“We shall now proceed to hear the witnesses, and we propose to begin
with Count Claudieuse. Although seriously indisposed, he has preferred
to appear in court.”
At these words Dr. Seignebos is seen to start up, as if he wished to
address the court; but one of his friends, sitting by him, pulls him
down by his coat. M. Folgat makes a sign to him, and he sits down again.
P.--Sheriff, bring in Count Claudieuse.
[Examination of Witnesses.]
The small door through which the armorer Maucroy had been admitted opens
once more, and Count Claudieuse enters. Supported and almost carried by
his man-servant.
He is greeted by a murmur of sympathetic pity. He is frightfully thin;
and his features look as haggard as if he were about to give up the
ghost. The whole vitality of his system seems to have centred in his
eyes, which shine with extraordinary brilliancy.
He takes the oath in an almost inaudible voice.
But the silence is so deep, that when the president asks him the usual
question, “Do you swear to tell the whole truth?” and he answers, “I
swear,” the words are distinctly heard all over the court-room.
P.--(Very kindly.) We are very much obliged to you, sir, for the effort
which you have made. That chair has been brought in for you: please sit
down.
COUNT CLAUDIEUSE.--I thank you, sir; but I am strong enough to stand.
P.--Please tell us, then, what you know of the attempt made on your
life.
C.C.--It might have been eleven o’clock: I had gone to bed a little
while before, and blown out my light. I was in that half state which is
neither waking nor sleeping, when I saw my room lighted up by a dazzling
glare. I saw it was fire. I jumped out of bed, and, only lightly
dressed, rushed down the stairs. I found some difficulty in opening the
outer door, which I had locked myself. At last I succeeded. But I had no
sooner put my foot outside than I felt a terrible pain in my right side,
and at the same time I heard an explosion of fire-arms. Instinctively I
rushed towards the place from which the shot seemed to have been fired;
but, before I had taken three steps, I was struck once more in my
shoulder, and fell down unconscious.
P.--How long a time was there between the first and the second shots?
C.C.--Almost three or four seconds.
P.--Was that time enough to distinguish the murderer?
C.C.--Yes; and I saw him run from behind a wood-pile, where he had been
lying in ambush, and escape into the country.
P.--You can tell us, no doubt, how he was dressed?
C.C.--Certainly. He had on a pair of light gray trousers, a dark coat,
and a large straw hat.
At a sign from the president, and in the midst of the most profound
silence, the ushers remove the red cloth from the table.
P.--(Pointing at the clothes of the accused.) Does the costume which you
describe correspond with those cloths?
C.C.--Of course; for they are the same.
P.--Then you must have recognized the murderer.
C.C.--The fire was so large at that time, that it was as bright as
daylight. I recognized M. Jacques de Boiscoran.
There was, probably, in the whole vast audience assembled under that
roof, not a heart that was not seized with unspeakable anguish when
these crushing words were uttered.
We were so fully prepared for them, that we could watch the accused
closely.
Not a muscle in his face seemed to move. His counsel showed as little
any signs of surprise or emotion.
Like ourselves, the president also, and the prosecuting attorney, had
been watching the accused and his counsel. Did they expect a protest, an
answer, any thing at all? Perhaps they did.