“Ah! just as he came out of the condemned cell a lady came to see him——”
The two magistrates exchanged looks, and such looks!
“What lady was that!” asked Camusot.
“One of his penitents—a Marquise,” replied Gault.
“Worse and worse!” said Monsieur de Granville, looking at Camusot.
“She gave all the gendarmes and warders a sick headache,” said Monsieur Gault, much puzzled.
“Nothing can be a matter of indifference in your business,” said the public prosecutor. “The Conciergerie has not such tremendous walls for nothing. How did this lady get in?”
“With a regular permit, monsieur,” replied the governor. “The lady, beautifully dressed, in a fine carriage with a footman and a chasseur, came to see her confessor before going to the funeral of the poor young man whose body you had had removed.”
“Bring me the order for admission,” said Monsieur de Granville.
“It was given on the recommendation of the Comte de Serizy.”