At this instant Monsieur Camusot, who was on the point of closing the door behind him, turned back, came up to Monsieur de Granville, and handed him two folded papers.
“Look!” said he to Monsieur de Granville, pointing to one of them.
“Call back Monsieur Gault!” cried the Comte de Granville, as he read the name of Madame de Maufrigneuse’s maid—a woman he knew.
The governor of the prison came in.
“Describe the woman who came to see the prisoner,” said the public prosecutor in his ear.
“Short, thick-set, fat, and square,” replied Monsieur Gault.
“The woman to whom this permit was given is tall and thin,” said Monsieur de Granville. “How old was she?”
“About sixty.”
“This concerns me, gentlemen?” said Jacques Collin. “Come, do not puzzle your heads. That person is my aunt, a very plausible aunt, a woman, and an old woman. I can save you a great deal of trouble. You will never find my aunt unless I choose. If we beat about the bush, we shall never get forwarder.”
“Monsieur l’Abbe has lost his Spanish accent,” observed Monsieur Gault; “he does not speak broken French.”