The Serapion Brethren, Vol. IIHoffmann, E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus)
Science
The Serapion Brethren, Vol. II
Hoffmann, E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus)
Fiction
D'Andilly looked before him in meditation for a few moments, and said:
"There is no way of getting Brusson out of the hands of justice by any
ordinary means. On Madelon's account, nothing will induce him to admit
that Cardillac was a robber and a murderer. And even were he to do so,
and succeed in proving the truth of it by pointing out the secret
entrance and the collection of the stolen jewels, death would be his
own lot, as an accomplice. The same consequence would follow if Count
Miossens related to the judges the adventure with Cardillac. Delay is
what we must aim at. Let Count Miossens go to the Conciergerie, be
confronted with Olivier, and recognise him as the person who carried
off Cardillac's body; let him then go to La Regnie, and say, 'I saw a
man stabbed in the Rue St. Honoré, and was close to the body when
another man darted up, bent down over it, and finding life still in it,
took it on his shoulders and carried it away. I recognise Olivier
Brusson as that man.' This will lead to a further examination of
Brusson, to his being confronted with Count Miossens; the torture will
be postponed, and further investigations made. Then will be the time to
have recourse to the King. Your brilliant intellect, Mademoiselle, will
point out the most fitting way to do this. I think it would be best to
tell His Majesty the whole story. Count Miossen's statement will
support Olivier's. Perhaps, too, an examination of Cardillac's house
would help matters. The King might then follow the bent of his own
judgment--of his kind heart, which might pardon where justice could
only punish." Count Miossens closely followed D'Andilly's advice, and
everything fell out just as he had said it would.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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