Chapter 16 1. The bride is waiting

Old Geoffroy, caretaker and sole resident of Plouinec, was on his daily rounds.The so-called manor is really just a pile of magnificent ruins, located at the tip of the Brittany peninsula, facing the sea on one side and an ancient forest on the other.Buildings collapsed and chapels were leveled.He wore a jacket with a velvet lace, and black trousers so frayed that they showed the pattern of the cloth. He limped among the ruins on a barbed stick. Walk around the wall.The old man came to the wall, not far from the perpetually open gate, and stopped before the fourth gap on the right. To be honest, this wall with crenelated and buttresses is full of gaps and gravel. As much, he bent down and found several fresh footprints in the wet ground.

He counted and returned to the tower, the only place where people could live.He slept on the top floor, and the downstairs and first floors were the guardhouse and three rooms used by the late owner. Geoffroy climbed the fifteen steps to the large terrace that adjoined the guardhouse, and was not at all surprised to see there some people he did not know.These were two visitors, a gentleman and a lady, who had entered while he was touring the estate. He spoke to them mysteriously, with a broad smile that refreshed his wrinkled old face. "They came again this morning for the fourth time...I saw their footprints...three of them...probably some sneaky guys who lived in an abandoned lumberjack hut looking for work .”

The guardhouse was large, oval in shape like a tower, with two large windows protruding outwards, half-hidden with old tapestries, forming two truly independent spaces.The guardhouse looms high above, and the remnants of a poorly kept garden can be seen, with piles of raised stones buried under sprawling ivy.The whole house gives people a very friendly feeling, as if people have always lived in it. There are firewood piled up in the huge fireplace, the furniture is neatly placed, there are flowers, books, old wall clocks, the pendulum is still swinging back and forth, hunting There are horns used in time, steamers on shotguns, long and short swords and halberds, and a row of portraits of ancestors hanging on the wall.

At this moment, a woman shouted from the bottom of the steps: "Geoffroy!" "Ah! It's you, Miss Almer," replied the old man, returning to the platform. "Is there anything to do?" "Is he not there?" "Not here, miss." "Any news?" "No." "Then wait for tomorrow. Come down and get today's flowers. Throw away yesterday's flowers." "Yes, miss." Then, turning to the two tourists, he said, still in a rather intimate tone: "It's Mademoiselle de Aneris... from the Manor Aneris, an hour away from here. A very beautiful woman! She used to be Come on a donkey. But that donkey is old and dead."

He went away without paying any attention to the two gentlemen and ladies. They heard his steps and crutches on the steps, and through one of the windows they saw him go outside, followed by a tall, stout man, in old-fashioned clothes, a little dusty. Rustic, but also a little ladylike.The two talked while walking, and they hit it off very well. The two gentlemen and ladies began to study the guardhouse, from the title of a book to the portraits on the wall. "Natalie, would you like me to tell you something?" the man said. "Hmm! This room has the feeling of being vacant, but it's been carefully maintained and kept exactly as it was when it was occupied. At the hotel in Brest, that's what they say. Madame Provanec is dead." , her son is gone, the old housekeeper is ignorant, and he only manages the manor as best he can, that is to say, the management is very bad."

Natalie responded: "In that case, Maxim, what are we doing here?" "Let's investigate. According to what you mean, we have been investigating for four days." "However, the information we have obtained is very unclear." "Then what can be done? Pascaela seems to have heard that Jericho was brought up in a manor in Brittany called Prouvins . . . that's the name. I made a list, However, I worry that this time it will be in vain again.” "Let's go," she said, "It's sad to see these ruins..." "All ruins are like this." Maxim said.

He looked carefully at the swords, touched a few muskets, and finally scanned the workbench.He was about to end his investigation when he suddenly yelled: "Ah! This, this is so strange, Natalie, I didn't expect such a big discovery!" "What is it?" Natalie said, wondering how excited he was. "Look," said Maxim, "this open book! . . . read the title . . . and the red pencil print on the margin . . . " She hurried forward a few steps.But, having just read the first few words of the quotation, she took a sharp step back and murmured: "!... Oh! Come on, Maxim...he's here...for sure...how do you explain it? ?..."

