“My family believed I had received a loan from Monsieur de Cadanet.”
He declared that he had sent, first, an instalment of five hundred francs, and, on his marriage, a further sum of two hundred and three thousand, part of his wife’s dowry. On this point he was closely interrogated by the judge, who professed utter incredulity.
“You drew and sent a cheque?”
“No. I returned the sum in notes by a registered letter.”
“And your wife’s father consented to paying so large a sum in notes without making inquiries as to its destination? That is a most improbable story!”
Léon replied that he had explained to his father-in-law that it was in order to pay a debt of honour of which he could give no account. Then came the crucial question.
“And you wish the Court to believe that you returned the money without receiving the smallest acknowledgment from Monsieur de Cadanet.”
“That is the case.”
“You persist in such a ridiculous assertion?”
“Yes.”