Part 30 (2/2)
Patience, convinced as he was of my guilt, might have served my enemies without wis.h.i.+ng to do so; but he would not. He had resumed his roaming life in the woods, and, though he did not hide, could never be found.
Marca.s.se was very uneasy about his intentions and could not understand his conduct at all. The police were furious to find that an old man was making a fool of them, and that without going beyond a radius of a few leagues. I fancy that the old fellow, with his habits and const.i.tution, could have lived for years in Varenne without falling into their hands, and, moreover, without feeling that longing to surrender which a sense of _ennui_ and the horror of solitude so frequently arouse, even in great criminals.
XXV
The day of the public trial came. I went to face it quite calmly; but the sight of the crowd filled me with a profound melancholy. No support, no sympathy for me there! It seemed to me that on such an occasion I might at least have looked for that show of respect to which the unfortunate and friendless are ent.i.tled. Yet, on all the faces around I saw nothing but a brutal and insolent curiosity. Girls of the lower cla.s.ses talked loudly of my looks and my youth. A large number of women belonging to the n.o.bility or moneyed cla.s.ses displayed their brilliant dresses in the galleries, as if they had come to some _fete_. A great many monks showed their shaven crowns in the middle of the populace, which they were inciting against me; from their crowded ranks I could frequently catch the words ”brigand,” ”unG.o.dly,” and ”wild beast.” The men of fas.h.i.+on in the district were lolling on the seats of honour, and discussing my pa.s.sion in the language of the gutter. I saw and heard everything with that tranquility which springs from a profound disgust of life; even as a traveller who has come to the end of his journey, may look with indifference and weariness on the eager bustle of those who are setting off for a more distant goal.
The trial began with that emphatic solemnity which at all times has been a.s.sociated with the exercise of judicial power. My examination was short, in spite of the innumerable questions that were asked me about my whole life. My answers singularly disappointed the expectations of public curiosity, and shortened the trial considerably. I confined myself to three princ.i.p.al replies, the substance of which I never changed. Firstly, to all questions concerning my childhood and education, I replied that I had not come into the defendant's dock to accuse others. Secondly, to those bearing on Edmee, the nature of my feeling for her, and my relations with her, I replied that Mademoiselle de Mauprat's worth and reputation could not permit even the simplest question as to the nature of her relations with any man whatever; and that, as to my feelings for her, I was accountable for them to no one.
Thirdly, to those which were designed to make me confess my pretended crime, I replied that I was not even the unwilling author of the accident. In brief answers I gave some details of the events immediately preceding it; but, feeling that I owed it to Edmee as much as to myself to be silent about the tumultuous impulses that had stirred me, I explained the scene which had resulted in my quitting her, as being due to a fall from my horse; and that I had been found some distance from her body was, I said, because I had deemed it advisable to run after my horse, so that I might again escort her. Unfortunately all this was not very clear, and, naturally, could not be. My horse had gone off in the direction opposite to that which I said; and the bewildered state in which I had been found before I knew of the accident, was not sufficiently explained by a fall from my horse. They questioned me especially about the gallop I had had with my cousin through the wood, instead of following the hunt as we had intended; they would not believe that we had gone astray, guided altogether by chance. It was impossible, they said, to look upon chance as a reasonable being, armed with a gun, waiting for Edmee at Gazeau Tower at an appointed time, in order to shoot her the moment I turned my back for five minutes. They pretended that I must have taken her to this out-of-the-way spot either by craft or force to outrage her; and that I had tried to kill her either from rage at not succeeding, or from fear of being discovered and punished for my crime.
Then all the witnesses for and against me were heard. It is true that among the former Marca.s.se was the only one who could really be considered as a witness for the defence. The rest merely affirmed that a ”monk bearing a resemblance to the Mauprats” had been roaming about Varenne at the period in question, and that he had even appeared to hide himself on the evening of the event. Since then he had not been seen.