He explained: "No, Natalie, Alan Rock is in Paris. I saw him the day we left." "But what about this book?..." She didn't want to hear any more.She pulled Maxim, scared as if Alan Rock had appeared in front of her, they came to the garden, and then left the manor. Natalie's car was parked at the edge of the big forest, three hundred steps away.She said to the driver: "We're going back to Brest. Hurry up. I'm going to take the train back to Paris...or the train to Nantes...I don't know...you hurry up." Two weeks after the horrific event, Nathalie asked Maxime to arrange this trip to Brittany. She had no other purpose than to completely dispel the fact that she had to admit at first and then tried to doubt it. clear.Refusing to admit that Aaron Rock is Jericho is beyond her reach.

Sense and logic bow their heads in front of the facts, because the overwhelming evidence proves that this is an irrefutable fact. However, his instincts still resisted.She wished to know more.She wants to be clear and let the facts speak for themselves. There was no weakness or timidity on her part, no desire for vengeance that so overwhelmed Pascaela, which suddenly vanished at the decisive moment, so that the young Italian girl was suddenly helpless and had to kneel on her knees. crying in front of her loved ones.No, she wanted to know, she just wanted to know if Alan Rock, also known as Jericho, was the real culprit who killed her father. She felt uncontrollable anger, but she had no right to vent her hatred at will.

So, as soon as they got back to Brest, Maxim had no trouble persuading her. "I'm not asking you to see Alan Rock, I fully understand that you are upset. However, this thread is solid. If you really want to go back to Paris. You can go back at once. But please listen first I say. Because, after all, for two weeks we have been living, and you have been living, in a state of restlessness, unable to hear a single reasonable word or draw any sensible inference. I The mention of Alan Rock's name, or Jericho's name, makes you almost swoon. It's child's play! Instead, I have to talk about Alan Rock and tell you the truth about him , physically and mentally."

