'Bah! women give, but do not lend,' said a third speaker, in a sententious tone.
'And is not that the same thing?'
'Either plan is bad enough,' said the dandy, with a prudish air; 'for my part, I would as soon take to stealing.'
'Is Madame Chamesson here?' asked Arthur's friend, who by thus naming a rich and superannuated old woman, from whom the young coxcomb was more than suspected of receiving supplies, effectually closed his mouth.
In order to make a favorable impression upon the jury, Bonnemain, who knew well the influence that the appearance of a prisoner often makes upon them, had employed all the little arts of the toilet which his person and situation would allow. Clad in a new suit, (thanks to the ten louis' of Monsieur Gorsay,) newly shaven, with modest and humble aspect, hands placed upon his knees, he held himself in an attitude so benign and reverential, that at the sight of this second Ambrose de Lamela, more than one spectator could not help whispering to his neighbor, 'Is it possible that this can be a liberated galley-slave? From his appearance, one would give him absolution without confession.'
The empanneling of the jury, the reading of the decree of reference and accusation, the interrogation of the accused, and the deposition of a number of witnesses, took up the whole of the first sitting; nor did the interest of the audience flag for a moment; but the mysterious and tragic character of the drama did not develope itself in all its deep import, until the second day, when from the witness chamber came forth an old man whose white hair, imposing features, and countenance calm in its severity, excited among all ranks of spectators a murmur of pity and respect. It was Monsieur Gorsay.
During two months, the sanguinary resentment in which the last energies of a man on the verge of the tomb had been concentrated had suffered no abatement; but it had by degrees undergone those modifications which time and reflection always bring with them. To the furious rage, the insatiable thirst for revenge, the blind frenzy, which in the first instance had caused him to regard the slightest delay in his vengeance as a mark of base imbecility, had succeeded a determination cold, patient, implacable, and the more terrible, inasmuch as instead of finding vent, it was restrained within the recesses of his own bosom. By long boiling in the heart, that crucible of flesh hotter than a brazen furnace, the disordered passions came at length to cast off the scoriæ which changed the nature of their temper. The last stage in this refining process is hypocrisy, that wondrous power, which gains in depth what it hides upon the surface, and whose burst, when it breaks forth, is like the explosion of a volcano.
Monsieur Gorsay had thus comprehended the necessity of curbing his vengeance in order to render it more effective. When he entered the court-room, his countenance and deportment would have done credit to a consummate actor. Far from betraying the deadly hate which was gnawing at his heart, his eyes, as they rested for a moment upon Arthur, only expressed a mournful compassion, by which the audience were sensibly affected. At this look, in which he had expected to have found rage but not deceitful pity, d'Aubian felt that his doom was fixed; and replied by a bitter smile to the magnanimous forgiveness with which the old man seemed to overwhelm him. The eyes of Monsieur Gorsay then glanced over the convict without resting on him; but in spite of the rapidity of the movement, the expression was so significant, that to hide the impression produced, Bonnemain turned away his head, and for some time kept his eyes fixed steadily on the ground.
'What a fine old cock it is!' said he to himself; 'I was sure that he would not send me to the gallows. A great comfort it will be to him to have this tall fellow's neck stretched! Egad! had I been married to such a pretty wife, I would have acted just so myself. A bad fellow, that d'Aubian. When I think of the damage I was going to do this respectable old gentleman, I feel quite ashamed of myself. But what a devil of an idea to say to me, 'Bonnemain, rid me of this man and you shall have ten thousand francs,' and then to show me, at the same time, twenty thousand in that cursed secretary, which wouldn't be opened! Who could hesitate between ten thousand and twenty thousand?'