ate
audacity of a Gascon in extremity, to attempt to surprise the secret of
Blue Beard and undertake to espouse her. Such was possibly the fixed
design of the Chevalier de Croustillac; he was not a man to renounce so
easily the hope, insane as it was, of marrying a woman worth millions;
beautiful or plain, young or old, it mattered little to him.

As a means to success, he counted upon his good carriage, his spirit,
his amiability, and his manner, at the same time gallant and proud--for
the chevalier had an excellent opinion of himself--but he counted still
more on his wit, his cunning, and his courage. In fine, a man alert and
determined, who had nothing to lose and feared nothing, who believed
implicitly in himself and his star; who could say to himself as did
Croustillac, "In risking death during a moment--for death can be but a
moment's agony--I _may_ live in luxury and opulence"--such a man can
perform miracles above all when he undertakes a project with such a
grand object and as stimulating as that proposed by Croustillac.

According to his resolve, Father Griffen, after he had brought to a
close the affairs which detained him at St. Pierre, invited the
chevalier to accompany him to Macouba, to remain there until the Unicorn
should sail again for France. Macouba being distant not more than four
or five leagues from Devil's Cliff, the chevalier, who had spent his
three crowns and who found himself without resources, accepted the offer
of the worthy priest, without further enlightening him as to his resolve
concerning Blue Beard; this he would not reveal until the moment arrived
to put it into execution.

After taking leave of Captain Daniel, the chevalier and the priest
embarked in a small boat. Favored by a good wind from the south, they
set sail for Macouba. Croustillac appeared indifferent to the
magnificent and novel scenes which were afforded by the coast of
Martinique, seen from the water; the tropical vegetation whose verdure,
of a tone almost metallic, outlined on a glowing sky, affected him very
little.

The adventurer, with his eyes fixed on the scintillating wake which the
boat left behind her, seemed to see flashing the living rays of Blue
Beard's diamonds; the little green herbs, standing in relief from the
submerged meadows which edged the winding shores, pictured to the Gascon
the emeralds of the widow; while some drops of water sparkled in the sun
in the fall of the oars made him dream of the s