'I was only a few months old. But do please tell me about him. You can't imagine how eager I am to listen.'
'He was, I believe, the most handsome, gallant and noble gentleman imaginable…'
For the next few moments the Comtesse de Gachet held Marianne enthralled with an account of various occasions on which she had been in company with the Marquis d'Asselnat. But deeply interested as she was in all her visitor could tell her, Marianne could not help noticing that she seemed peculiarly ill at ease and that she was continually casting quick nervous glances at the door, as though she were afraid that someone might come in.
She broke off in the middle of her questions to say kindly: 'You seem anxious, Countess. You have been kind enough to come and visit me and here I am pestering you with questions when I am sure your time is precious. If there is anything I can do to help you, I beg you to tell me.'
Madame de Gachet smiled a trifle constrainedly, seemed to hesitate for a moment and then, as though reaching a rather difficult decision, she said in a low voice: 'You are right. I am in great trouble—so much so that I ventured to call on you, a fellow countrywoman and the daughter of my old friend, in the hope that you might assist me. Yet now I hardly dare—I am so ashamed—'
'But why? Please, I beg of you, ask me anything—'
' You are so charming and have made me so welcome that now I am afraid in case I should turn you against me.'
'I assure you you will not. Speak, I implore you.'
The lady hesitated a moment longer and then, dropping her eyes to the lace handkerchief that she was kneading between her hands, she confessed at last: 'I have suffered a terrible disaster. It is my misfortune, you see, to be a gambler. It is a shocking vice, I know that, but I started at Versailles in the circle of our unhappy queen and I can no longer help myself. Wherever I am, I have to play. Can you understand that?'
'I think so,' Marianne said, thinking of Jolival, who was also an inveterate card player. 'Are you trying to tell me that you have been playing here and you have lost?'
The countess nodded, without raising her eyes.
'Here, as in every other port in the world, there is a district—far from respectable, I am afraid—where every kind of gambling is carried on. It is called the Moldavanka. There is a house there run by a Greek, and I must say by no means ill-run at that. Yesterday I had some heavy losses there.'
'How much?'
'Four thousand rubles. It is a great deal of money, I know,' she went on hastily, seeing Marianne's involuntary gesture of dismay, 'but I assure you that if you will lend it to me, with another thousand so that I may try and recoup my losses, it will not be money thrown away. I have something here which I should like you to accept as a pledge. Naturally, if I am not in a position to repay you by tonight, then you will keep it.'
'But—'
Marianne broke off with a gasp. From the folds of the handkerchief she had been clutching so tightly Madame de Gachet had produced a magnificent jewel. It was a diamond drop so exquisitely pure and brilliant that the younger woman's eyes widened in amazement. It was like a fiery tear, a miniature sun containing all the concentrated radiance of the morning.
The countess let her gaze at it for a moment and then with a swift movement slipped it into her hand.
'Keep it,' she said hurriedly. 'I know it will be safe with you—and help me if you can!'
Marianne stared helplessly, now at the diamond scintillating in her palm and now at the woman. The lines in her face and the bitter twist to her mouth showed clearly in the morning light.
'You embarrass me very much, Madame,' she said at last. 'Although I know nothing of these things, I am sure this diamond must be worth a great deal more than five thousand roubles. Why not go to a jeweler in the town?'
'And have him refuse to return it to me? You are new here. You do not know yet what these people are like. Many of them are nothing more than adventurers, drawn here by the loans to be had from the governor. If I were to show anyone this stone they would kill me before they would let me have it back.'
'Very well then. There is the governor. Why not entrust this jewel to him?'
'Because he is a ruthless persecutor of gambling halls—and of all who frequent them. I wish to settle in these parts, where it is beautiful and mild and sunny. I should not be granted permission to do so if the Duc de Richelieu knew the nature of my troubles. I am not even sure that the tsar, who has been good enough to take an interest in me and has even sent one of his officers to escort me, would look on it more kindly.'
'You surprise me. I thought the Russians were passionate gamblers.'
Madame de Gachet made a gesture of impatience and rose to her feet.
'My dear child, let us say no more about it. What I am asking of you is a small service of a few hours, no more, or so I trust. If you are unable to accommodate me, please say no more. I will endeavor to make some other arrangement, although—Oh, good God! How came I to get myself into this dreadful fix? If my poor husband could see me—' And the countess subsided abruptly onto her chair, shaking with sobs. Then, burying her face in her hands, she began to cry in good earnest.
Horrified to feel herself the cause of such misery, Marianne sprang out of bed and, pausing only to place the diamond carefully on the bedside table, scrambled hastily into a dressing gown and dropped to her knees beside her visitor, doing her best to comfort her.
'Oh, please, please don't cry! Of course I'll help you, my dear Countess! Forgive me if I seemed suspicious and asked too many questions, but the sight of the diamond frightened me a little. It is so very beautiful that I am quite afraid to have it in my possession… Only do, please, calm yourself. I will gladly lend you the money.'
Before leaving Humayunabad, Marianne had reluctantly accepted a large sum in gold and letters of credit pressed upon the travelers by Turhan Bey's steward. She was unwilling now to accept money from the man who had taken away her child but Osman had made it clear that he dared not disobey what was an explicit order and in the end it was Jolival, with a much greater grasp of the practicalities of life, who had made her see reason. Thanks to his foresight, Osman had even been so obliging as to obtain Russian money for them, thus sparing them the hazards and chicanery of the money market.
Rising quickly to her feet, Marianne now went to one of her boxes and, having extracted the required sum, returned to place it in her visitor's hands.
'There, take it! And never doubt my friendship. I cannot bear to leave a friend of my father's in difficulties.'
In a moment the countess had dried her eyes and, tucking the notes away in her corsage, flung her arms around Marianne and kissed her effusively.
'What a darling you are!' she cried. 'How can I ever thank you?'
'Why—by drying your tears.'
'They are dried already. And now I am going to sign a receipt for you. I will redeem it tonight.'
'No, please. There is no need. Indeed, you will offend me. I am not a moneylender. In fact, I should like you to take back this splendid stone also.'
But Madame de Gachet flung up her hand in a gesture of categorical refusal.
'Absolutely not! Or I shall be offended. Either I will return these five thousand rubles to you this evening or you will keep that stone. It is a family heirloom which I could never bring myself to sell, but you may do so very readily for I shall not be there to see it. I will leave you now, and thank you again a thousand times.'
She went to the door but paused with her hand on the knob to look back at Marianne imploringly.
'Just one more favor. Will you be kind enough not to speak to anyone of our little transaction? By this evening I hope it will be settled and we need never mention it again. And so I beg you to keep my secret—even from the gentleman who is your traveling companion.'
'Have no fear. I shall say nothing to him.'
She had, in fact, no inclination to mention the matter to Jolival in view of the suspicions he had voiced regarding the unfortunate creature, who was clearly more to be pitied than blamed. Arcadius clung tenaciously to his own ideas and once he had taken a notion into his head it was the devil's own job to get him to abandon it. He would have been furious to learn that Marianne had lent five thousand rubles to a fellow countrywoman simply because she had turned out to be an old friend of her father's.
At the thought of Jolival, Marianne did admit to certain qualms. She had made short work of his advice and had undoubtedly been taking something of a risk in lending the money. She knew that gambling was a terrible
