Chapter 18 18. In Robert Fortuna

After Dorothy shut the three people out, he saw Raoul coming in front of him, he seemed very angry, and said: "No, no... This is not allowed... You should ask my opinion ..." "What advice are you looking for?" "About paying debts." "Don't be angry," she said softly. "I want to help you carry Mr. Varan away first. In this way, we can slowly discuss the long-term." "I've discussed everything," he blurted out, "I don't think it's going to work like this." "Raoul, please be patient. Let's decide tomorrow. Maybe I can convince you tomorrow."

After embracing Madame de Charny, she called three foreigners and introduced them to her. "Ma'am, I have brought you some guests. This is George Ellington, a relative from London. Marco Dario from Genoa. This is Archibald Webster from Philadelphia. .Knowing that you are here, I thought of getting the whole family together." Then she introduced Raoul Darvernoy, Count and Madame Octave.Everyone greeted with a warm handshake. "Great," she said, "to be together, my wish has been granted, we have a thousand words to tell each other. Raoul, I see de Estreche again. As I said to His prophecy, he hanged on high. Far from here, Raoul, I met your grandfather and Juliette Hazel. Raoul... But we Perhaps too soon for serious business. First, we have to do an urgent matter for these three relatives, who love to eat and drink and are firmly against dieting." She opened the closet to find a bottle of port and some Biscuits, while offering everyone a treat, told of her visit to La Roche-Périac.She spoke quickly, incompletely and incoherently, turning things upside down, which made people feel funny, and made the Countess de Chagny and his wife listen happily.

"That is to say," said the countess, "that the jewel disappeared when the operation was over?" "Well," she answered, "it's about the three cousins. Ask them." During the girl's explanation, the three of them stood and listened, polite to the host, but a little absent-minded, as if they were thinking about their own thoughts.And these concerns must have been shared by the Countess, and the Count de Chany was no exception, because there was one thing that both concerned them, and as long as this matter was not clarified, they would not be able to relax.

Ellington spoke up, and before the Countess de Chagny asked her, he said to the girl: "Cousin Dorothy, we don't understand... No, it's just dark for us, I think, let's be honest. Let’s talk about it, you won’t think there’s anything wrong with it.” "Go ahead, Ellington." "Well, that's it... three hundred thousand francs? . . . " "Where did this money come from?" Dorothei helped him finish what he wanted to say. "You want to know where the money comes from, don't you?" "Exactly." She whispered into the Englishman's ear, "This is my savings...my hard-earned money."

"Please……" "You don't like that explanation? Well, I'm telling the truth." She said, more quietly, into the other ear, "I stole it." "Oh! Cousin, don't be joking." "Well, hell, George Ellington, if it wasn't stealing, how do you think it got there?" He said slowly, "A few friends of mine, myself included, wondered if you had found a gem." "Where?" "In the ruins of Periac!" She clapped her hands. "Well! They guessed it! It is true, George Ellington of London, I found it under a tree, under a pile of dead leaves and stones. Honorable old father, the Marquis de Beaugreval, put The bills and the six per cent bonds are hidden there."

The other two cousins ​​took a few steps forward.Marco Dario looked very excited and said to her very seriously: "Cousin Dorothea, we beg you to be serious and please don't play tricks on us. Has the gem disappeared or has it been found? For some of us It's a very important question for people... I admit, at least for me. I've given up on finding gems. But all of a sudden you're making us believe that something unexpected happened. Truly Is that so?" "Why do you think that?" she said. "First, because of this unexpected sum of money, one might well think that it came from the sale of one of the jewels...Secondly...Secondly...I have to say, in a word, we feel that you are giving up this fortune Impossible, after months of fighting, you have won every victory, and when you have reached your goal, how could you, Dorotay, suddenly decide to sit idly by? Do not work! Do not search! No, no! , from your side, this is unacceptable."

She looked them back and forth mischievously several times. "In your opinion, my dear cousins, I have performed a double miracle, finding gems without trying to find them." "You can perform any miracle," said Webster cheerfully. The Countess echoed: "Yes, you can perform any miracle, Dorothee, you can do anything, and I can see from your expression that you have succeeded again this time." She didn't deny it.She just smiled sweetly.Everyone surrounded her, both curious and anxious. The countess said softly: "You have succeeded again, have you not?"

