"I'll not stay here to be insulted in my own house," cried Valerie fiercely.

"We shall compel you," remarked her husband abruptly.

"This is some infamous plot against me," she said, boldly facing him.

"You are unworthy the name of husband if you do not protect me from this pair of criminals."

"We've had enough of heroic talk," interrupted Gabrielle impatiently.

"It will be as well to get to the business of our visit at once."

"If your business is only to insult me, I'll ring for the servants and have you turned out."

"In that case we should embrace the opportunity of relating to your guests a story which would no doubt interest them," answered Gabrielle calmly.

"Bah! you are cowards," she said, with face blanched by rage. "Three of you against one defenceless woman!"

"Ah; do not malign us," urged the other, in a tone of banter. "I know that the sight of your husband is somewhat embarra.s.sing, especially when you and your adored Pierre very ingeniously proved his demise." With a smile she added: "I should feel a trifle disconcerted myself under such distressing circ.u.mstances. Indeed, it is a most awkward _contretemps_, is it not?"

"_Sacre_! keep your sympathies to yourself," screamed Valerie, with a sudden outburst of terrible pa.s.sion.

Then, panting with excitement, she stood supporting herself by a chair, and facing her traducers. She saw plainly that the result of the conflict must be either complete annihilation, or a triumphant vindication of the character which Hugh had hitherto considered immaculate.

Drawing a deep breath, she braced herself up for the ordeal, and stood ready to hurl back the accusation into the teeth of her enemies.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

DREGS OF LIFE.

"If you two men would understand how you both have been ensnared and betrayed, listen to the facts I will relate," said Gabrielle, leaning on the table before her.

"Lies," observed Valerie, as if speaking to herself.

"A few years ago in Paris," continued Mademoiselle Debriege, turning to her companions, "there lived, as you know, three artists, named Holt, Glanville, and Egerton. At that time I, too, lived in the Quartier Latin and became acquainted with them by meeting them frequently at the Chat Noir, whither I sometimes went in company with the man who had promised me marriage. The latter, however, forsook me--bah! it was the usual story--a woman's foolish trust in a man who cast her off like a frayed glove. You understand?"

She paused, and the colour mounted to her cheeks.

"Ruin came," she went on; "my father, a small tradesman, turned me from his door, and I found myself wandering friendless, forsaken, and homeless in the great city. Eventually I obtained an engagement as a _figurante_ at the Opera, and while there I first met the woman before you, Valerie Duvauchel. Although a gay coquette, she confided in me the fact that she was living under the protection of Victor Berard, a convicted thief. I was poor, earning scarcely enough to keep body and soul together, when she asked me to a.s.sist her and her lover in their various schemes of robbery. This temptation proved too great, for I was to receive a fair share of the plunder. The first occasion on which I partic.i.p.ated in the crusade against riches was at a burglary at Auteuil.

We were successful, and I received a thousand francs for my services.

During the nine months I was connected with them I a.s.sisted at a number of robberies of jewellery and plate, sometimes as a decoy, at others pilfering myself."

"I never knew you allied yourself in that manner with them," remarked the artist in surprise, "although I often thought the dresses you wore cost you more than you obtained at the Opera."

"In order to carry out our plans, I was compelled to dress well," she replied. "But that has little to do with the events that followed.

While a.s.sisting Berard, I frequently spent days about the _ateliers_, and Glanville, the student of the Quai Montabello, and I became enamoured of one another. He had more money at his command than the average denizen of the Ile de la Cite, therefore I was not averse to accompanying him to cafes, b.a.l.l.s, and theatres, especially as I had given up my engagement of the Opera, and was dependent entirely upon the proceeds of Victor's depredations. After a few months at this life I discovered, by mere accident, that my English lover was not so devoted as I believed, and--that he knew Valerie. The affection between this woman and Egerton was a matter of comment among the students living on the Quai, but no one suspected that she favoured Glanville, whom everybody believed idolised me."

"I didn't encourage him. I couldn't help your lover admiring me, could I?" protested Valerie scornfully.

"My awakening was a cruel one," Gabrielle continued, speaking slowly and distinctly. "I taxed him with faithlessness, but he denied it so earnestly that at length I became convinced of his firm affection for me alone. A few days later a calamity befell us. I had stored in my rooms a quant.i.ty of stolen property previous to disposing of it. One evening, while I was out, Glanville called, and, entering with his key, sat down to await me. Hardly a quarter of an hour elapsed before two detectives and half a dozen policemen entered the place, armed with a warrant.

They searched and quickly found several valuable articles, descriptions of which had been circulated. Then they arrested and charged him with perpetrating the robberies."

"Were you arrested also?" asked Hugh, greatly interested in the narrative.

