How could he have comprehended what was going on?
They had taken him out of his cell without warning; they had carried him to the court-house; and here he was confronted with Trumence, whom he thought he should never see again, and with the servant of the Countess Claudieuse.
M. Galpin looked the picture of consternation; and M. Daubigeon, radiant with delight, bade him be of good hope.
Hopeful of what? How? To what purpose?
And Mechinet made him all kinds of signs.
The usher who had brought him in had actually to take him out.
Immediately the commonwealth attorney turned again to the servant-girl and said,--"Now, my good girl, can you tell me if any thing special happened in connection with this gentleman's visit at your house?""There was a great quarrel between him and master and mistress.""Were you present?"
"No. But I am quite certain of what I say.""How so?"
"Well, I will tell you. When I went up stairs to tell the countess that there was a gentleman below who came from the courts, she was in a great hurry to go down, and told me to stay with the count, my master. Of course, I did what she said. But no sooner was she down than I heard a loud cry. Master, who had looked all in a stupor, heard it too: he raised himself on his pillow, and asked me where my mistress was. I told him, and he was just settling down to try and fall asleep again, when the sound of loud voices came up to us. 'That is very singular,' said master. I offered to go down and see what was the matter: but he told me sharply not to stir an inch. And, when the voices became louder and louder, he said, 'I will go down myself. Give me my dressing-gown.'
"Sick as he was, exhausted, and almost on his deathbed, it was very imprudent in him, and might easily have cost him his life. I ventured to speak to him; but he swore at me, and told me to hush, and to do what he ordered me to do.
"The count--God be merciful to his soul!--was a very good man, certainly; but he was a terrible man also, and when he got angry, and talked in a certain way, everybody in the house began to tremble, even mistress.
"I obeyed, therefore, and did what he wanted. Poor man! He was so weak he could hardly stand up, and had to hold on to a chair while I helped him just to hang his dressing-gown over his shoulders.
"Then I asked him if he would not let me help him down. But looking at me with awful eyes, he said, 'You will do me the favor to stay here, and, whatever may happen, if you dare so much as open the door while Iam away, you shall not stay another hour in my service.'
"Then he went out, holding on to the wall; and I remained alone in the chamber, all trembling, and feeling as sick as if I had known that a great misfortune was coming upon us.
"However, I heard nothing more for a time; and as the minutes passed away, I was just beginning to reproach myself for having been so foolishly alarmed, when I heard two cries; but, O sir! two such fearful, sharp cries, that I felt cold shivers running all over me.
"As I did not dare leave the room, I put my ear to the door, and Iheard distinctly the count's voice, as he was quarrelling with another gentleman. But I could not catch a single word, and only made out that they were angry about a very serious matter.
"All of a sudden, a great but dull noise, like that of the fall of a heavy body, then another awful cry, I had not a drop of blood left in my veins at that moment.
"Fortunately, the other servants, who had gone to bed, had heard something. They had gotten up, and were now coming down the passage.
"I left the room at all hazards, and went down stairs with the others, and there we found my mistress fainting in an armchair, and my master stretched out at full-length, lying on the floor like a dead man.""What did I say?" cried Trumence.