Part 3: Does Noël Corbu know where Abbé Saunière's 50 billion franc treasure is hidden?

[Captions:
Left: Pierre Corbu, who dies with Lacoste trying to fly across the Atlantic.
This is Pierre Corbu, Noël Corbu's brother, a test-pilot with the firm of Farman, who died with Lacoste trying to cross the Atlantic on board the Oiseau Bleu in 1927, shortly after the ill-fated attempt by Nungesser and Coli.
Right: Baptismal fonts from the Visigothic era.

Sidebars:

Centre: Will excavations lead to the discovery of other treasures?
We have learned from unofficial sources that some excavations of a vaguely archaeological character which have been undertaken at Rennes-le-Château have yielded promising results. Since Rennes-le-Château was a major Visigothic stronghold and major treasures were buried there, there is a good chance that the Cathar treasure, including the famous Holy Grail, was also taken there.
Right: The Abbé's estate concealed many archaeological items.]

During the Second Crusade of St. Louis the French barons revolted against the royal power. Blanche of Castile, who lived at Rennes-le-Château, felt that Paris was not sufficiently secure to keep the royal treasure there, and so had it transported to her fief, where it was buried in a grotto.

After taking these precautions the Queen left for Paris to put down the revolt, which was actually snuffed out pretty quickly. Not long afterwards she died and was buried in the Abbey of Maubuisson.

On his return to his kingdom, St. Louis consolidated the crown's position before leaving for the Third Crusade. He died in Tunis in 1270 without ever touching the treasure concealed at Rennes-le-Château. Historians seem to be in agreement on this point.

The lack of interest in the treasure displayed by Philip the Bold over the following 15 years is hard to understand. Did he actually know where the treasure was concealed?

The secret of its whereabouts must certainly have been lost, as his successor, Philip the Fair, was forced to manufacture counterfeit money to prevent what we would now call galloping inflation.

Fifty billion francs...
“So, Monsieur Corbu, what do you think happened?”

Monsieur Corbu does not hesitate: “There's no possibility of any doubt. Thanks to the parchments which fell into his hands, Abbé Saunière found the famous treasure of Blanche of Castile. That would be the royal treasure with a present-day value of 50 billion francs, since it was composed in part of 18½ million francs in gold coins – the least significant of which would at the present time have just as much historical and archaeological importance as financial value – plus 400 million francs in specie.

How do Monsieur Corbu's explanations support his theory?
“The hundreds of letters you have in your possession certainly suggest, in an odd sort of way, that there might be some truth in this mystery of Rennes-le-Château, but my readership would, I think, like to know more.”

“No problem.”

And my indefatigable and enthusiastic companion, who certainly has the knack of persuading even the most sceptical of listeners, tells me how, during a walking-tour of the region, he came to meet, at Rennes-le-Château, Mademoiselle Denarnaud who, after the death of her employer Abbé Saunière, became sole proprietor of the house known as the Villa Bethania.

The delights of the place, which offered a magnificent view of the valley of the Aude, encouraged him to return again and again with his wife and children to take advantage of the charming hospitality of Mademoiselle Denarnaud.

The old lady became very fond of them, and eventually invited them to take up residence in Rennes-le-Château – and, better still, even offered to sell them the Villa Bethania.

And that's how the former residence of the curé of Rennes-le-Château became the welcoming “Hotel La Tour”.

The day in 1952 when Mademoiselle Denarnaud brought the whole mystery back to life...
My curiosity about this was insatiable.

“Did Marie Denarnaud know the secret?”

Monsieur Corbu, in a confiding tone, contents himself with the following simple utterances, which are heavy with innuendo.

“Judge for yourself. One especially fraught day when I was chatting to Mademoiselle Denarnaud about the loss of a major part of my personal fortune – about 60 million francs swallowed up in an ill-fated sugar venture in Morocco – she took me by the arm and looked at me pensively for a while and finally said, shaking her head like an aged fairy that had just leapt out of the pages of Perrault's fairy-tales: “Smile, Monsieur Corbu. Sixty-three million francs up in smoke – that's nothing! When I die you will be rich – immensely rich, richer than you could ever imagine.”

“She had several similar conversations with my wife.

“And then, just like the Abbé, she died suddenly – on 29 January 1953 it was – without ever divulging her great secret.”

Other riches besides a treasure...
There was a brief moment of silence in the living-room while a final log was burning in the fire. While the word “billions” resounded in my head I must admit I felt a certain anger concerning this poor old lady who'd been allowed to die suddenly without ever divulging her secret.

After a while I spoke:

“Monsieur Corbu, tell me, just between the two of us, is it within your power to find this treasure?”

“Who knows?” And in his enigmatic smile I thought I detected an indication of certainty.

“Has work already begun?”

“We're closing the hotel for the winter on Christmas Day. As for the “other” work, we'll let you know in due course. In any case the local landscape has given me a foretaste of things to come by delivering up some samples of its incalculable archaeological wealth. Look...”

There, in a small display-cabinet, was the skull of an ancestor who'd died “about 10,000 years ago”. I handled it, gazed at it, contemplated it. It inspired me to draw up the following list:

Initial discoveries of Monsieur Corbu
Palaeolithic era: Skull, bones, jawbone, teeth, flint arrow-head, pottery...

Neolithic era: Flint axe-head, bones.

Gaulish period: Amphora sherds.

Gallo-Roman period: Pottery, coins, medallions.

Visigothic period: The engagement ring of a princess (unique in the world).

Louis XIII: Coin of Gaston d'Orléans.

Louis XVI and year I of the Republic: A coin.

Monsieur Corbu reminded me that a bronze Roman chariot-wheel and shaft (now in the museum in Toulouse) had also been found at Rennes-le-Château, as well as several amphorae and coins.

Time to depart...
It was now one o'clock in the morning. The various phantoms which had gathered one by one around the dining-table during the recounting of this exciting tale had finally won back the mysterious treasure to which Abbé Saunière had accidentally found the key. In the living-room there remained only the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the sparking gold of the glasses of Blanquette from which I was happy to drink deep, and to propose a toast to the health of the poet-hotelier, wishing him rivers of gold, silver and precious-stones from this citadel of Rennes-le-Château, a village half-way between dream and reality.

When the front door of the Hotel La Tour opened onto the night and I stretched out my hand to say goodbye I seemed to see shining – where before there had been stars – millions of gold coins from the fabulous treasure of Blanche of Castile.