"I am sure of it. But for that, he would certainly have come to the house, as he has done every evening for a month. Besides, he said so himself in the letter which he sent Dionysia by one of his tenants, and which she mentioned to you. He wrote, 'I curse from the bottom of my heart the business which prevents me from spending the evening with you; but I cannot possibly defer it any longer. To-morrow!' ""You see," said M. Seneschal.
"The letter is of such a nature," continued the old gentleman, "that Irepeat, No man who premeditated such a hideous crime could possibly have written it. Nevertheless, I confess to you, that, when I heard the fatal news, this very allusion to some pressing business impressed me painfully."But the young lawyer seemed to be far from being convinced.
"It is evident," he said, "that M. de Boiscoran will on no account let it be known where he went.""He told a falsehood, sir," insisted M. Seneschal. "He commenced by denying that he had gone the way on which the witnesses met him.""Very naturally, since he desires to keep the place unknown to which he went.""He did not say any more when he was told that he was under arrest.""Because he hopes he will get out of this trouble without betraying his secret.""If that were so, it would be very strange.""Stranger things than that have happened.""To allow himself to be accused of incendiarism and murder when he is innocent!""To be innocent, and to allow one's self to be condemned, is still stranger; and yet there are instances"--The young lawyer spoke in that short, imperious tone which is, so to say, the privilege of his profession, and with such an accent of assurance, that M. de Chandore felt his hopes revive. M. Seneschal was sorely troubled.
"And what do you think, sir?" he asked.
"That M. de Boiscoran must be innocent," replied the young advocate.
And, without leaving time for objections, he continued,--"That is the opinion of a man who is not influenced by any consideration. I come here without any preconceived notions. I do not know Count Claudieuse any more than M. de Boiscoran. A crime has been committed: I am told the circumstances; and I at once come to the conclusion that the reasons which led to the arrest of the accused would lead me to set him at liberty.""Oh!"
"Let me explain. If M. de Boiscoran is guilty, he has shown, in the way in which he received M. Galpin at the house, a perfectly unheard-of self-control, and a matchless genius for comedy. Therefore, if he is guilty, he is immensely clever"--"But."
"Allow me to finish. If he is guilty, he has in the examination shown a marvellous want of self-control, and, to be brief, a nameless stupidity: therefore, if he is guilty, he is immensely stupid"--"But."
"Allow me to finish. Can one and the same person be at once so unusually clever and so unusually stupid? Judge yourself. But again:
if M. de Boiscoran is guilty, he ought to be sent to the insane asylum, and not to prison; for any one else but a madman would have poured out the dirty water in which he had washed his blackened hands, and would have buried anywhere that famous breech-loader, of which the prosecution makes such good use.""Jacques is safe!" exclaimed M. de Chandore.
M. Seneschal was not so easily won over.
"That is specious pleading," he said. "Unfortunately, we want something more than a logic conclusion to meet a jury with an abundance of witnesses on the other side.""We will find more on our side."
"What do you propose to do?"
"I do not know. I have just told you my first impression. Now I must study the case, and examine the witnesses, beginning with old Anthony."M. de Chandore had risen. He said,--
"We can reach Boiscoran in an hour. Shall I send for my carriage?""As quickly as possible," replied the young lawyer.
M. de Chandore's servant was back in a quarter of an hour, and announced that the carriage was at the door. M. de Chandore and M.
Folgat took their seats; and, while they were getting in, the mayor warned the young Paris lawyer,--"Above all, be prudent and circumspect. The public mind is already but too much inflamed. Politics are mixed up with the case. I am afraid of some disturbance at the burial of the firemen; and they bring me word that Dr. Seignebos wants to make a speech at the graveyard. Good-by and good luck!"The driver whipped the horse, and, as the carriage was going down through the suburbs, M. de Chandore said,--"I cannot understand why Anthony did not come to me immediately after his master had been arrested. What can have happened to him?"IV.
M. Seneschal's horse was perhaps one of the very best in the whole province; but M. de Chandore's was still better. In less than fifty minutes they had driven the whole distance to Boiscoran; and during this time M. de Chandore and M. Folgat had not exchanged fifty words.
When they reached Boiscoran, the courtyard was silent and deserted.
Doors and windows were hermetically closed. On the steps of the porch sat a stout young peasant, who, at the sight of the newcomers, rose, and carried his hand to his cap.
"Where is Anthony?" asked M. de Chandore.
"Up stairs, sir."
The old gentleman tried to open the door: it resisted.
"O sir! Anthony has barricaded the door from the inside.""A curious idea," said M. de Chandore, knocking with the butt-end of his whip.
He was knocking fiercer and fiercer, when at last Anthony's voice was heard from within,--"Who is there?"
"It is I, Baron Chandore."
The bars were removed instantly, and the old valet showed himself in the door. He looked pale and undone. The disordered condition of his beard, his hair, and his dress, showed that he had not been to bed.
And this disorder was full of meaning in a man who ordinarily prided himself upon appearing always in the dress of an English gentleman.
