Granville's estate

Because he was afraid that the last few words would be seen by Alred, Louis put the letter in an envelope as soon as it was written, and Alred, who thought he would see the contents of the letter, really raised his own doubts: " Louis, who did you write to?"

"I am writing to our old classmate in Saint-Etienne, Mr. Calliste de Durand." Louis said calmly, only he himself knew that his heart beat violently when he said this sentence. How fast: "He's a banker, sure he can come up with 15 francs, can't he? For the sake of being in the same boarding school before, if he is willing to help us, we can get through this first. "

Hearing the name of the viscount, Alred shook his head immediately, obviously thinking that this was impossible: "That Durand is very arrogant, he can't..."

"Hi! Monsieur de Granville, Monsieur du Farentin, have you been staying upstairs forever, have you become a girl's house?!"

Before Alred finished speaking, Jacques Bernard's rough voice came up from downstairs: "If you don't come down, I will go up, gentlemen!"

"Al, no matter what, you hide the pistol first, and you promised me." Fearing that Bernard and Officer Clement would really come to the second floor, Louis whispered to Alred, and then He picked up the letter and went out.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Bernard had already gone halfway up the stairs. When he looked up and saw Louis, Bernard stopped and shouted: "Ah, sir, I thought you were already there." He has escaped! Why, M. de Granville? Why doesn't he appear, and he is no longer in the house?"

"Mr. Jacques Bernard, please don't slander others at will, my friend is not in a good mood, please let him calm down." Louis said while suppressing his disgust, and then he called the servant's name: "Joseph! Joseph, where are you?"

"Sir, here I am!"

Joseph got out from under the stairs in response, and then ran to Louis. When he passed by Bernard, he deliberately bumped into the annoying tea merchant: "Sir, what are your orders?"

"Help me send this letter to the Durand Bank and give it to Mr. Viscount de Durand, and say that I wrote it to him. You can go in the carriage of Father Martin. He is more familiar with the roads of Paris. Go quickly. back."

"Oh, Monsieur Farentin, what are you trying to do?"

When Joseph, who took the envelope from Louis, walked past Bernard, the tea merchant yelled, and he roughly grabbed the letter from Joseph's hand: "I want to see what is written in this letter." What a conspiracy!"

"Monsieur Jacques Bernard, you are being very rude!"

Louis scolded angrily, he didn't expect Bernard to be so rude, but because of the distance, he had no time to stop him: "You took my letter in front of me, don't you even Don't you know what politeness is?"

"Sir, we rude people don't know what politeness is." Bernard replied arrogantly. He opened the envelope a few times and shook out the letter paper inside. Then he realized that he didn't know how to read and turned around. Going back to the first floor, he handed the letter to Guillonne du Clermont: "Officer, take a look, what is written in this letter? Do you want to contact their accomplices?"

Clement glanced at the contents of the letter, he was silent for a moment, and then asked Louis who came down from the second floor: "Mr. Du Farentin, what do you mean?"

"Mr. Police Officer, isn't Mr. Bernard asking for 15 francs in compensation, and that he must get it today, otherwise my friend will use his estate to pay off the debt?" Louis said, feeling that his palms had already leaked out. He was in a cold sweat, but he still put on an air of grandeur: "Well, I will send the servant to the bank and ask my agent if I sign a note for 15 francs, can they honor it today?" , isn’t this a normal thing? After all, 15 francs is a lot of money.”

"So, your agent at the bank is actually the manager of the Durand Bank, Mr. Farentin, this is a bit too unusual. I remember that you are not a nobleman."

When Officer Clermont said this, his gray-blue eyes looked at Louis as sharp as a knife: "However, if you have more than 15 francs in the Durand Bank, you can buy it now." Make an order for Monsieur Bernard to cash, and save your servants from running errands."

"I'm going to wait for my agent's reply first, Mr. Police Officer, his advice has always been very helpful to me." Louis said, he did not expect that Officer Clermont was so powerful, but behind him was his friend's Life and death, he can't back down even a step: "What are you worrying about, Mr. Police Officer? If my account can't pay the money, my friend will naturally pay, or use his property to pay off the debt, right? No matter what , you and Mr. Bernard just have to wait a little longer."

