This evening the theme of the discourse was a phrase of Chateaubriand’s: “The tiger kills and sleeps; man kills and is sleepless.” On listening to the discussion, Saniel said to himself that it was truly a pity not to be able to reply to all this rhetoric by a simple fact of personal experience. He had never slept so well, so tranquilly, as since Caffie’s death, which relieved him from all the cares that in these last months had tormented and broken his sleep so much. At the end, Brigard concluded the discussion on saying that nothing better proved the power of the human conscience than this difference between man and beast. When they had all gone but Brigard, and Saniel was alone with him and Crozat, he stated his desire. “But is it the Caffie affair?” “Exactly.” And he explained in detail the interest he felt in Florentin, the son of one of his patients, and also the situation of this patient. Brigard strongly recommended Nougarede, and described his recent successes before a jury. Crozat concurred with Brigard, and advised Saniel to see Nougarede the day after to-morrow. “In the morning, because after the Palais, Nougarede will be at his wedding, which, as you know, prevents him from coming here this evening.” “What! Nougarede married?” exclaimed Saniel, surprised that the favorite disciple gave this lie to the doctrine and examples of his master. “My God, yes! We must not be too hard on him. “He submits to the fate of a special environment. Without our knowledge, Nougarede, we may say it now, and ought to say it, was the happy lover of a charming young person, the daughter of one of our most distinguished actresses, who was brought up in a fashionable convent. You see the situation. The result of this liaison was a child, a delicious little boy. It seemed quite natural that they should live ‘en union libre’, since they loved each other, and not weaken by legalities the strength of those that attached them to this child. But the mother is an actress, as I have told you, and wished her daughter to receive all the sacraments that the law and the church can confer. She managed so well that poor Nougarede yielded. He goes to the mayor, to the church; he legitimizes the child, and he even accepts a dot of two hundred thousand francs. I pity him, the unfortunate man! But I confess that I have the weakness to not condemn him as he would deserve if he married in any other way.” Saniel was a little surprised at these points of resemblance with the charming young person that Caffie had proposed to him. At the least, it was curious; but if it were the same woman, he was not vexed to see that Nougarede had been less difficult than himself. CHAPTER XXIII. STUNNING NEWS On going to see Nougarede, Saniel vaguely fancied the lawyer would tell him that an acquittal was certain if Florentin passed to the assizes, and even that an ‘ordonnance de non-lieu’ was probable. But his hope was not realized.