Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 5.djvu/156

134 She sighed, and was very soon fast asleep again.

A famous moralist has said that men are never garrulous when they have all their heart's desire. It is not surprising, therefore, that Léon made no further attempt to renew the conversation or to discourse upon the noises in the hotel at N———. Nevertheless, he was preoccupied, and his imagination pieced together many events to which in another mood he would have paid no attention. The evil countenance of the Englishman's nephew returned to his memory. There was hatred in the look that he threw at his uncle even while he spoke humbly to him, doubtless because he was asking for money.

What would be easier than for a man, still young and vigorous, and desperate besides, to climb from the garden to the window of the next room? Moreover, he was staying at the hotel, and would walk in the garden after dark, perhaps. .. quite possibly. .. undoubtedly, he knew that his uncle's black bag contained a thick bundle of bank-notes. And that heavy blow, like the blow of a club on a bald head! . .. that stifled cry! . .. that fearful oath! and those steps afterwards! That nephew looked like an assassin. . .. But people do not assassinate in a hotel full of