The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-10-03

passed through London, though so hurricdly
that he had not had time 20 SEQ the Crown
diamonds at the Tower.
Gontran could hardly contain himself
The sang -froid Of Mr.. De Bermont was too
much for him. lie did not doubt for a mo
mcnt but that Mr.. De Bermont was the man
whom he had already met. Every thing
proved II, and, above all, the white, corpse
like hands. lie remarked soon that Victor's
glance became fixed upon Mile. Dc Rigny,
who seemed to lie fascinated by IL, and who
did not remove her eyes from tho pale face of
the young man, whom Gontran saw smile
with an air of wicked triumph The Mar
qus felt himself seized with workable YER
tgo. 1t seemed to him that he was no
longer in the Countcss's house, but in some
fantastic world. This nightmare of n waking
man became soon so unbearable and SO ter
rible that Gontran rose, left the dining
| room, and threw himself into the first arm
chair that he found, closing his eyes and
burying his face in his hands. II seemed to
him as IL his brain were In cbullition or that
legion of gnomcs were teasing him.
ooh! that man." he said. " hate him
But who is her The godson of Mime. DE
RignyY They never spoke to mo about him.
Eth Mol n thousand times no; IL Is the
murderer OF Helen; Vice. Baglanovicli too
| would recognize him"
And he thought that Mr.. DE Bermont had
looked at Mile. De Rigny AS formerly he had
looked ut Helen. This thought made tho
blood mount to Mr.. Do Rouvrc's heart; he
returned brusqucly to the dinng-room.
This time, by singular contrast, the face
of Mr.. Do Bcrmont appeared to him quito
peaceful and prcpossessing. The pale young
man was at that moment absorbed In the
dissection of the wing of a partridge, and he
did not dcgn to look at his enemy But
MILE DE Rigny did not take her eyes oil him.
| Tho Marquis noticed the fact and his wrath
| returned. Gontran further noticed that Mr..
De Bcrmont affected to refuse certain dishes
which were rcputed excellent. Mr.. Dc Der
mont devoured meats with blood in them and
ate enormously. This appetite, which was,
by the way, quite natural, seemed to Con
tran savage voracity. man with such
white hands, who looked ut Louise 50 elo
qucntly, who alto 10 grcedily, could be moth
ing but u vampire.
Mr.. De Rouvre returned to his home thor
oughy persuaded that Providence, in plac.
ing him face to face with the vampire of
Prcstag, had assigned him an important role;
that, namely, of delivering the Do Rigny
| family from such monster. II was more
| than q role which liu had to fulfill; IL was a
| duty. How could he succeed in his task
| lIe would reflect, but he would certainly act
| soon, and would show himself perfectly i'm
placablc.
Gontran passed n very agitatcd night. All
| the superstitions of his youth, all the black
and blue tales that he had read in his early
years, all his unwholcsome studies in mat
tcrs of alchemy, nccromancy, magnetism
| combined to procure him the most dreadful
| visions and tho most complicated dreams.
| In the morning he was worn out and livid.
| lie rose almost with pain and hurried off to
see the Countess, and told her frankly and
clearly what he thought of Mr.. Do Bermont.
"Nonscnsc said Madame De lligny,
"You are joking, Monsieur 10 Marquis.
Besides, see through your game; yon are
Jealous"
81 jcalousr'
| "Ycs, of MIR. De Bcrmont. You know that
| he has asked Louiscs hand, and you find it
an easy way to get rid off rival to treat him
us q vampire"
She was laughing. Gontran became pale,
and said to her, trembling:
"I bcscrcl you, Madame, remove Mr.. De
Bcrnont from your house. Superstition or
| folly, believe that that man brings misfor
tune with him. lie is not the stranger of
Prestag-I admit that-but he is the evil
eye, the jettatore of Paris. II is not ho who
killed Helen, admit, but it is he who will
kill Lousc!"
"Indeed, Marquis" said the Countess,
becoming pale in turn, think what You are
saying. Such n supposition is absurd; it is
a calumny, Mr.. De Rouvrc."
essay that it is cowardce |" cried the Mar
luis. "But love Louise. Is she not my
liamccl Oh, will save her, and perhaps |
will save her in spite of you! That Mr.. De
Bcrmont, if it be necdful, will kill him ~
"You are really mad, Mr.. De Rouvrc,"
said the Countess. "What warlike mood is
this Has what Dante calls the lust of blood
invaded you DO you not know, )" she added
laughingly, "that vampires cannot be
killed ~
eyes" coldly replied Mr.. De Rouvrc; if
you tear out their heart, burn it, and scatter
the dust to the four winds"
! This time the Countess shuddered, drew
back invountarily, and looked with terror
at this man, dressed in the latest and most
elegant fashion, who played with his stick
and talked of killing man, simply because
he suspected him of vampirism. This fanatic
in vanished boots was really terrible; his
wild eye his clenchcd teeth, his purple lips
would have terrified u less courageous woman
than Nine. De Rigny. Hardly treasured, thu
Countess briefly related the existence oil
Victor de Bermont. He was the most afablt
and gcntlemanly man in the world, n littl,
cold, enthusiastic enough to love, and cgost
enough to be loved, witty without aiming al
| wit, aud the possessor of n mediocre fortune
{ which, however, his economical habits mad,
considerable. He lived in retirement; he
! was an enemy of society, but not of men
capable of utter devotion-who knows 2--bui
, incapable of the slightest caprice.
Gontran withdrew, unconvinced. He saw
only one thing in all this, namely, that the
I Countess thought of giving her daughter IL
/ Mr.. Dc Bermont. His rage was then at IT.
height; amour propre came to tho aid of hi,
,yilI and in fntt1, 1ln IA
Louise must be saved Mt any price, with the
, accent of tho crusaders shouting Dier G
rohu'
1 That very''evening GOntran learned that Mr.
De Berinont lived in the Rue Rodier, in NJ
D entrcsoi strangely furnished, rs tho door
4 porter said; that hc came home regularly n
midnight and never left his home befor,
noon; and, finally, that he had German ser
want named Gerdor. All these circumstances
seemed exceedingly romantic to the Marquis
De Rouvro. In the first place. what nh ide;
$ to 80 and live in the Rue Rodier. The dis
. trict is almost deserted and the street narrow
Y One must he terribly in love with solitude I,
: go and live there. Then that regularity o
: conduct those fixed habits, that life of dis
cipline, was not all that proof that Mr.. d.
| Bermont was hiding some terrible secret
4 From that moment dontran's brain was Xix
u furnace. He conceived Il thousand viii,
= projects he had, like a celebrated publicist
: Emile do Girardn, mt least one idea for got
ting rid of the man whose presence annoye'
il him. He first of all thought of provoking
q him To u duel, but that was too vulgar n wa.
It to kill n vampire.
!. His visits to the Hotel dc Rigny bccam
% rarer. He remarked that the Countess 4,
It ceived him with sort of GOODNESS. When h
II spoke Of marriage ono day, Mme. De Rign
& made an cvasivo answer. lie insisted an
~ asked her to fix n date. Mime. DE Rigny r,
l. piled that Louise was very unwell.
II "Of course she IL - said tho Marqui,
= his eyes darling fire. sit is that wretch
10 is hep'
l. "of whom ara you speaking % said I'll
st Countess.
II will kill him." said Mr.. De Rouvr
10 without replying.
Is He left Nine. De Rigny entirely convince