"A thousand pardons,Mrs.Wagner!At what time can I say two words to you in confidence?""You could not have chosen your time better,Madame Fontaine.My work is done for to-day."She paused,and looked at Jack,ostentatiously busy with his keys.The wisest course would be to leave him in the window-seat,harmlessly employed."Shall we step into the dining-room?"she suggested,leading the way out."Wait there,Jack,till I return;Imay have another good mark to put in my pocket-book."The two ladies held their conference,with closed doors,in the empty dining-room.
"My only excuse for troubling you,madam,"the widow began,"is that Ispeak in the interest of that poor little Jack,whom we have just left in the office.May I ask if you have lately observed any signs of excitement in him?""Certainly!"Mrs.Wagner answered,with her customary frankness of reply;"I found it necessary to compose him,when he came to me about an hour ago--and you have just seen that he is as quiet again as a man can be.Iam afraid you have had reason to complain of his conduct yourself?"Madame Fontaine lifted her hands in gently-expressed protest."Oh,dear,no--not to complain!To pity our afflicted Jack,and to feel,perhaps,that your irresistible influence over him might be required--no more.""You are very good,"said Mrs.Wagner dryly."At the same time,I beg you to accept my excuses--not only for Jack,but for myself.I found him so well behaved,and so capable of restraining himself in London,that Ithought I was running no risk in bringing him with me to Frankfort.""Pray say no more,dear madam--you really confuse me.I am the innocent cause of his little outbreak.I most unfortunately reminded him of the time when he lived with us at Wurzburg--and in that way I revived one of his old delusions,which even your admirable treatment has failed to remove from his mind.""May I ask what the delusion is,Madame Fontaine?""One of the commonest delusions among insane persons,Mrs.Wagner--the delusion that he has been poisoned.Has he ever betrayed it in your presence?""I heard something of it,"Mrs.Wagner answered,"from the superintendent at the madhouse in London.""Ah,indeed?The superintendent merely repeated,I suppose,what Jack had told him?""Exactly.I was careful not to excite him,by referring to it myself,when I took him under my charge.At the same time,it is impossible to look at his hair and his complexion,without seeing that some serious accident must have befallen him.""Most unquestionably!He is the victim,poor creature--not of poison--but of his own foolish curiosity,in my husband's surgery,and you see the result.Alas!I cannot give you the scientific reasons for it.""I shouldn't understand them,Madame Fontaine,if you could.""Ah,dear lady,you kindly say so,because you are unwilling to humiliate me.Is there anything Jack may have said to you about me,which seems to require an explanation--if I can give it?"She slipped in this question,concealing perfectly the anxiety that suggested it,so far as her voice and her eyes were concerned.But the inner agitation rose to the surface in a momentary trembling of her lips.
Slight as it was,that sign of self-betrayal did not escape Mrs.Wagner's keen observation.She made a cautious reply."On the contrary,"she said,"from what Jack has told me,the conclusion is plain that you have really done him a service.You have succeeded in curing that delusion you spoke of--and I applaud your good sense in refusing to trust him with the medicine."Madame Fontaine made a low curtsey."I shall remember those kind words,among the happy events of my life,"she said,with her best grace.
"Permit me to take your hand."She pressed Mrs.Wagner's hand gratefully--and made an exit which was a triumph of art.Even a French actress might have envied the manner in which she left the room.
But,when she ascended the stairs,with no further necessity for keeping up appearances,her step was as slow and as weary as the step of an old woman."Oh,my child,"she thought sadly,with her mind dwelling again on Minna,"shall I see the end of all these sacrifices,when your wedding-day comes with the end of the year?"She sat down by the fire in her room,and for the first time in her life,the harmless existence of one of those domestic drudges whom she despised began to seem enviable to her.There were merits visible now,in the narrow social horizon that is bounded by gossip,knitting,and tea.
Left by herself in the dining-room,Mrs.Wagner took a turn up and down,with her mind bent on penetrating Madame Fontaine's motives.
There were difficulties in her way.It was easy to arrive at the conclusion that there was something under the surface;but the obstacles to advancing beyond this point of discovery seemed to defy removal.To distrust the graceful widow more resolutely than ever,and to lament that she had not got wise David Glenney to consult with,were the principal results of Mrs.Wagner's reflections when she returned to the office.
There was Jack--in the nursery phrase,as good as gold--still in his place on the window seat,devoted to his keys.His first words related entirely to himself.
"If this isn't good conduct,"he said,"I should like to know what is.
Give me my other mark."
Mrs.Wagner took out her pocket-book and made the new mark.
"Thank you,"said Jack."Now I want something else.I want to know what Mrs.Housekeeper has been saying.I have been seriously alarmed about you.""Why,Jack?"
"She hasn't bitten you,has she?Oh,they do it sometimes!What lies has she been telling you of me?Oh,they lie in the most abominable manner!