He had to be kept in absolute ignorance of the part
he was to play in the bloody tragedy until the moment of its
denouement arrived. Meantime he must be plied with drink, maddened
with jealousy, made desperate with losses, and at war with himself
and all the world, and then the whole fury of his rage should, by
the artful contrivance of De Pean, be turned, without a minute's
time for reflection, upon the head of the unsuspecting Bourgeois.
To accomplish this successfully, a woman's aid was required, at once
to blind Le Gardeur and to sharpen his sword.
In the interests of the Company Angelique des Meloises was at all
times a violent partisan. The Golden Dog and all its belongings
were objects of her open aversion. But De Pean feared to impart to
her his intention to push Le Gardeur blindly into the affair. She
might fear for the life of one she loved. De Pean reflected angrily
on this, but he determined she should be on the spot. The sight of
her and a word from her, which De Pean would prompt at the critical
moment, should decide Le Gardeur to attack the Bourgeois and kill
him; and then, what would follow? De Pean rubbed his hands with
ecstasy at the thought that Le Gardeur would inevitably bite the
dust under the avenging hand of Pierre Philibert, and Angelique
would be his beyond all fear of rivals.
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