n. I am going to atone for my weakness by a
shameful death. One day Cardillac came in in unusually fine spirits, he
kissed and caressed Madelon, cast most affectionate looks at me, drank,
at table, a bottle of good wine, which he only did on high-days and
holidays, sang, and made merry. Madelon had left us, and I was going to
the workshop 'Sit still, lad,' cried Cardillac, 'no more work to-day;
let's drink the health of the most worthy and charming lady in all
Paris.' When we had clinked our glasses, and he had emptied a bumper,
he said: 'Tell me, Olivier, how do you like those lines?

'Un amant qui craint les voleurs
N'est point digne d'amour.'

And he told me what had happened between you and the King in Madam de
Maintenon's salon, adding that he had always worshipped you more than
any other human being, and that his reverence and esteem for your
qualities was such that his Evil Star paled before you, and he would
have no fear that, were you to wear the finest piece of his work that
ever he made, the spectre would ever prompt him to thoughts of murder.
'Listen, Olivier,' he said, 'to what I am going to do. A considerable
time ago I had to make a necklace and bracelets for Henrietta of
England, supplying the stones myself. I made of this the best piece of
work that ever I turned out, and it broke my heart to part with those
ornaments, which had become the very treasures of my soul. You know of
her unfortunate death by assassination. The things remained with me,
and now I shall send them to Mademoiselle Scuderi, in the name of the
dreaded band, as a token of respect and gratitude. Besides its being an
unmistakable mark of her triumph, it will be a richly deserved sign of
my contempt for Desgrais and his men. You shall take her the jewels.'
When he mentioned your name, Mademoiselle, dark veils seemed to be
taken away, revealing the bright image of my happy early childhood,
rising again in glowing colours before me. A wonderful comfort came
into my soul, a ray of hope, driving the dark shadows away. Cardillac
saw the effect his words had produced upon me, and gave it his own
interpretation. 'My idea seems to please you,' he said. 'I must declare
that a deep inward voice, very unlike that which cries for blood like a
raving wild beast, commanded me to do this thing. Many times I feel the
strangest ideas come into my mind--an inward fear, the dread of
something terrible, the awe whereof seems to come