"And whose name was - wait now - was - Guespin.""Ah ha, you know him then?"
Jenny hesitated.She was trembling very much, and evidently regretted that she had gone so far.
"Bah!" said she at last."I don't see why I shouldn't tell what Iknow.I'm an honest girl, if Tremorel is a rogue; and I don't want them to condemn a poor wretch who is innocent.""You know something about it, then?"
"Well, I know nearly all about it - that's honest, ain't it? About a week ago Hector wrote to me to meet him at Melun; I went, found him, and we breakfasted together.Then he told me that he was very much annoyed about his cook's marriage; for one of his servants was deeply in love with her, and might go and raise a rumpus at the wedding.""Ah, he spoke to you about the wedding, then?""Wait a minute.Hector seemed very much embarrassed, not knowing how to avoid the disturbance he feared.Then I advised him to send the servant off out of the way on the wedding-day.He thought a moment, and said that my advice was good.He added that he had found a means of doing this; on the evening of the marriage he would send the man on an errand for me, telling him that the affair was to be concealed from the countess.I was to dress up - as a chambermaid, and wait for the man at the cafe in the Place du Chatelet, between half-past nine and ten that evening; I was to sit at the table nearest the entrance on the right, with a bouquet in my hand, so that he should recognize me.He would come in and give me a package; then I was to ask him to take something, and so get him tipsy if possible, and then walk about Paris with him till morning."Jenny expressed herself with difficulty, hesitating, choosing her words, and trying to remember exactly what Tremorel said.
"And you," interrupted M.Lecoq, "did you believe all this story about a jealous servant?""Not quite; but I fancied that he had some intrigue on foot, and Iwasn't sorry to help him deceive a woman whom I detested, and who had wronged me.""So you did as he told you?"
"Exactly, from beginning to end; everything happened just as Hector had foreseen.The man came along at just ten o'clock, took me for a maid, and gave me the package.I naturally offered him a glass of beer; he took it and proposed another, which I also accepted.
He is a very nice fellow, this gardener, and I passed a very pleasant evening with him.He knew lots of queer things, and - ""Never mind that.What did you do then?""After the beer we had some wine, then some beer again, then some punch, then some more wine - the gardener had his pockets full of money.He was very tipsy by eleven and invited me to go and have a dance with him at the Batignolles.I refused, and asked him to escort me back to my mistress at the upper end of the Champs Elysees.We went out of the cafe and walked up the Rue de Rivoli, stopping every now and then for more wine and beer.By two o'clock the fellow was so far gone that he fell like a lump on a bench near the Arc de Triomphe, where he went to sleep; and there I left him.""Well, where did you go?"
"Home."
"What has become of the package?"
"Oh, I intended to throw it into the Seine, as Hector wished, but I forgot it; you see, I had drunk almost as much as the gardener - so I carried it back home with me, and it is in my room now.
"Have you opened it?"
"Well - what do you think?"
"What did it contain?"
"A hammer, two other tools and a large knife."Guespin's innocence was now evident, and the detective's foresight was realized.
"Guespin's all right," said M.Plantat."But we must know - "M.Lecoq interrupted him; he knew now all he wished.Jenny could tell him nothing more, so he suddenly changed his tone from a wheedling one to abrupt severity.
"My fine young woman," said he, "you have saved an innocent man, but you must repeat what you have just said to the judge of instruction at Corbeil.And as you might lose yourself on the way, I'll give you a guide."He went to the window and opened it; perceiving Goulard on the sidewalk, he cried out to him:
"Goulard, come up here."
He turned to the astonished Jenny, who was so frightened that she dared not either question him or get angry, and said:
"Tell me how much Tremorel paid you for the service you rendered him.""Ten thousand francs; but it is my due, I swear to you; for he promised it to me long ago, and owed it to me.""Very good; it can't be taken away from you." He added, pointing out Goulard who entered just then: "Go with this man to your room, take the package which Guespin brought you, and set out at once for Corbeil.Above all, no tricks, Miss - or beware of me!"Mme.Charman came in just in time to see Jenny leave the room with Goulard.
"Lord, what's the matter?" she asked M.Lecoq.
"Nothing, my dear Madame, nothing that concerns you in the least.
And so, thank you and good-evening; we are in a great hurry."