Mrs. Bertolle at once went out; but she noticed nothing suspicious, and found all the passages silent and deserted.  The spy had probably gone to make his report to his employers.  Daniel went down promptly; and, when he came back, he held in his hand a bundle of faded and crumpled papers, which he handed to Papa Ravinet, with the words,—­

“Here they are!”

Strange as it may seem, when the old gentleman touched these letters, impregnated with the peculiar perfume affected by Sarah Brandon, he trembled and turned pale.  Immediately, however, perhaps in order to conceal his embarrassment, or to be the better able to reflect, he took a candlestick from the mantlepiece, and sat down aside, at one of the small tables.  Mrs. Bertolle, Daniel, and Henrietta were silent; and nothing broke the stillness but the rustling of the paper, and the old gentleman’s voice as he muttered,—­

“This is fabulous,—­Sarah writing such things!  She did not even disguise her handwriting,—­she who never committed an imprudence in her life; she ruins herself.  And she signs her name!”

But he had seen enough.  He folded up the letters, and, rising again, said to Champcey,—­

“No doubt now!  Sarah loves you madly, insanely.  Ah! how she does love!  Well, well, all heartless women love thus when a sudden passion conquers them, setting their brains and their senses on fire, and”—­

Daniel noticed in Henrietta’s face a sign of concern; and, quite distressed, he beckoned to the old gentleman to say nothing more.  But he saw nothing, full as he was of his notion, and went on,—­

“Now I understand.  Sarah Brandon has not been able to keep her secret; and Brevan, seeing her love, and furious with jealousy, did not consider that to hire an assassin was to ruin himself.”

The indignation he felt had restored the blood to his face; and, as he struck the packet of letters with the palm of his hand, he exclaimed,—­

“Yes, all is clear now; and by this correspondence, Sarah Brandon, you are ours!”

What could be the plan of Papa Ravinet?  Did he expect to use these letters as weapons against her? or did he propose to send them to Count Ville-Handry in order to open his eyes?  Daniel trembled at the idea; for his loyalty rebelled against such a vengeance; he felt as if he would have become a traitor.

“You see, to use a woman’s correspondence, however odious and contemptible she may be, would always be very repugnant to me.”

“I had no idea of asking such a thing of you,” replied the old dealer.  “No; it is something very different I want you to do.”

And, when Daniel still seemed to be embarrassed, he added,—­

“You ought not to give way to such exaggerated delicacy, M. Champcey.  All weapons are fair when we are called upon to defend our lives and our honor against rascals; and that is where we are.  If we do not hasten to strike Sarah Brandon, she will anticipate us; and then”—­