m the Captain in
Mme. Acquet's very presence. In this letter, the Marquise had spoken of
her daughter as "the vilest of creatures, lamenting that for her own
safety she was obliged to come to the assistance of such a monster; she
especially complained of the amount of money it was costing her."

On the 9th of October, Licquet came into Mme. Acquet's cell, began to
converse familiarly with her, told her that he knew her name and showed
her Mme. de Combray's letter. On reading it Mme. Acquet flew into a
violent passion. Licquet comforted her, gave her to understand that he
was her only friend, that her mother hated her and had only helped her
in the hope of saving her own life; that the lawyer Lefebre had sold
himself to the police on giving the Chauvels' address at Falaise, in
proof of which he showed her the note written by the lawyer's own hand.
He even went so far as to allude to certain infidelities on the part of
Le Chevalier, and to the mistresses he must have had in Paris, till at
last the unhappy woman burst into tears of indignation and grief.

"Enough," she said; "it is my turn now; you must receive my declaration
immediately, and take it at once to the prefect. I will confess
everything. My life is a burden to me."

She immediately told the long story of d'Ache's plans, his journeys to
England, the organisation of the plot, the attempt to print the Prince's
manifesto, and also how he had beguiled Le Chevalier and had succeeded
in drawing him into it, by promises of high rank and great honours. She
said, too, that d'Ache whom she accused of having caused all the
unhappiness of her life, had recommended robbing the public treasury;
that the attacks on the coaches had been carried out by his orders,
which had been "to stop them all." She accused her mother of helping to
transport the booty to Caen; herself she accused of having sheltered the
brigands. The only ones she excused were Joseph Buquet, who had only
carried out her instructions, and Le Chevalier whom she represented as
beguiled by d'Ache's misleading promises. Her "frantic passion" was
apparent in every word she uttered: she even told Licquet that "if she
could save Le Chevalier's life at the cost of her own she would not
hesitate."

When she had finished her long declaration, she fell into a state of
deep depression. On entering the prison next day, Licquet found her
engaged in cutting off her magnificent hair, which, she said sadly, she
wished to