When they were gone, M. Daburon could
not resist a impulse of curiosity. He hastened to the door, which he
opened slightly; and, keeping his body in the background that he might
not himself be seen, he looked out into the passage. The count and Noel
had not yet reached the end. They were going slowly. The count seemed to
drag heavily and painfully along; the advocate took short steps, bending
slightly towards his father; and all his movements were marked with the
greatest solicitude. The magistrate remained watching them until they
passed out of sight at the end of the gallery. Then he returned to his
seat, heaving a deep sigh.

"At least," thought he, "I have helped to make one person happy. The day
will not be entirely a bad one."

But he had no time to give way to his thoughts, the hours flew by so
quickly. He wished to interrogate Albert as soon as possible; and he had
still to receive the evidence of several of the count's servants, and
the report of the commissary of police charged with the arrest. The
servants who had been waiting their turn a long while were now
brought in without delay, and examined separately. They had but little
information to give; but the testimony of each was so to say a fresh
accusation. It was easy to see that all believed their master guilty.

Albert's conduct since the beginning of the fatal week, his least words,
his most insignificant movements, were reported, commented upon, and
explained.

The man who lives in the midst of thirty servants is like an insect in
a glass box under the magnifying glass of a naturalist. Not one of his
acts escapes their notice: he can scarcely have a secret of his own;
and, if they cannot divine what it is, they at least know that he has
one. From morn till night he is the point of observation for thirty
pairs of eyes, interested in studying the slightest changes in his
countenance.

The magistrate obtained, therefore, an abundance of those frivolous
details which seem nothing at first; but the slightest of which may, at
the trial, become a question of life or death.

By combining these depositions, reconciling them and putting them in
order, M. Daburon was able to follow his prisoner hour by hour from the
Sunday morning.

Directly Noel left, the viscount gave orders that all visitors should be
informed that he had gone into the country. From that moment, the whole
household perceived that something had gone wrong with him, that he was
very muc