Everybody came back to the place where the corpse lay. La Roqué now, seated beside her daughter, had caught hold of her head, and was staring right before her, with a wandering listless eye.
The two doctors endeavored to lead her away, so that she might not witness the dead girl's removal; but she understood at once what they wanted to do, and, flinging herself on the body, she seized it in both arms. Lying on top of the corpse, she exclaimed:
"You shall not have it—'tis mine—'tis mine now. They have killed her on me, and I want to keep her—you shall not have her—!"
All the men, affected and not knowing how to act, remained standing around her. Renardet fell on his knees, and said to her:
"Listen, La Roqué, it is necessary in order to find out who killed her. Without this, it could not be found out. We must make a search for him in order to punish him. When we have found him, we'll give her up to you. I promise you this."
This explanation shook the woman's mind, and a feeling of hatred manifested itself in her distracted glance.
"So then they'll take him?"
"Yes, I promise you that."
She rose up, deciding to let them do as they liked; but, when the captain remarked:
"'Tis surprising that her clothes were not found."