Savage Tales

at home, as I had anticipated. I was admitted to the library and awaited the viscountess. She came in after fifteen minutes of browsing through her expansive collection of Dumas, and I kissed her hand.
    "Madam, it is always a pleasure to see you. Always."
    "I see, monsieur, and it is good to see you as well. But I confess that this visit comes as something of a surprise. I have no need for perfumes at present. Your previous bottles are still flowing with abundance."
    "Wonderful, wonderful to hear it. And that is as it should be. My wares are always a bargain, even for one as wealthfully endowed as you and your esteemed husband. I do, however, have many new scents that would no doubt interest a woman of your taste and splendor, but I confess that that is not the reason that draws me here today. No, madam, we have some unaccounted business to discuss."
    "Our account, you mean? Do you say that there's an amount due that we have yet to tally?"
    "Something of that nature, madam. A very discreet issue. You see… well, how can I put this? When I was last here in September – do you recall, madam? – I sold you several of our newest, finest perfumes. I'm sure you recall."
    "Yes, and I was under the impression that they had been fully paid for."
    "They had. They were. They are. That is not the accounting I speak of."
    "What then?"
    "Well, madam, this concerns my departure. We were in this very room when we completed the transaction, and I remember bidding you adieu. You said goodbye and were about to call a servant to guide me to my exit, when I told you that there was no need, I recalled the way, and that I would find my own way out. I must confess, however, that I did not make so quick an exit as I had planned. And I sincerely confess that I had no plans to go anywhere but back to my coach and straight away to my shop in the village. It was as I left, you see, that my sidetracking began. I was walking down your hall, when I heard the voice that I ineluctably knew as that of your husband. That ringing baritone was suppressed, but even in its faintest concordance it carried a loudness that I could make out. The words entered my ears with no effort on my part and the words I heard slowed my feet to a halt. What I heard, madam, was most incendiary. Need I repeat those words? Very well, they concerned our present government and certain positions of power most high. Your husband spoke not with the glibness of most men in his position, but with the fiery tones of a rebel. I listened on, and he spoke of an assassination attempt against F—–— and I could only gape with amazement. I rushed down the stairs and made my exit with much haste, holding onto those words I heard and not daring to believe them.
    "I suppose you know the rest. It was not a hair's length after that last visit of mine to your house that the events we both know transpired. Yes, Monsieur F—–— was murdered with such bloody deliberation in his own bed, in his own home. At first my mind saw the headline and I pushed it away, not daring to connect the dots with what I knew. Surely not your husband… involved… such heinous activities… no, not he. But I knew what I had heard and could only turn away for so long. And when a reward was offered by the government for any information leading to the arrest of individuals involved with this affair – well, what would you have of me, madam? I am a working man with a family to support. I am a man."
    "So you have gone to the police?" said the viscountess.
    "I have not, madam. Not yet."
    "I see. So it is blackmail. And what is your price? And before you name it and have my decision, understand that there is no proof but your ugly word that will connect my husband to this affair, and should I choose to pay it off and get you out of the way it will be at my own bidding and my husband shall never hear of it. And understand that I have the full ability of discovering what the police will pay for this information you supposedly have, so do not go naming exorbitant amounts and expect me to comply."
    "Madam, I think you do me an injustice in your suppositions. I am only after the fair token of my complicity in this strange affair. I only ask for the fee that will hold me in place and keep me from losing my sanity and preserving my friends and customers. It is simply the fact that I have dangling over my head ever ready a large sum for a small piece of information. I would rather hold it fast if the price is right via