He met Clermont's scrutinizing gaze without fear, as if he really had hundreds of thousands of francs in the Durand Bank, and he just asked a servant to ask a question-in all fairness, although the police officer behaved despicably, But the demeanor he possessed that he has experienced in facing criminals for many years is really oppressive. If a lady with weaker nerves were to face his scrutiny, she might not be able to hold on for a minute and die. Was frightened fainted.

Officer Guillonet du Clermont looked at Louis, and he didn't speak for a while. Just when Louis almost thought he would order the letter to be torn up, Clermont said: "Let him deliver it."

"Oh, Mr. Inspector?"

Bernard looked at Officer Claremont in astonishment, obviously this was beyond his expectation: "But, Mr. Officer, they are clearly..."

"Let him take it off." Clement said briefly, staring at Louis: "I know Mr. Viscount Callister de Durand, although he probably doesn't know me. If that gentleman is willing to come here, I will I would be more than happy to talk to him, after all, the celebrities around His Royal Highness Count Artois are not so easy to see, don’t you think, Mr. Louis du Farentin?”

"Of course, Mr. Police Officer." Louis said, he felt that his palms were soaked in cold sweat: "Joseph, if you send this letter to Durand Bank, you must hand it to Mr. Viscount de Durand, before you Saw him a few nights."

Joseph looked at Louis in some astonishment, he thought for a while, and then showed an expression of sudden realization.

"I see, sir."

Joseph went there for more than an hour, and this hour or so was the most difficult time for Louis. He had to deal with Clermont's unsuspecting interrogation-like questions, as well as Bernard's temptations and challenges from time to time. taunted, and worried that Alred would break down in such a difficult environment and draw his gun violently, and even more worried that if Callister refused his request—if the Viscount refused, then what would happen to Louis and Alred In other words, this is a catastrophe! ——In the end, he didn't want to speak at all, no matter how much Bernard asked and ridiculed, he just sat beside Alred without saying a word.

And as time went on, Jacques Bernard became more and more irritable, and finally he had decided that Louis was deceiving him.

"I don't think you have any money in the bank at all, you are playing us!" He yelled at Louis, and then pointed the finger at Alred who was sitting aside: "Mr. de Granville, I have had enough , you now, immediately, write me a written statement, otherwise, I will send you to prison!"

"I'll write to you when my servant returns." Alred replied coldly.

Just when Bernard was about to force Allred again, there was the sound of carriages stopping one after another outside the door of No. 79 St. George Street, and then Joseph rushed in.

"Sir, Mr. Louis, Mr. Andrew Dumont from Durand Bank is here to visit!"

Joseph was very happy to tell Louis and Alred that he looked like a soldier who had won a great battle.

"Mr. Dumont?" Louis asked in amazement, he had never heard of this strange name before.

When Louis was very puzzled, a man with a cane and a servant walked into No. 79 St. George Street and greeted them happily.

"Mr. Farentin, Mr. de Granville, good afternoon, I am Andrew Dumont, a senior executive of Durand Bank."

This Mr. Dumont is of medium build, neither tall nor fat. Although he is wearing a white stiff-collared shirt and a black coat that can be regarded as the standard attire for bank employees, he does not appear to be the usual dull look of employees at all. On the contrary, he behaves elegantly and has an easy-going expression, which makes people feel good at the first sight.

"Hello, Mr. Dumont."

Since they greeted each other, Louis and Alrede naturally had to answer, and after such a short time, Mr. Dumont, who had never seen them before, had already figured out which of them was Louis, and he happily With a slight smile, he signaled his servant to send the illuminated envelope in his hand: "Mr. Louis, this is a letter from Mr. Viscount. He asked me to bring it to you--ah, Mr. Jacques Bernard, this letter may be It's not up to you to move."

Mr. Dumont spoke very lightly, but the movements of his hands were merciless - his cane opened Bernard's hand that was stretched out.

Bernard, who wanted to snatch the envelope but was hit by it, snorted through his nose: "Who cares if it's not a bill! — No, how do you know who I am? I haven't seen you."

Louis didn't care about Bernard at all. He opened the lacquer envelope painted with golden irises, only to find that there was only a short note in the envelope, and the handwriting on it was very chic and graceful:

"All to Dumont. Calliste de Durand."