These depositions, which I had not solicited, and which I declared had not been taken at my request, caused me considerable astonishment; for among the witnesses who made them I saw some of the most honest folk in the country. However, they had no weight except in the eyes of Monsieur E----, the magistrate, who was really interested in discovering the truth. He interposed, and asked me how it was that M. Jean de Mauprat had not been summoned to confront these witnesses, seeing that he had taken the trouble to put in his affidavit to prove an alibi. This objection was received with a murmur of indignation. There were not a few people, however, who by no means looked upon John Mauprat as a saint; but they took no interest in myself, and had merely come to the trial as to a play.
The enthusiasm of the bigots reached a climax when the Trappist suddenly stood up in the crowd. Throwing back his cowl in a theatrical manner, he boldly approached the bar, declaring that he was a miserable sinner worthy of all scorn, but on this occasion, when it was the duty of every one to strive for truth, he considered it inc.u.mbent on him to set an example of simple candour by voluntarily offering himself for any examination which might shed light on the judges' minds. These words were greeted with applause. The Trappist was admitted to the witness-box, and confronted with the witnesses, who all declared, without any hesitation, that the monk they had seen wore the same habit as this man, and that there was a family likeness, a sort of distant resemblance between the two; but that it was not the same person--on this point they had not the least doubt.
The result of this incident was a fresh triumph for the Trappist. No one seemed to notice that, as the witnesses had displayed so much candour, it was difficult to believe that they had not really seen another Trappist. At this moment I remembered that, at the time of the abbe's first interview with John Mauprat at the spring at Fougeres, the latter had let fall a few words about a friar of the same order who was travelling with him, and had pa.s.sed the night at the Goulets farm. I thought it advisable to mention this fact to my counsel. He discussed it in a low voice with the abbe, who was sitting among the witnesses. The latter remembered the circ.u.mstance quite clearly, but was unable to add any further details.
When it came to the abbe's turn to give evidence he looked at me with an expression of agony; his eyes filled with tears, and he answered the formal questions with difficulty, and in an almost inaudible voice. He made a great effort to master himself, and finally he gave his evidence in these words:
”I was driving in the woods when M. le Chevalier Hubert de Mauprat requested me to alight, and see what had become of his daughter, Edmee, who had been missing from the field long enough to cause him uneasiness.
I ran for some distance, and when I was about thirty yards from Gazeau Tower I found M. Bernard de Mauprat in a state of great agitation. I had just heard a gun fired. I noticed that he was no longer carrying his carbine; he had thrown it down (discharged, as has been proved), a few yards away. We both hastened to Mademoiselle de Mauprat, whom we found lying on the ground with two bullets in her. Another man had reached her before us and was standing near her at this moment. He alone can make known the words he heard from her lips. She was unconscious when I saw her.”
”But you heard the exact words from this individual,” said the president; ”for rumour has it that there is a close friends.h.i.+p between yourself and the learned peasant known as Patience.”
The abbe hesitated, and asked if the laws of conscience were not in this case at variance with the laws of the land; and if the judges had a right to ask a man to reveal a secret intrusted to his honour, and to make him break his word.
”You have taken an oath here in the name of Christ to tell the truth, the whole truth,” was the reply. ”It is for you to judge whether this oath is not more solemn than any you may have made previously.”
”But, if I had received this secret under the seal of the confessional,”
said the abbe, ”you certainly would not urge me to reveal it.”
”I believe, Monsieur l'Abbe,” said the president, ”that it is some time since you confessed any one.”
At this unbecoming remark I noticed an expression of mirth on John Mauprat's face--a fiendish mirth, which brought back to me the man as I knew him of old, convulsed with laughter at the sight of suffering and tears.
The annoyance which the abbe felt at this personal attack gave him the courage which might otherwise have been wanting. He remained for a few moments with downcast eyes. They thought that he was humiliated; but, as soon as he raised his head, they saw his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with the malicious obstinacy of the priest.
”All things considered,” he said, in the most gentle tone, ”I think that my conscience bids me keep this secret; I shall keep it.”
”Aubert,” said the King's advocate, angrily, ”you are apparently unaware of the penalties which the law inflicts on witnesses who behave as you are doing.”
”I am aware of them,” replied the abbe, in a still milder tone.
”Doubtless, then, you do not intend to defy them?”
”I will undergo them if necessary,” rejoined the abbe, with an imperceptible smile of pride, and such a dignified bearing that all the women were touched.
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