The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. TitmarshThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
“On the very night of the 1st of November, and immediately after the
catastrophe, we remark how Peytel begins to make insinuations against
his servant; and how artfully, in order to render them more sure, he
disseminates them through the different parts of his narrative. But, in
the course of the proceeding, these charges have met with a most
complete denial. Thus we find the disobedient servant who, at Pont
d’Ain, refused to carry the money-chest to his master’s room, under the
pretext that the gates of the inn were closed securely, occupied with
tending the horses after their long journey: meanwhile Peytel was
standing by, and neither master nor servant exchanged a word, and the
witnesses who beheld them both have borne testimony to the zeal and
care of the domestic.
“In like manner, we find that the servant, who was so remiss in the
morning as to neglect to go to his master for orders, was ready for
departure before seven o’clock, and had eagerly informed himself
whether Monsieur and Madame Peytel were awake; learning from the maid
of the inn, that they had ordered nothing for their breakfast. This
man, who refused to carry with him a covering for the car, was, on the
contrary, ready to take off his own cloak, and with it shelter articles
of small value; this man, who had been for many days so silent and
gloomy, gave, on the contrary, many proofs of his gayety—almost of his
indiscretion, speaking, at all the inns, in terms of praise of his
master and mistress. The waiter at the inn at Dauphin, says he was a
tall young fellow, mild and good-natured; ‘we talked for some time
about horses, and such things; he seemed to be perfectly natural, and
not pre-occupied at all.’ At Pont d’Ain, he talked of his being a
foundling; of the place where he had been brought up, and where he had
served; and finally, at Rossillon, an hour before his death, he
conversed familiarly with the master of the port, and spoke on
indifferent subjects.
“All Peytel’s insinuations against his servant had no other end than to
show, in every point of Rey’s conduct, the behavior of a man who was
premeditating attack. Of what, in fact, does he accuse him? Of wishing
to rob him of 7,500 francs, and of having had recourse to
assassination, in order to effect the robbery. But, for a premeditated
crime, consider what singular improvidence the person showed who had
determined on committing it; what folly and what weakness there is in
the execution of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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