“Why no--you see--I was deceived. He looked such an honest man. He
played me a trick--a disgraceful trick! I beg that you will sentence him
severely, very severely. I am going to write. Tell me to whom I should
write about having him punished. I will go and see the attorney-general
and the archbishop of Paris--yes, the archbishop.”
And seating himself abruptly at M. Petitpas' desk, he wrote:
“Monseigneur, I have the honor to bring to your grace's notice the fact
that I have recently been made a victim of the intrigues and lies of a
certain Abbe Ceinture, who imposed on my kind-heartedness.
“Deceived by the representations of this ecclesiastic, I was led----”
Then, having signed and sealed his letter, he turned to his colleague
and exclaimed:
“See here; my dear friend, let this be a warning to you never to
recommend any one again.”