"Well?" asked M. André, the judge.
"The chain is not made of gold. It is merely a gold-plated one."
The judge and the expert looked at one another in dismay, and my examination was proceeded with....
M. Leydet came to the d'Arlons a few days after I had been taken there. He was extremely pale. He seized my hand and said: "Hamard is coming.... It is not the judge in charge of the Impasse Ronsin case who stands before you, but your old friend.... It is dreadful. The whole population is against you.... You must collect yourself, you must be calm... and help us to find the murderers."
I was ill in bed and his words startled me. "Then," I said, "I must tell you everything—everything about the jewels, the papers.... I must tell you about Félix Faure...."
"No, no..." said M. Leydet, "don't speak about that.... We will find the murderers... but not a word about that...."
The door opened, and M. Hamard, head of the Criminal Investigation Department, came in. He had come to the Impasse Ronsin after the murder, but I did not know who he was at the time, so many people had been in my room then. I said to him as I had said to M. Leydet: "I must tell you about my past life, about the President...."
He, too, stopped me there, and said: "Don't speak about that.... We know.... We know.... We promise to find the murderers.... Have courage, we will find them...."
I felt immensely relieved. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off my breast. I felt full confidence in these two men. I thought: They will find the murderers and they will not speak about the documents and the pearls, about my past life; and Marthe will not look down upon her mother.... I felt that they knew everything. M. Leydet was a friend of M. B., the Attorney-General, and it seemed evident to me that M. Hamard, because of his office, knew all about the life of the late President....
M. Leydet said: "Let us lose no time. I must still tell you this: Engage a counsel—it is always wiser.... Take my friend Aubin; he knows all about the case; he will be useful to you...." (I knew Maître Antony Aubin, and he had attended a few of my receptions.)