"No; fortunately Victor got wind of the affair, and warned me not to return. I was present, however, at the trial. The police had unfortunately discovered that the property was the proceeds of several extensive burglaries, and the court sentenced him to ten years'

transportation. The first few months he spent in performing hard labour at Brest, and at the end of that period I received a letter from him.

It was long and earnest, reminding me of how he was suffering for my sake, and declaring his pa.s.sionate love. To this I replied, and, after the lapse of a few weeks I received another, urging me to marry him. He said that he was sailing for New Caledonia that day, therefore if I consented I should be compelled to follow him out there. To meet this contingency he gave me the address of a bank, where I was to call and obtain money for my journey; and, further, he stated that in the event of my consenting to become his wife, he had given orders that three thousand francs were to be paid annually to me until his liberation.

Naturally, such a proposal caused me grave doubts, especially as I had discovered a few days previous to his arrest a fresh and most striking proof of his love for this vile woman who stands now before you."

"Did you marry him after all?" inquired the artist impatiently, for he had been in ignorance of all this.

"Yes, Valerie and Victor, having suspicions that the police had scented them, fled from Paris: consequently I was without means. Although I was fond of Glanville, and admired his courage in shielding me, yet I did not love him so well as another man I had lately met. However, finding myself almost dest.i.tute, I drew the money from the bank, and sailed for `La Nouvelle' where, after a few weeks' residence, the Governor gave us permission to marry. The ceremony was duly performed, and I have here the lines which prove it," she added, exhibiting a small strip of paper which she had taken from her pocket.

"Your honey noon was scarcely pleasant, I should think," observed Hugh sympathetically.

"Its brevity did not allow either of us to become bored," she said. "I parted from him at the chapel door, and I have not seen him since."

"Not seen him!" repeated Egerton. "Why, has he not yet obtained his freedom?"

"Yes; he escaped before he had been there two years. However, we never met."

"But why did you marry him?" the artist asked. "A convict was hardly a desirable husband."

"Ah! you wonder. Well, there were several reasons," she said.

"Firstly, I was afraid lest he should expose me with regard to a certain incident which occurred at Pa.s.sy, in which Berard and I were implicated.

We were on a midnight expedition, and a policeman who proved troublesome received an ugly dig with a knife; therefore I was confident that if this were divulged I should be arrested and sentenced as one of Victor's accessories. Then, again, I had been told by an Englishman who knew him that Glanville had an ample income, and this was confirmed by his offer to provide me with money until his release. Besides, he, on the other hand, was anxious to marry me in order to secure my silence, because he knew I had discovered a secret of his which, if not preserved, might bring dire consequences. It may have been for the best that we parted so quickly, for as soon as the marriage ceremony was performed I regretted the rash step, inasmuch as the recollection of my discovery regarding his alliance with this woman came back to me in all its hideous reality."

"What alliance?" inquired Valerie, whose firm, set face was as colourless as the dress she wore.

"It is well you should feign ignorance," Gabrielle replied angrily.

Then, turning to the two men, she said: "In order that you shall understand matters aright, I shall be compelled to describe the scene.

It took place in a suite of rooms in the Boulevard Haussmann tenanted by an English dealer in gems named Nicholson."

"What do you know of him?" cried Valerie in a husky voice.

"Have patience and you shall hear," she answered with a sarcastic smile.

Again addressing her companions, she continued her narrative, saying: "While this woman was living with Victor, she had enchanted Egerton and Glanville. Both, unaware of one another's feelings, were ecstatic over her face and figure; both worshipped her, and both were prepared to do anything to secure her favour."

"That is true," admitted the artist moodily. "I was a brainless fool.

Yet I did not know until now that Glanville had also been smitten by her fatal beauty."

"He had, nevertheless, as you will see. This woman--who afterwards a.s.sumed the name of Dedieu--with her usual crafty far-sightedness saw that it was possible to turn the mad impetuosity of you and your fellow-student to her advantage, and did not fail to embrace the opportunity. The scheme she concocted was indeed a fiendish one, which she carried out unaided, and the secret would have been safe even now had I not been the witness of her crime."

"You--you saw me?" shrieked Valerie in dismay. "You lie! You saw nothing."

"Her crime! What was it? Tell us quickly," urged Hugh.

"The facts are almost incredible, but they are simply as follows: Nicholson was her lover, and the safe in his room contained a quant.i.ty of cut and uncut gems. She devised an ingenious plan by which she could get rid of her lover, obtain the stones, and throw the guilt upon the two men who were infatuated with her."

"Bah! don't believe her!--she's telling you a pretty romance!" declared Valerie, striving to appear unconcerned.