Arsonists -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories; Fires -- Fiction; Paris (France) -- Fiction
The poor fellow had told his misfortunes to Jacques; and Jacques,
who owed it to him that he could, when still in close confinement,
correspond with Dionysia, felt very kindly towards him. Hence, when he
saw him come up very respectful, and cap in hand, he asked,--
“What is it, Trumence?”
“Sir,” replied the vagrant, “M. Blangin sends you word that the two
advocates are coming up to your room.”
Once more the marquis embraced his son, saying,--
“Do not keep them waiting, and keep up your courage.”
XXIII.
The Marquis de Boiscoran had not been mistaken about M. Magloire. Much
shaken by Dionysia’s statement, he had been completely overcome by M.
Folgat’s explanations; and, when he now came to the jail, it was with a
determination to prove Jacques’s innocence.
“But I doubt very much whether he will ever forgive me for my
incredulity,” he said to M. Folgat while they were waiting for the
prisoner in his cell.
Jacques came in, still deeply moved by the scene with his father. M.
Magloire went up to him, and said,--
“I have never been able to conceal my thoughts, Jacques. When I thought
you guilty, and felt sure that you accused the Countess Claudieuse
falsely, I told you so with almost brutal candor. I have since found out
my error, and am now convinced of the truth of your statement: so I come
and tell you as frankly, Jacques, I was wrong to have had more faith in
the reputation of a woman than in the words of a friend. Will you give
me your hand?”
The prisoner grasped his hand with a profusion of joy, and cried,--
“Since you believe in my innocence, others may believe in me too, and my
salvation is drawing near.”
The melancholy faces of the two advocates told him that he was rejoicing
too soon. His features expressed his grief; but he said with a firm
voice,--
“Well, I see that the struggle will be a hard one, and that the result
is still uncertain. Never mind. You may be sure I will not give way.”
In the meantime M. Folgat had spread out on the table all the papers
he had brought with him,--copies furnished by Mechinet, and notes taken
during his rapid journey.
“First of all, my dear client,” he said, “I must inform you of what has
been done.”
And when he had stated every thing, down to the minutest details of what
Goudar and he had done, he said,--
“Let us sum up. We are able to prove three things: 1. That the house in
Vine Street belongs to you, and that Sir Francis Burnett, who is known
there, and you are one; 2. That you were visited in this house by a
lady, who, from all the precautions she took, had powerful reasons to
remain unknown; 3. That the visits of this lady took place at certain
epochs every year, which coincided precisely with the journeys which the
Countess Claudieuse yearly made to Paris.”
The great advocate of Sauveterre expressed his assent.
“Yes,” he said, “all this is fully established.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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