Maurice Leblanc

“ You have no longer the weight of your name to bear! You have got rid of that number with which society had stamped you as though branding you on the shoulder. You are free! In this world of slaves where each man bears his label you can either come and go unknown, invisible, as if you owned Gyges' ring... or else you can choose your own label, the one you like best! Do you understand the magnificent treasure which you represent to an artist... ”

“ You are alive. Your matter and your mind are as they were and live. But Gerard Baupre is dead. You understand me, do you not? That member of society who was known as Gerard Baupre has ceased to exist. You have done away with that one. Tomorrow, the registrar will write in his books, opposite the name you bore, the word 'Dead,' with the date of your decease."
"It's a lie!" stammered the terrified lad. "It's a lie! Considering that I, Gerard Baupre, am here!"
"You are not Gerard Baupre," declared Sernine. And, pointing to the open door, "Gerard Baupre is there, in the next room. ”

“ Long live Pierre Leduc!... Go, Doctor, go home. I shall ring you up before dinner."
The doctor went out.
"Now, then, Philippe," said Sernine to his last remaining visitor, a little gray-haired man, dressed like a waiter at a hotel, a very tenth-rate hotel, however.
"You will remember, governor," Philippe began, "that last week, you made me go as boots to the Hotel des Deux-Empereurs at Versailles, to keep my eye on a young man."
"Yes, I know.... Gerard Baupre. How do things stand with him?"
"He's at the end of his resources."
"Still full of gloomy ideas?"
"Yes. He wants to kill himself." ”

“ If you are not an artist, I am; and an enthusiastic artist, inexhaustible, indomitable, exuberant. If you have not the Promethean fire, I have! Where you failed, I shall succeed. Give me your life."
"Words, promises!" cried the young man, whose features began to glow with animation. "Empty dreams! I know my own worthlessness! I know my cowardice, my despondency, my efforts that come to nothing, all my wretchedness. To begin life anew, I should need a will which I do not possess...." ”

“ Standing straight upright, in a very determined attitude, Mme. Ernemont seemed ready for all emergencies.
Slowly and deliberately Sernine loosened the two hands, one after the other, that held him, and in his turn, took the old lady by the shoulders, forced her into an arm-chair, stooped over and, in a very calm voice, said:
"Rot!"
She began to cry and, clasping her hands together, implored him:
"I beseech you, leave us in peace. We were so happy! I thought that you had forgotten us and I blessed Heaven every time a day had passed. Why, yes... I love you just the same. But, Genevieve... ”

“ Sernine took the blue paper and read it:
"Gad!" he said. "It was high time. This is to promise him a thousand francs for tomorrow. Come, fortune is on my side. A quarter to twelve.... In a quarter of an hour, the poor devil will take a leap into eternity. Show me the way, Philippe. You stay here, Doctor."
The waiter took the candle. They climbed to the third floor, and, walking on tip-toe, went along a low and evil-smelling corridor, lined with garrets and ending in a wooden staircase covered with the musty remnants of a carpet.
"Can no one hear me?" asked Sernine. ”

“ I always pay generously."
He went downstairs and found the doctor waiting below:
"It's done. Go upstairs, you, and make a little cut in his right cheek, similar to Pierre Leduc's. The two scars must be exactly alike. I shall come back for you in an hour."
"Where are you going?"
"To take the air. My heart feels anyhow."
Outside he drew a long breath and lit another cigarette:
"A good day's work," he muttered. "A little overcrowded, a little tiring, but fruitful, really fruitful. I am Dolores Kesselbach's friend. I am Genevieve's friend. ”

“ Stop outside the Hotel des Deux-Empereurs."
"Why, it's a filthy hotel," observed the doctor. "I know it well; a regular hovel."
"You needn't tell me! And it will be a hard piece of work, for me, at least.... But, by Jove! I wouldn't sell this moment for a fortune! Who dares pretend that life is monotonous?"
They reached the Hotel des Deux-Empereurs. A muddy alley; two steps down; and they entered a passage lit by a flickering lamp.
Sernine knocked with his fist against a little door.
A waiter appeared, Philippe, the man to whom Sernine had given orders, that morning, concerning Gerard Baupre. ”

“ He told me of his distress, and I advised him to apply to you: 'Prince Sernine is rich,' I said; 'he is generous; perhaps he will help you.'"
"All this is first-rate. So he is coming?"
"He is here."
"How do you know?"
"I followed him. He took the train to Paris, and he is walking up and down the boulevard at this minute. He will make up his mind from one moment to the other."
Just then the servant brought in a card. The prince glanced at it and said to the man:
"Show M. Gerard Baupre in."
Then, turning to Philippe:
"You go into the dressing-room, here; listen and don't stir." ”