Natalie listened to him, and Maxim was very happy, and continued: "He is in good physical condition. A person who has been tried and tested like him has a strong resistance, mentally? Well, that's it. It is more difficult. For two consecutive days, Dr. Chaporo and I, fortunately, he was in Paris, and we took turns to stay by his side. In case he made a desperate move, we were relieved that on the third day, he Kicked us out. He was saved." Maxim took a breath. "He was saved, but he was mentally devastated. He was determined to surrender himself, and he kept saying these two words: It is a crime for others to do this kind of thing, so what about me? Since I am determined to bring them to justice, can I Shouldn't I start with myself? And then...then, he stopped talking. We slowly found that he became more and more alive as some basic facts of the past gradually recovered. Words still not much, However, some occasional remarks indicate that his memory is slowly returning. At present, there is no doubt that he has been able to distinguish most of the past events. He is finding himself. Open another veil. Before long, he will be able to see himself in full. Childhood memories are flooding back. He will know his real name. If his name is really Pruvanec, I am sure Yes, he will come to the Pruvanec manor, and the sights he saw in his childhood will completely heal his injuries, as Dr. Chaporo said. However, he has not yet reached this point. In the last few days Not yet, since that’s the case, why don’t you use this time to complete our investigation?” The girl didn't make a sound, but she didn't leave. The next day, Maxim and Alan Rock talked on the phone.The latter did not leave Paris. Nathalie waited a day longer, but she was finally convinced, and they returned to the Ploignac estate.For the sake of caution, they parked the car in the woods and chose a small road, from which the whole ruins could be seen.Maxim walked all the way, expressing his opinion all the way: "Natalie, you have to have confidence in me. The handling of this matter is correct, and it is absolutely confidential. This is an indispensable condition for the success of the plan .Alan Roque doesn't know where I'm calling him from, or where you and I are, including Henriette and Janine, not even Dr. Boniface and Rudovic , they fled after the conspiracy was uncovered. Finally, I also learned from reliable sources that Forville traveled across the ocean to the United States. Therefore, we can rest assured." "Where is Pascaela?" "She had good news from her mother that her sister was in much better spirits. Besides, she didn't have the guts to punish Alan Rock and went back to Sicily. So, I repeat, don't worry about anyone bothering us. We There's a wide field of activity. In an hour or two, I can make things clear." "that is……" "That is, we can figure out whether Aaron Rock is a local, and his past history." This day is Sunday.At nine o'clock in the morning, they passed the gate of the manor, entered the tower that never seemed to be closed, and saw old Geoffroy cleaning the guardhouse.He greeted them, much as he had done the previous time, without paying special attention or finding them strange, but speaking cheerfully and confidently in what he had in mind: "It is half-way to the church in Pruenec." a mile and a half to the sea; three-quarters to the station. As for the footprints, they were also found in the ruins, but this time two persons. When the moon comes out, I will give them a gun. .” Maxim asked him, but Geoffroy was still thinking wildly, and at the beginning he answered confusedly, and after a while, he touched his forehead and murmured: "Excuse me, my good sir... my head is not working well. We must tell Miss Almer about it." "Will she come?" "Here she comes, I hear her coming." He seemed to wake up suddenly, walked quickly to the platform, and listened attentively.Then, up and down the steps, the conversation of the previous two days was repeated.Down the steps, a woman's voice called out, "Is there no one?" "No, Miss Almer." "Is he not there?" "absent" "Any news?" "No." "Then wait until tomorrow." "I hope so, Miss Almer, you look very well today!" "I walked a little faster. Today is Sunday, and I want to go to mass with you in the village. Oh, Geoffroy, here are the flowers from my garden." "It's so beautiful! Aren't you too tired?" "You ask that every day, and you know Aniris Manor is only an hour away from here." "It takes two hours to go back and forth." "Then what can be done? The old donkey is dead." "My father promised to buy another one." "It's already difficult to balance the income and expenditure. My room is leaking, you know?" "It's the same here. Since the old lady of Pruinec died, everything has fallen and fallen. The peasants have disappeared, the servants have disappeared. Except me, old Geoffroy, who still guards the last tower. I, the former fencing teacher, the former sergeant! Do you think it's miserable?" "It's not miserable at all at Pruinec." "Hey! A couple of broken walls and creeping ivy!" "Yes, but this is already the most beautiful manor in the area!" The conversation was still going on, and Almer de Aneris went to the platform and handed the flowers to Geoffroy. Nathalie and Maxime had seen her back, a little too tall, a little too fat, dressed in Her hair and hairstyle were outdated, but her face looked pretty and healthy, with rosy cheeks and a pleasant smile.Seeing Nathalie and Maxime, she said: "Excuse me, ma'am..." "Miss," Natalie corrected. "This is my cousin." "Excuse me, madam," continued Miss Almere, "I didn't know there was a visitor here. I was talking nonsense just now." "She tied an apron around her waist, changed the flowers in the vase, and then, dusted, set the table." Maxim approached. "You are Mademoiselle de Aneris, aren't you? We are here, partly to visit the ruins, and partly because the name Prouenec is familiar to us. We met in Paris a few years ago. A man named Provanec." "Sir, he is not of our family. Jean de Prouenec was killed in September 1914. I will tell you that he was the last of our family, and no one has the right to call The name Rowaneck." "That gentleman," Maxim added, "he still calls himself a prince...I don't remember what he is called..." "There is no prince within ten miles," declared Miss Almer. "No," said Geoffroy affirmatively, "Prince is among the titles of Jean de Przevanec, and one day, as he was tidying up that drawer, he showed me an old paper, His ancestors called him that." Mademoiselle Almere said jokingly: "Ah! my dear Geoffroy, you are sometimes very confused, and sometimes very long-winded. But when you talk about your master and the estate, you immediately brighten up." "It can be said that I raised him," the old man said. "His swordsmanship, shooting, swimming, horsemanship... I taught him all by himself. Alas! When he went to the battlefield, what a man he was!" "How old is he, if alive?" Natalie asked. "Thirty-two..." Miss Almer replied. "Is he tall?"... "Yes, very tall, slender and strong...a manor of noble birth." "Miss, are you his relative?" "His fiancée."