“Well, what must we do?”
She was so little in the habit of consulting her husband, that he was
quite surprised.
“The first thing is to get Jacques out of jail. We must see--we ought to
ask for advice.”
At this moment a light knock was heard at the door.
“Come in!” he said.
A servant came in, bringing a large envelope, marked “Telegraphic
Despatch. Private.”
“Upon my word!” cried the marquis. “I thought so. Now we shall be all
right again.”
The servant had left the room. He tore open the envelope; but at the
first glance at the contents the smile vanished, he turned pale, and
just said,--
“Great God!”
Quick as lightning, the marchioness seized the fatal paper. She read at
a glance,--
“Come quick. Jacques in prison; close confinement; accused of horrible
crime. The whole town says he is guilty, and that he has confessed.
Infamous calumny! His judge is his former friend, Galpin, who was
to marry his cousin Lavarande. Know nothing except that Jacques is
innocent. Abominable intrigue! Grandpa Chandore and I will do what can
be done. Your help indispensable. Come, come!
“DIONYSIA CHANDORE.”
“Ah, my son is lost!” cried the marchioness with tears in her eyes. The
marquis, however, had recovered already from the shock.
“And I--I say more than ever, with Dionysia, who is a brave girl,
Jacques is innocent. But I see he is in danger. A criminal prosecution
is always an ugly affair. A man in close confinement may be made to say
any thing.”
“We must do something,” said the mother, nearly mad with grief.
“Yes, and without losing a minute. We have friends: let us see who among
them can help us.”
“I might write to M. Margeril.”
The marquis, who had turned quite pale, became livid.
“What!” he cried. “You dare utter that name in my presence?”
“He is all powerful; and my son is in danger.”
The marquis stopped her with a threatening gesture, and cried with an
accent of bitter hatred,--
“I would a thousand times rather my son should die innocent on the
scaffold than owe his safety to that man!”
His wife seemed to be on the point of fainting.
“Great God! And yet you know very well that I was only a little
indiscreet.”
“No more!” said the marquis harshly.