" Simply because the man in question, instead of running after me, opened the door of your apartment with a key and went in."

" Are you sure of that ? "

"Absolutely certain ; I paused five or six steps higher up and heard the key turn in the lock. Naturally, I thought it was you."

THE MATAPAN AFFAIR.

Julien's face clouded. "Ah, well," he murmured after a pause, ' ' suppose I told you that this is not the first time some one has entered my room at night in my absence, what would you think then ? "

" What would I think ? " repeated Doutrelaise. " Why, I should think that the object was robbery." He said this with some little hesitation. His companion's question seemed singular in the extreme, and he wondered if it were not intended to mislead him ; for he still persisted in believing that it was really Julien whom he had met on the staircase.

" No, nothing whatever has been stolen from me," La Calprenede replied. " Still, I am almost certain that my room has been entered repeatedly. Articles which I have put in a certain place have been moved, furniture disarranged, and chairs overturned, as if some one had been moving about the room without a light in search of something — "

" Which they have not found, as you have missed nothing. This is certainly very extraordinary."

" One may truly say extraordinary, as it has occurred at least five or six times since we moved; that is to say, since the fifteenth of October."

" But there is a very natural explanation, it seems to me. Your father's valet waits upon you as well, I suppose, and it is probable that in passing through your room — "

" My father keeps no valet now, the cook does not sleep in the house, and my sister's maid would not venture into my room in my absence. "

" But how do you know that the intruder confined himself exclusively to your private apartments? "

" Because the next room is occupied by my father, who is a very light sleeper. I, you know, have two rooms — my bedroom and the adjoining study. The intruder never goes beyond that. "

" That is the precise place where the person stopped last night."

" How do know that ? "

" The episode on the stairs excited my curiosity. My windows command a view of yours ; I watched, and saw a figure pass the windows of your bedroom and then those of the study. I fancied the person knelt — "

" Where ? Near the left window ? "

" Precisely. Who told you ? "

' ' No one ; but there is a small ottoman there which I have frequently found in a different position, and once even overturned. What occurred afterwards 1 "

" I am unable to say. I was more and more firmly convinced that it was you, and finally I ceased to watch."

"That's unfortunate," said Julien, thoughtfully. "You might, perhaps, have furnished the explanation I have been seeking for more than a month." Then after a moment's silence he inquired : "Do you think my father was in bed ? "

" I did not see any light in his bedroom ; but I fancied the lamp was still burning in Mademoiselle de la Calprenede's apartment," added Doutrelaise, blushing a little.