"Yes," replied Dorothy. She really did it!An unsolvable problem that has been tossing for centuries was solved by her. "When did it happen? What day?" asked George Ellington aloud. "You never left us!" "Oh! It was a long time ago. When I passed Robleigh Hall." "Ah! What did you say?" Count Octave burst out, startled. "I knew it from the beginning, at least I knew the nature of the place where the treasure was hidden." "How do you know?" "By that maxim." "By aphorism?" "It's so clear! So clear that I can't understand why those treasure hunters are so blind, and it makes me think that it is not too naive for those who hide treasure to leave such clear instructions. However, de Beaugler The Marquis of Val is also doing a good job! He can engrave his motto everywhere, on the wall clock, on the wax seal, because his motto is just a dead letter for future generations!"

The countess disagreed: "Now that you know, why don't you act now?" "I know the nature of the place where the treasure is hidden, but I don't know its location. The relevant instructions were given to me by the gold medal. Three hours after I arrived at the ruins, I knew it." Marco Dario repeated over and over again: "In Robert Fortuna...In Robert Fortuna..." Others are also repeating these words, as if this is a spell that connects ghosts and gods, and reading it can produce miraculous effects. "Marco, Dario," she said, "do you know Latin? Do you, Ellington? Do you, Webster?"

"There is enough level to explain the meaning of these words," Marco Dario replied, "There is nothing difficult. Fortuna means wealth..." "Specifically, gemstones..." she said. "Yes," Daario said, and continued his translation, "The gem is hidden in...in Robert..." "In tenacious vitality," Ellington said with a laugh. "In vigor, in strength," Webster added. "Do the three of you think, Robert, that's all there is to the ablative of the word Robier in Latin?" "Yes, my God," they replied. "Robier...strength...tenacity...perseverance..."