“ The old lady tossed her head:
"I fear that you are making a great mistake. Genevieve does not want a wonderful life. She has simple tastes."
"She has the tastes of all women; and wealth, luxury and power give joys which not one of them despises." ”

“ Sernine put his hand on the young man's shoulder and, coldly:
"Poets do not need food, monsieur. They live on rhymes and dreams. Do as they do. That is better than begging for bread."
The young man quivered under the insult. ”

“ There is more for you to do."
The prince, when he found himself alone, lit a cigarette and puffed at it quietly, sending little blue rings of smoke floating up to the ceiling.
A sigh roused him from his thoughts. He went to the bed. The young man was beginning to move; and his chest rose and fell violently, like that of a sleeper under the influence of a nightmare. He put his hands to his throat, as though he felt a pain there; and this action suddenly made him sit up, terrified, panting....
Then he saw Sernine in front of him:
"You?" he whispered, without understanding. "You?..." ”

“ Genevieve..."
"Why, I'm killing two birds with one stone! It was as easy to rescue two as one. Think of the time it would have taken, the efforts — useless efforts, perhaps— to worm myself into that child's friendship! What was I to her? What should I be now? An unknown person... a stranger. ”

“ It means fortune, fame, love...."
Gerard raised his fist with a sudden movement. "Love," he said, "yes... for that, yes...."
"You will love and be loved," said Sernine. "Your betrothed awaits you. I have chosen her myself. ”

“ A white sheet appeared, which he flung back. In the sheet was a corpse, the corpse of Pierre Leduc.
"Poor Pierre Leduc!" said Sernine. "You will never know what you lost by dying so young! I should have helped you to go far, old chap. However, we must do without your services.... Now then, Philippe, get up on the table; and you, Octave, on the chair. Lift up his head and fasten the slipknot."
Two minutes later, Pierre Leduc's body was swinging at the end of the rope.
"Capital, that was quite simple! Now you can all of you go. You, Doctor, will call back here tomorrow morning ”

“ One never knows the consequences.... Oh, it's horrible!..."
They went along a hedge, through which a yard planted with trees, a few shrubs, a playground and a white house were just visible. Behind the house, sheltered by a clump of elder-trees arranged to form a covered walk, was a little gate.
The old lady asked Prince Sernine to come in and led the way to a little drawing-room or parlor. Genevieve asked leave to withdraw for a moment, to go and see her pupils, whose supper-time it was. The prince and Mme. Ernemont remained alone. ”

“ She keeps a free school for backward children. Her grandmother, Mme. Ernemont, lives with her."
"And, according to what you wrote to me, Genevieve Ernemont and Mrs. Kesselbach have become acquainted?"
"Yes. The girl went to ask Mrs. Kesselbach for a subscription for her school. They must have taken a liking to each other, for, during the past four days, they have been walking together in the Pare de Villeneuve, of which the garden of the Retreat is only a dependency."
"At what time do they go out?"
"From five to six. At six o'clock exactly the young lady goes back to her school." ”

“ I mean, a different moral world.... There are things which you are forbidden to understand nowadays. Between you and her, the obstacle is insurmountable.... Genevieve has the most unblemished and upright conscience... and you..."
"And I?"
"And you are not an honest man!"
Genevieve entered, bright and charming:
"All my babies have gone to bed; I have ten minutes to spare.... Why, grandmother, what's the matter? You look quite upset.... Is it still that business with the..."
"No, mademoiselle," said Sernine, "I believe I have had the good fortune to reassure your grandmother. ”

“ The two rooms are quite detached. But you must be careful not to make a mistake: he is in the room on the left."
"Very good. Now go downstairs. At twelve o'clock, the doctor, Octave and you are to carry the fellow up here, to where we now stand, and wait till I call you."
The wooden staircase had ten treads, which the prince climbed with definite caution. At the top was a landing with two doors. It took Sernine quite five minutes to open the one of the right without breaking the silence with the least sound of a creaking hinge. ”

“ Kesselbach, on the strength of the prospectuses which you ordered to be sent to her, selected as her residence the establishment known as the Retreat for Gentlewomen, at Garches. She occupies the last of the four small houses, at the bottom of the garden, which the management lets to ladies who prefer to live quite apart from the other boarders, the house known as the Pavilion de l'Imperatrice. ”