Max Pemberton

“ THE PURPLE GLASS The Chevalier Eugène Sabatier was accounted one of the handsomest rogues in all Paris; but he looked neither handsome nor roguish when he stood in the music-room of the Hôtel Beautreillis on the third day of May in the year 1763, and reflected earnestly upon the strange tale which Antonio, the physician, had just told him.
The glorious afternoon was coming to a close then, and the old gardens in the Rue St. Paul began to be filled with the first sweetness of the night. Trees laden with blossoms, bushes with roses, rustled gently as the warm south wind breathed upon them ”

“ Mademoiselle tells you truly that fortune and a future await you at the Château Saint Mandé to-night; but if they are to be won, they will be won by your own courage. The Count of Brives asks you to his home that he may kill you as he killed your brother Gilbert. If you turn back now, thinking to spare him the crime, you will dishonour your father's memory and add new shame to a house which knew shame for the first time when your eldest brother was born to it. ”

“ The old servant, who had thrown the reins to the lad Germain, looked up quickly at this remark, his toothless mouth opening in a horrid smile.
“Who knows, monsieur?” he said; “there was never one of your race that refused a flask of Armagnac yet. And there is none better in France than the wine in my master's cellars. I pray you follow me lest the supper be already cold.”
With this, he took up his lantern and mounted a steep, tortuous narrow staircase, above which the great black walls of the château loomed forbiddingly. ”

“ The dragoon began to dress himself quickly, remembering only that he had orders to leave Paris at eight o'clock that night.
“Sang-bleu!” muttered he to himself, “I must have supped in some cabaret—and drunk too much Armagnac. What a thing to dream—that my brother poisoned me! Pah! it was a fool's sleep, and I am paid for my folly. And yet I could swear that I talked with Corinne at her house yesterday, and that she promised to make me Count of Brives in twenty hours. Dame! I am like to wait long for that!” ”

“ Drawn on at the recollection as by a fatality, eager to prove, to make sure, now buoyed up with hope, now trembling with excitement, he galloped through the street of the village, and never drew rein until his hand was upon the bell at the outer gate of the château and the birds were winging upward at his clamorous peal. As it had been last night—that night of nights—so was it to-day. The toothless old Armand gave him welcome; the lad Germain held his horse. ”

“ It sounded almost like an apology; but Eugène, refusing to notice the hesitation and halting manner, became frankness itself.
“It is true,” he answered, “that I have a command, Charles—though there is little hope left to us of the war. I am sure you wish me God-speed, for I am to have your old company in Condé's legion.”
The count shrugged his shoulders.
“Pah!” said he, curtly, “if you can make those rats fight, you are a clever man. They ran at Minden like deer from the dogs. Let us sit to supper and forget them.” ”

“ The count filled his glass and pushed it over to him. Eugène was surprised to see that his brother helped himself also to the wine, drinking the half of a glass at a draught. The action reassured him. “They have told me a lie,” he said to himself for the twentieth time—and with this upon his lips and the warning of old Antonio ringing in his ears like a knell, he lifted the purple glass and drank from it. “The half is life,” said the voice. Eugène drank exactly one half and put the glass upon the table. The count did not appear to notice the action. ”

“ The spires and turrets of the great house shone radiant a little while with fiery beams which struck upon their windows and copper domes and made them like burning beacons above the surrounding streets. In the music-room itself, a soft twilight prevailed; and this was in keeping with the gloom which had come upon those in the chamber. ”

“ And this was surprising, since there was no braver man in Condé's legion than Eugène Sabatier; none readier with the rapier, or more skilled in all those arts which are a soldier's boast. It was the hidden danger—the death in the cup—that now made his heart beat so loudly. ”

“ How if the morn should find his body lapped upon by the waters yonder, sedge grass hiding his face, and the reeds trying vainly to clothe him with warmth! He could not suppress a shudder when a voice whispered in his ear—“All this is possible.” ”

“ He reined in his horse, and the stranger came close up to his side.
“Monsieur,” said he, “you neither sleep nor dream. Ask yourself no such silly question. It is quite true that your brother attempted to poison you last night with a flask of Armagnac in which, as the physician Antonio would tell you, there were four grains of one of the most deadly drugs known to the East. You, however, remembering the warning, drank but a half of the glass set before you—and so you become Count of Brives.”
“I?” cried Eugène, impatiently, “I become Count of Brives?” ”

“ Let me conjure you, then, to do no such thing, but to ride hence at once for the château—”
“Where they will poison me?” interrupted Sabatier, a little angrily.
“Exactly,” continued Antonio, “where they will poison you. But you, if you are careful to do exactly as I bid you, you will awake presently from the death you shall seem to die, and being awakened, will find yourself in twenty hours Count of Brives and master of his fortune.” ”

“ We knew what the wine contained because Armand, your brother's servant, has long been good enough to sell us for money an account of your brother's life. Three weeks ago the Count of Brives was offered by an agent of my mistress, Mademoiselle Corinne, a preparation of the poppy leaf brought from Yezd. So fatal is this to those whose bodies are not fortified against it by the continued and gradual habit of eating the drug, that two-thirds of a grain will kill the strongest man. ”

“ It is obvious to you that the count, having been long in the East and accustomed to the use of opium, could drink that which would mean the death of another not so prepared. The draught last night steeled his will to the dreadful crime he sought to commit. You, however, succumbed to it; and never, I swear, did the living wear the cloak of the dead as you wore it in the Château Saint Mandé.”
Sabatier groaned at the remembrance. It seemed to him that he began to suffer the terror of the garden for the second time. ”

“ Eugène was surprised at the request.
“Do you live here alone, brother?” he asked.
“Certainly,” replied the count; “am I not a soldier who has been alone all my life?”
It was a bitter question, and Eugène shuddered—he knew not why. Far from fearing his brother now, he pitied him, and would have been very glad to say so; but just when the word was upon his lips, Armand returned with the flask of the wine of Armagnac and two long glasses, which he wiped and set carefully upon the table. Eugène observed their colour immediately. They were of a deep purple tint. “Ciel!” ”

“ Corinne has been too clever for once. That old fool of a physician has deceived her with his nonsense. As well might I expect to be Pope as to step into Charles's shoes and become Count of Brives to-morrow. Yet I cannot forget that poor Gilbert's body was found in the river the morning after he supped at Saint Mandé. ”