The House of the Combrays | Page 3

the
château, and we came home through the woods at night in perfect
security. Sometimes in the afternoon my mother went to visit Mme. de
Combray, and always found her playing at cards or tric-trac with
friends staying at the château or passing through, but oftenest with a
stout man, her lawyer. No existence could be more commonplace or
peaceful. Although they talked politics freely (but with more restraint
than my mother), she told me later that she never for one moment
suspected that she was in a nest of conspirators. Once or twice only
Mme. de Combray, touched by the sincerity and ardour of her loyalty,
seemed to be on the point of confiding in her. She even forgot herself
so far as to say:--'Oh! if you were not so hot-headed, one would tell you
certain things!'--but as if already regretting that she had said so much,
she stopped abruptly.

"One night, when my mother could not sleep, her attention was
attracted by a dull noise down-stairs, as if some one were shutting a
trap-door clumsily. She lay awake all night uneasily, listening, but in
vain. Next morning we found the room down-stairs in its usual
condition; but my mother would not admit that she had been dreaming,
and the same day spoke to Mme. de Combray, who joked her about it,
and sent her to the gardener. The latter said he had made the noise.
Passing the tower he had imagined that the door was not firmly closed,
and had pushed against it to make sure. The incident did not occur
again; but several days later there was a new, and this time more
serious, alarm.
"I had noticed on top of the tower a blackbird's nest, which could easily
be reached from the platform, but, faithful to orders, I had never gone
up there. This time, however, the temptation was too strong. I watched
until my mother and the servant were in our little garden, and then
climbed nimbly up to take the nest. On the landing of the second floor,
curious to get a peep at the uninhabited rooms, I pushed open the door,
and saw distinctly behind the glass door in the partition that separated
the two rooms, a green curtain drawn quickly. In a great fright I rushed
down-stairs head over heels, and ran into the garden, calling my mother
and shouting, 'There is some one up-stairs in the room!' She did not
believe it and scolded me. As I insisted she followed me up-stairs with
the servant. From the landing my mother cried, 'Is any one there?'
Silence. She pushed open the glass door. No one to be seen--only a
folding-bed, unmade. She touched it; it was warm! Some one had been
there, asleep,--dressed, no doubt. Where was he? On the platform? We
went up. No one was there! He had no doubt escaped when I ran to the
garden!
"We went down again quickly and our servant called the gardener. He
had disappeared. We saddled the donkey, and my mother went
hurry-scurry to the château. She found the lawyer at the eternal tric-trac
with Mme. de Combray, who frowned at the first word, not even
interrupting her game.
"'More dreams! The room is unoccupied! No one sleeps there!'

"'But the curtain!'
"'Well, what of the curtain? Your child made a draught by opening the
door, and the curtain swung.'
"'But the bed, still warm!'
"'The gardener has some cats that must have been lying there, and ran
away when the door was opened, and that's all about it!'
"'And yet--'
"'Well, have you found this ghost?'
"'No.'
"'Well then?' And she shook her dice rather roughly without paying any
more attention to my mother, who after exchanging a curt good-night
with the Marquise, returned to the tower, so little convinced of the
presence of the cats that she took two screw-rings from one of our
boxes, fixed them on to the trap-door, closed them with a padlock, took
the key and said, 'Now we will see if any one comes in that way.' And
for greater security she decided to lift the drawbridge after supper. We
all three took hold of the rope that moved with difficulty on the rusty
pulley. It was hard; we made three attempts. At last it moved, the
bridge shook, lifted, came right up. It was done! And that evening,
beside my bed, my mother said:
"'We will not grow old in her Bastille!'
"Which was true, for eight days later we were awakened in the middle
of the night by a terrible hubbub on the ground floor. From our landing
we heard several voices, swearing and raging under the trap-door which
they were trying to raise, to which the padlock offered but feeble
resistance, for a strong push