At the Villa Rose Read Online Free PDF Page B

nodded his head.
    "I know; and in a Juge d'Instruction it is very embarrassing. Let us
walk on."
    Half-way between the gate and the villa a second carriage-road struck
off to the left, and at the entrance to it stood a young, stout man in
black leggings.
    "The chauffeur?" asked Hanaud. "I will speak to him."
    The Commissaire called the chauffeur forward.
    "Servettaz," he said, "you will answer any questions which monsieur may
put to you."
    "Certainly, M. le Commissaire," said the chauffeur. His manner was
serious, but he answered readily. There was no sign of fear upon his
face.
    "How long have you been with Mme. Dauvray?" Hanaud asked.
    "Four months, monsieur. I drove her to Aix from Paris."
    "And since your parents live at Chambery you wished to seize the
opportunity of spending a day with them while you were so near?"
    "Yes, monsieur."
    "When did you ask for permission?"
    "On Saturday, monsieur."
    "Did you ask particularly that you should have yesterday, the Tuesday?"
    "No, monsieur; I asked only for a day whenever it should be convenient
to madame."
    "Quite so," said Hanaud. "Now, when did Mme. Dauvray tell you that you
might have Tuesday?"
    Servettaz hesitated. His face became troubled. When he spoke, he spoke
reluctantly.
    "It was not Mme. Dauvray, monsieur, who told me that I might go on
Tuesday," he said.
    "Not Mme. Dauvray! Who was it, then?" Hanaud asked sharply.
    Servettaz glanced from one to another of the grave faces which
confronted him.
    "It was Mlle. Celie," he said, "who told me."
    "Oh!" said Hanaud, slowly. "It was Mlle. Celie. When did she tell you?"
    "On Monday morning, monsieur. I was cleaning the car. She came to the
garage with some flowers in her hand which she had been cutting in the
garden, and she said: 'I was right, Alphonse. Madame has a kind heart.
You can go to-morrow by the train which leaves Aix at 1.52 and arrives
at Chambery at nine minutes after two.'"
    Hanaud started.
    "'I was right, Alphonse.' Were those her words? And 'Madame has a kind
heart.' Come, come, what is all this?" He lifted a warning finger and
said gravely, "Be very careful, Servettaz."
    "Those were her words, monsieur."
    "'I was right, Alphonse. Madame has a kind heart'?"
    "Yes, monsieur."
    "Then Mlle. Celie had spoken to you before about this visit of yours to
Chambery," said Hanaud, with his eyes fixed steadily upon the
chauffeur's face. The distress upon Servettaz's face increased.
Suddenly Hanaud's voice rang sharply. "You hesitate. Begin at the
beginning. Speak the truth, Servettaz!"
    "Monsieur, I am speaking the truth," said the chauffeur. "It is true I
hesitate ... I have heard this morning what people are saying ... I do
not know what to think. Mlle. Celie was always kind and thoughtful for
me ... But it is true"—and with a kind of desperation he went
on—"yes, it is true that it was Mlle. Celie who first suggested to me
that I should ask for a day to go to Chambery."
    "When did she suggest it?"
    "On the Saturday."
    To Mr. Ricardo the words were startling. He glanced with pity towards
Wethermill. Wethermill, however, had made up his mind for good and all.
He stood with a dogged look upon his face, his chin thrust forward, his
eyes upon the chauffeur. Besnard, the Commissaire, had made up his
mind, too. He merely shrugged his shoulders. Hanaud stepped forward and
laid his hand gently on the chauffeur's arm.
    "Come, my friend," he said, "let us hear exactly how this happened!"
    "Mlle. Celie," said Servettaz, with genuine compunction in his voice,
"came to the garage on Saturday morning and ordered the car for the
afternoon. She stayed and talked to me for a little while, as she often
did. She said that she had been told that my parents lived at Chambery,
and since I was so near I ought to ask for a holiday. For it would not
be kind if I did not go and see them."
    "That was all?"
    "Yes, monsieur."
    "Very well." And the detective resumed at once his brisk voice and
alert manner. He seemed to dismiss Servettaz's