“No, it’s only a sentiment. In courts of justice we must not take the point of view of honour, but of the law.”
The president, who did not approve this theory, presented the question in another form.
“It’s Mrs. Frasne’s honour especially that he takes into account. To save his own honour he must establish the fact that he has neither stolen a sum of money nor profited by the theft of some one else. He can prove the first by argument from Mrs. Frasne’s marriage contract, and the second by an affidavit from the International Bank of Milan, where Mrs. Frasne’s funds were deposited. But he objects categorically to this line of proof.”
“Did you speak of it to him yourself?”
“I did, and I told him that he was running a great danger to go before a jury thus unarmed.”
“What did he say to you?”
“That he would not let Mrs. Frasne be accused of anything whatsoever, and that he forbade his defender even to utter her name. We found him immovable. ‘Well, then,’ Mr. Battard objected to him, ‘how do you wish us to defend you?’ ‘How can any one think me guilty?’ he replied proudly. ‘Let them consider where I come from, and who I am. That ought to be enough.’”
“What a child!” began Mr. Battard, stroking his fine beard contentedly. “Undoubtedly an honourable family is a potent argument, and I count on making good use of it at the trial. But it is accessory to the main argument, as it were. It doesn’t go to the bottom of the matter. One doesn’t use parents for arguments. You might as well use dead ancestors.”
“They bear witness for our characters,” replied Mr. Hamel, not without some solemnity.
“There is a guilty party,” continued Mr. Battard. “Don’t let us forget that. Willingly or unwillingly, the jury will look for one. If it isn’t the lover it’s the mistress. If it isn’t the mistress it’s the lover. We have proofs that it is the mistress. Shall we refuse to produce them? There’s no sense in it. I warned your son, my good brother, that I could not consent to defend him on these conditions, and I have come to say the same to you. You know how warmly I should have undertaken it, that I should have brought to bear my utmost pains upon it. Tried on these lines, what can be done? As you see, I am deeply affected by this decision, but it is impossible for me to present myself in court thus bound.”