Baron De Valfort Diary Entries

After dinner, coffee was served in the “Petit Salon”. The Baron de Valfort offered a glass of Charteuse to the ladies. Afterwards, he called Étienne, and speaking in his ear, gave him some mysterious orders. I could not make out what he had whispered to his valet, however, I did not have to wait long to learn what he had been so cagey about. “My friends,” he said, raising his arms, in a high gesture, meant to capture our attention, “you are, in a moment, ‘a vintage moment’, if I may say so, going to taste a very special ‘Cognac Napoléon’ from my very private stock.” A round of applause greeted the words of the Baron. I joined in the jubilation, even though I was unable to catch the ‘profundity’ of the announcement, until Henri, the Baron’s …show more content…
Et faites ce que je vous dis! Do as you’re told! ” “Very well Sir.” As soon as Étienne departed, Armand de Valfort addressed his guests whose faces, all expressed a concern that I shared with them. The Baron, on the contrary, didn’t seem to be much affected by the incident; perhaps, Étienne had given him in the past, reasons to remain casual about such mishaps. After a while, he proposed a game of bridge, and Madame Chaboix applauded the idea with the same juvenile ardor that she was displaying on the stage, at the peak of her operatic career. As she went around the room to “recruit” a partner, Saturnin Valloix approached his son-in-law. The old man looked upset. When he realized I was standing next to the Baron, he was startled as if he suddenly wondered what I was doing here. Finally, despite my intrusive presence, he could not hold his tongue any longer. “Armand! Listen! I think I saw somebody outside.” “What?!” “I know it sounds silly, but Armand...! It’s true! I just saw a man. He seemed to be roaming around the house.” “Are you sure?” “Absolutely certain!” answered Monsieur Valloix. “I went to draw the drapes, because of the storm,” he pointed, next. “Amandine is terribly scared of the lightning. You …show more content…
The father-in-law of the Baron. You scared him. What’s so funny?” “Nothing, except he’s another mug with the initials VS, and maybe he’s the one who wrote the ‘blue letter.’” What he said startled me! Indeed, the initials corresponded to ‘Saturnin Valloix’, and even though other names could also present that compromising particularity, I felt ashamed not to have thought of it. In order to save face in front of my old friend, I pretended not to pay attention to his remark, feigning, that way, to have already pondered “the importance of being V.S.” and discarded, for some deep and mysterious reason of mine, the possibility for the old man to be included in the list of suspects. Sanvergogne was not duped by my poor attempt to fool him, but he was my friend, and it was impossible for him to conceive any fault in the brilliant mechanic that he so wrongly imagined I had for a brain. He quickly changed the subject. “I’m sorry, mon Capitaine, I had to warn you… I should have done it earlier at the Bistrot when we were having a drink, but I wasn’t sure then… So, I came back here to check… I entered the house through the window of the office… ” “And?” I interjected. Sanvergogne did not answer. He had totally stopped