And the three courageously took their places beside the baron, thus avenging the honor of their robe which had just been miserably sullied, in a city where, among more than a hundred thousand souls, two pure and innocent victims of a furious reaction had not--oh, shame!--been able to find a defender.
"Prisoner," resumed M. de Sairmeuse, "state your name and profession."
"Louis Guillaume, Baron d"Escorval, Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor, formerly Councillor of State under the Empire."
"So you avow these shameful services? You confess----"
"Pardon, Monsieur; I am proud of having had the honor of serving my country, and of being useful to her in proportion to my ability----"
With a furious gesture the duke interrupted him.
"That is excellent!" he exclaimed. "These gentlemen, the commissioners, will appreciate that. It was, undoubtedly, in the hope of regaining your former position that you entered into a conspiracy against a magnanimous prince with these vile wretches!"
"These peasants are not vile wretches, but misguided men, Monsieur.
Moreover, you know--yes, you know as well as I do myself--that I have had no hand in this conspiracy."
"You were arrested in the ranks of the conspirators with weapons in your hands!"
"I was unarmed, Monsieur, as you are well aware; and if I was among the peasantry, it was only because I hoped to induce them to relinquish their senseless enterprise."
"You lie!"
The baron paled beneath the insult, but he made no reply.
There was, however, one man in the a.s.semblage who could no longer endure this horrible and abominable injustice, and this man was Abbe Midon, who, only a moment before, had advised Maurice to be calm.
He brusquely quitted his place, and advanced to the foot of the platform.
"The Baron d"Escorval speaks the truth," he cried, in a ringing voice; "the three hundred prisoners in the citadel will swear to it; these prisoners here would say the same if they stood upon the guillotine; and I, who accompanied him, who walked beside him, I, a priest, swear before the G.o.d who will judge all men, Monsieur de Sairmeuse, I swear that all which it was in human power to do to arrest this movement we have done!"
The duke listened with an ironical smile.
"They did not deceive me, then, when they told me that this army of rebels had a chaplain! Ah! Monsieur, you should sink to the earth with shame. You, a priest, mingle with such scoundrels as these--with these enemies of our good King and of our holy religion! Do not deny this!
Your haggard features, your swollen eyes, your disordered attire soiled with dust and mud betray your guilt. Must I, a soldier, remind you of what is due your sacred calling? Hold your peace, Monsieur, and depart!"
The counsel for the prisoner sprang up.
"We demand," they cried, "that this witness be heard. He must be heard!
Military commissions are not above the laws that regulate ordinary tribunals."
"If I do not speak the truth," resumed the abbe, "I am a perjured witness, worse yet, an accomplice. It is your duty, in that case, to have me arrested."
The duke"s face expressed a hypocritical compa.s.sion.
"No, Monsieur le Cure," said he, "I shall not arrest you. I would avert the scandal which you are trying to cause. We will show your priestly garb the respect the wearer does not deserve. Again, and for the last time, retire, or I shall be obliged to employ force."
What would further resistance avail? Nothing. The abbe, with a face whiter than the plastered walls, and eyes filled with tears, came back to his place beside Maurice.
The lawyers, meanwhile, were uttering their protests with increasing energy. But the duke, by a prolonged hammering upon the table with his fists, at last succeeded in reducing them to silence.
"Ah! you wish testimony!" he exclaimed. "Very well, you shall have it.
Soldiers, bring in the first witness."
A movement among the guards, and almost immediately Chupin appeared.
He advanced deliberately, but his countenance betrayed him. A close observer could have read his anxiety and his terror in his eyes, which wandered restlessly about the room.
And there was a very appreciable terror in his voice when, with hand uplifted, he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
"What do you know regarding the prisoner d"Escorval?" demanded the duke.
"I know that he took part in the rebellion on the night of the fourth."
"Are you sure of this?"
"I can furnish proofs."
"Submit them to the consideration of the commission."
The old scoundrel began to gain more confidence.
"First," he replied, "it was to the house of Monsieur d"Escorval that Lacheneur hastened after he had, much against his will, restored to Monsieur le Duc the chateau of Monsieur le Duc"s ancestors. Monsieur Lacheneur met Chanlouineau there, and from that day dates the plot of this insurrection."
"I was Lacheneur"s friend," said the baron; "it was perfectly natural that he should come to me for consolation after a great misfortune."
M. de Sairmeuse turned to his colleague.
"You hear that!" said he. "This d"Escorval calls the rest.i.tution of a deposit a great misfortune! Go on, witness."
"In the second place," resumed Chupin, "the accused was always prowling about Lacheneur"s house."
"That is false," interrupted the baron. "I never visited the house but once, and on that occasion I implored him to renounce."
He paused, comprehending only when it was too late, the terrible significance of his words. But having begun, he would not retract, and he added:
"I implored him to renounce this project of an insurrection."
"Ah! then you knew his wicked intentions?"
"I suspected them."
"Not to reveal a conspiracy makes one an accomplice, and means the guillotine."
Baron d"Escorval had just signed his death-warrant.
Strange caprice of destiny! He was innocent, and yet he was the only one among the accused whom a regular tribunal could have legally condemned.
Maurice and the abbe were prostrated with grief; but Chanlouineau, who turned toward them, had still upon his lips a smile of confidence.
How could he hope when all hope seemed absolutely lost?