“Ah, Saints Peter and Paul pity a poor woman. Who do you think it is, then? Who do you think it is? I can’t think any more. Tell me, tell me that. You ought to know--you know everything. Come--who? I demand the truth. Who? Still some agent of the Committee, of the Central Committee? Still the Nihilists?”
“If it was only that!” said Rouletabille quietly.
“You have sworn to drive me mad! What do you mean by your ‘if it was only that’?”
Rouletabille, imperturbable, did not reply.
“What have you done with the potion?” said he.
“The potion? The glass of the crime! I have locked it in my room, in the cupboard--safe, safe!”
“Ah, but, madame, it is necessary to replace it where you took it from.”
“Yes, after having poured the poison into a phial, to wash the glass and fill it with another potion.”
“You are right. You think of everything. If the general wakes and wants his potion, he must not be suspicious of anything, and he must be able to have his drink.”
“It is not necessary that he should drink.”
“So that the person can be sure, madame, that if he has not drunk it is simply because he has not wished to. A pure chance, madame, that he is not poisoned. You understand me this time?”
“Yes, yes. O Christ! But how now, if the general wakes and wishes to drink his narcotic?”
“Tell him I forbid it. And here is another thing you must do. When--Someone--comes into the general’s chamber, in the morning, you must quite openly and naturally throw out the potion, useless and vapid, you see, and so Someone will have no right to be astonished that the general continues to enjoy excellent health.”
“Yes, yes, little one; you are wiser than King Solomon. And what will I do with the phial of poison?”
She went for it and returned five minutes later.
“He is still asleep. I have put the glass on the table, out of his reach. He will have to call me.”
“Very good. Then push the door to, close it; we have to talk things over.”
“But if someone goes back up the servants’ staircase?”
“Be easy about that. They think the general is poisoned already. It is the first care-free moment I have been able to enjoy in this house.”
“When will you stop making me shake with horror, little demon! You keep your secret well, I must say. The general is sleeping better than if he really were poisoned. But what shall we do about Natacha? I dare ask you that--you and you alone.”