She shrugged disapprovingly. "Well, I know as much Latin as you do, but I'm a country girl, and that's my advantage over you. I've been wandering around the country, and I know there's a species of oak called 'Ruffel'. I've been thinking that the old French word 'Rouffer' is a condensation of the Latin robier, which means strength, and likewise, it has the meaning of oak. That's the point, On the twelfth of July, when I passed the great oak with you, the one that stands out in the center of the intersection, it is this, I say, that makes me associate it with the hidden treasure Linked together, and thus translated the instructions that our ancestors never tire of repeating: I hide my treasure in the hollow of the oak tree. That's all. As you can see, it is too childish to be childish. " She finished her speech with ease and briskness, and fell silent.The three young men looked at her in amazement and embarrassment.She amazed her friends with her peculiar intelligence, with this inexplicable talent, for which her beautiful eyes expressed an innocent satisfaction. "You're so special..." whispered Webster. "You're a special person... a very special person..." "A good Frenchman, a wise Frenchman like all Frenchmen." "No, no," said Webster, unable to express what was going on in the minds of the three of them. "No, no, that's another matter..." He leaned down before the girl and kissed her hand lightly, and Ellington and Dario came up to do the same reverent gesture, and she couldn't help translating the saying to hide her excitement. Mood: "Fortuna, fortune...in Robert, in the oak..." Then she added: "In the deepest part of the oak tree, in the center of the oak tree, so to speak. At a meter and a half above the ground, it still retains a ring-shaped protrusion, which is left by cutting the trunk. The scar. My intuition is that this is where I should start looking. The Marquis de Beaugreval has hidden the gems used for regeneration in it. "The rest is to test my judgment. That's what I did the first few nights. The three cousins ​​were fast asleep, Saint-Quentin and I, the two of us set to work, using our I fumbled around with my drill, handsaw, and hand auger. One night, I bumped into something hard, and it was exactly as I expected. We made the hole bigger. I took four walnuts out of it one by one. The size of the ball. Remove the dirt on the outside, and the four gemstones reveal their true colors. "Here are three of them, and the other one is mortgaged to M. de la Rue. He hesitated for a while, and after careful appraisal by the jeweler, he agreed to lend me the necessary money, which must be paid back by tomorrow." give him." She distributed three Golcond rubies to three friends. They were colorful, the same size, amazingly large, and they were cut symmetrically and orderly just like the gems in the past. Ellington, Webster, and Dario, they hold the gem in their hands, look at the gem in their eyes, but feel very uncomfortable.The Marquis de Beaugreval, that inconceivable dreamer who died of his own sweet dream of bringing the dead back to life, had entrusted these gems to a tree two centuries ago, under which he must have often come to read and rest.During the next two hundred years, nature worked slowly and uninterruptedly, building thicker and thicker walls around carefully and skillfully chosen secret chambers.For two hundred years, generations of people, some special treasure hunters, perhaps according to a vague legend, have missed this fabulous wealth.Now, the old man's great-granddaughter discovered the elusive secret, went deep into the most mysterious and incredible places where treasures were collected, and gave them the gems that their ancestors brought back from India. "You keep it," she said. "The descendants of the three sons of the Marquis live abroad, and this is your share. The descendants of the fourth son in France will equally share another jewel." Count Octave was astonished. "What did you say?" he asked. "I said, we are the three French heirs, you, Raoul and I, according to the jeweler's valuation, each gem is worth several million, and the three of us have equal rights." "I have no right," said Count Octave, simply. "What!" she said. "We are friends who share weal and woe. A covenant, an oath to share blessings and suffer hardships, unites you, my father, and Raoul's father tightly." "This covenant is obsolete!" Raul d'Avernoy also objected loudly. "As far as I am concerned, I absolutely do not accept it. The will is very clear and there is no room for dispute. Four medals, four jewels. Three cousins ​​and you, Dorothy, you alone are entitled to The legacy of the Marquis." She hastened to protest: "You have a share, Raoul. You have a share! We fought together! Your grandfather was a direct descendant of the Marquis! He also has the amulet of the medal!" "This medal of his is worthless!" "How do you know? You have never touched this medal." "No, I have." "Impossible. The box I lifted out of the water in your presence was empty. It was only a decoy for de Estreche. Eh?" "Well, after my grandfather came back from Cape Périac, where you met him with Juliette Hazel, I found him one day weeping in the orchard. He looked at a gold The medal, he handed it to me, and let me have a closer look. The medal has all the instructions you said. However, there is a cross on both sides of the medal. Obviously, I have already said, Dorothy, the two crosses indicate This medal is worthless." The girl seemed very surprised when she heard these words, but she said nonchalantly: "Ah!...Really?...Did you see it?..." She went to the window and stood for a few minutes with her forehead pressed against the pane, while the final curtain was falling over the whole affair.Indeed, two gold medals.One of them was a fake and belonged to Jean de Argonne, having been stolen by de Estrechet, it fell into the hands of Raoul's father, who gave it to the old baron.The other real medal belonged to the old baron, who, out of prudence and avarice, never mentioned it to his son or grandson.The old baron then went mad, and the talisman he had hidden in the dog's necklace was taken from him, but he set out to find the fortune anyway, with the medal he had entrusted to Juliette Azel, The medal that de Estreche had not found. Dorotai immediately realized all the consequences of this incident.She found the gold medal in the dog necklace and thought it was her medal, but in fact she had usurped Raoul's inheritance.She returns to the Grange to give alms to the son of her father's accomplice, an act of self-conceited generosity and generosity which in reality returns only a small portion of what she stole. She restrained herself and kept as silent as possible.She had to be careful lest Raoul suspect his father of a crime.She came back from the window to the center of the room with tears in her eyes.But she smiled and said nonchalantly, "Let's wait until tomorrow to talk about serious matters. Today, let's have a good time and celebrate our reunion. Raoul, will you treat me to dinner? And my children them?" She regained her vivacity and joy.She ran to the gate of the orchard to call the children, and they came happily.The captain threw himself into Madame de Charny's arms.Saint-Quentin kissed her hand.Everyone saw that Castor and Pollux had a bruised nose, which meant that they had just had a fight. Supper was sumptuous, with champagne and fizzy cider.Throughout the evening, Dorotai was full of enthusiasm and was very affectionate to everyone, making people feel that she was living a happy life. Archibald Webster mentioned her promise.Tomorrow was the first of August, the day when she would choose among her suitors. "I promise to keep my promise," Dorothey said affirmatively. "Are you choosing among us? I suppose Raoul was not the last suitor..." "Choose among you. Since I can only pick one, I'm going to hug each of you tonight." She embraced the four young men, then the earl and countess, and finally the four children. We stayed until midnight before breaking up. The next morning, while Raoul, Mrs. Octave de Chany, and three foreigners were having breakfast in their house, a hired servant brought a letter. Raoul saw the handwriting on the letter and whispered sadly: "Ah! It's her letter... like last time... she has gone." He, the count and the countess, thought of her leaving Robery. He opened the envelope and read aloud: The letter was read, and a long silence followed. Finally, Count Octave said: "What a strange person... Come to think of it, she has four chamber stones hidden in her pocket, that is, ten to twelve million, and she can say nothing." Ring, take it for yourself." However, several young people ignored his thoughts.For them, Dorotai is a symbol of happiness.Now, happiness is gone. Raoul looked at his watch, then made a sign for everyone to follow him.Holding a telescope in his hand, he led them to the highest point of the hill. In the distance, on the white path of the meadow, the caravan wandered.The three children walk beside the one-eyed magpie, and the driver is Saint-Quentin. She walked behind alone, Dorothy, the Princess d'Argonne, the tightrope walker...