Balzac and Gavarni went to Belley, Bourg, and Maçon, employed counsel,
and brought the matter before the Court of Cassation (Appeals). Balzac
wrote, and published in the "Siècle," a long argument of the case (see
Édition Définitive, vol. xxii., pp. 579-625), to which a brother-in-law
of the murdered woman replied, rather weakly. Balzac rejoined in the
"Presse," prefacing his second statement with the following words to
the editor:--
October 2, 1839.
"Monsieur, I am obliged to make use of the newspapers,
who have published my letter on the Peytel affair, to
thank collectively all those persons who have addressed
congratulations to me; and to assure those who have sent
me startling testimony in favour of Peytel that their
declarations will be received if the Court of Cassation
grants a new trial."
The following very curious letter relating to this subject, from M.
Moreau Christophe, inspector-general of prisons, to Gavarni, is worth
preserving.
PARIS, September 29, 1839.
My dear Monsieur Gavarni: you ask my opinion of the
Peytel affair. What shall I say to you? When there is a
woman, that is, love, in a crime, it is a tangle, the
thread of which escapes the most clear-sighted. They
think they hold the thread because they have got hold of
the skein. The material of a fact does not constitute the
truth of it. Why do you talk of judiciary trials [_débats
judiciaires]_? A judiciary trial is to my eyes a legal
lie. The accused lies to the lawyer, the lawyer lies to
the judge, the newspapers lie to the public. How do you
expect truth to come to light through that criss-cross of
lies? She is just as much hidden from us at the Palais
as if she were down at the bottom of her well. It is
only behind the bolts, after condemnation, that truth
can be found. And even then one must be very expert to
find her. That was where I discovered the truth about the
Laroncière affair, and several other love tangles, about
which you think you know through the newspapers, whereas
you know nothing at all.
That was how you yourself discovered the truth in the
depths of Peytel's dungeon. Balzac has brought startling
lights out of that dungeon. But,--shall I say it?--in
spite of the immense dialectic and legal talent he has
just displayed in the "Siècle" in defence of your unhappy
friend, I fear that under his pen truth is impregnated
with an atmosphere of romance. Lawyers sometimes fade
the cause they plead. Besides, it is too late. Moreover,
instead of saving the man who did the act, a subsequent
revelation will only the more surely lose him, when he
adds to the blood of the victim after the act a stain,
however just, upon her memory. That is Peytel's case.
Truth cannot save him now. A lie will kill him.