Meanwhile Madame Julie de Serres, the young and lovely wife whom
Captain Maurice de Serres had married abroad five years previously,
and now brought to Paris for the first time, returned that day to her
husband's house in a state of the utmost alarm and agitation. Pale and
trembling, she begged to be conducted to Maurice, and the pair remained
closeted together for several hours. At last, in outward semblance
perfectly calm, she rejoined the Countess, her husband's mother, and
from that day resumed the ordinary current of life as though nothing
had arisen to mar its serenity.
About a fortnight had elapsed since the occurrences above related,
and the incident in the cemetery appeared to have been forgotten, or
if remembered by the chance witnesses of the scene, it was generally
supposed that the mysterious lady who had been seen by M. du Bourg
merely bore a fortuitous resemblance to the President's deceased wife.
But during these few days, aided by all the power in the hands of the
Lieutenant-General of Police, M. du Bourg instituted a searching and
systematic investigation, firmly resolved as he was to know the truth.
Without in the least suspecting that their every movement was watched,
Captain de Serres and his wife were surrounded with spies, who rendered
a daily report of their minutest actions. Maurice having come to the
conclusion that it would be imprudent to leave Paris, there was no
difficulty in keeping him under constant observation. Setting to work
like an experienced lawyer, M. du Bourg rapidly collected evidence of
the greatest importance. Through the Minister of War, he ascertained
the exact date of Captain de Serres' return to France, after his
captivity and supposed death in the Indies. At the passport office he
found out the day of the young officer's departure shortly after his
arrival in Paris. The postillions whom he had employed on his journey
to Havre were discovered and interrogated. From them it was elicited
that the traveller had been accompanied to the coast by a lady closely
veiled, who never left the carriage until the pair reached their
destination. The name of the vessel in which M. de Serres and a lady
inscribed as his cousin had taken passage to South America was ferreted
out, and the ship's journal was brought to Paris.
[Illustration: "SHE BEGGED TO BE CONDUCTED TO MAURICE."]
Armed with these formidable proofs, the President du Bourg demanded
from the High Court of Paris the dissolution of the illegal marriage
between Captain Maurice de Serres and the pretended Julie de Serres,
who, as M. du. Bourg solemnly declared, was Gabrielle du Bourg, his
lawful wife.
The extraordinary novelty of this cause created an immense sensation
throughout Europe, and pamphlets were exchanged by the faculty, some
maintaining that a prolonged trance had given rise to the belief
in the apparent death of Madame du Bourg, whilst others as stoutly
affirmed that resuscitation under such circumstances was an absolute
impossibility. This latter theory secured the majority of partisans
amongst medical men, and after calculating the number of hours which
it was stated that Madame du Bourg had continued to exist in her
grave, the fact was conclusively established that no case of a similar
lethargy had ever previously been recorded. M. de Serres himself
expressed the most profound and unaffected pity for his adversary, and
acknowledged that when he had first met the lady who now bore his name,
her marvellous likeness to Gabrielle de Launay had struck him with awe
and amazement. This declaration was made with such evident sincerity
that it carried conviction to the minds of all who heard it, and few
doubted but that the President du Bourg had either lost his reason or
was the instigator of a corrupt and knavish conspiracy.
[Illustration: "MAMMA, WON'T YOU KISS ME?"]