e sympathy at least of the public, who all
over the province were awaiting with anxious curiosity the slightest
details of the trial. The gazettes had been ordered to ignore it; the
_Journal de Rouen_ only spoke of it once to state that, as it lacked
space to reproduce the whole trial, it preferred to abstain altogether;
and but for a few of Licquet's notes, nothing would be known of the
character of the proceedings.

The interrogation of the accused and the examination of the witnesses
occupied seven sittings. On Thursday, December 22d, the Procurer-General
delivered his charge. The prosecution tried above all to show up the
antagonism existing between Mme. de Combray and M. Acquet de Ferolles.
The latter's denunciations had borne fruit; the Marquise was represented
as having tried "to get rid of her son-in-law by poisoning his drink."
And the old story of the bottles of wine sent to Abbe Clarisse and of
his inopportune death were revived; all the unpleasant rumours that had
formerly circulated around Donnay were amplified, made grosser, and
elevated to the position of accomplished facts. It was decided that
poison "was a weapon familiar to the Marquise of Combray," and as,
after having replied satisfactorily to all the first questions asked
her, she remained mute on this point, a murmur of disapprobation ran
round the audience, to the great joy of Licquet. "The prisoner," he
notes, "whose sex and age at first rendered her interesting, has lost
to-day every vestige of popularity."

We know nothing of Mme. Acquet's examination, and but little of
Chauveau-Lagarde's pleading; a leaf that escaped from his portfolio and
was picked up by Mme. de Combray gives a few particulars. This paper has
some pencilled notes, and two or three questions written to Mme. Acquet
on the prisoners' bench, to which she scrawled a few words in reply. We
find there a sketch of the theme which the advocate developed, doubtless
to palliate his client's misconduct.

"Mme. Acquet is reproached with her liaisons with Le Chevalier; she can
answer--or one can answer for her--that she suffered ill-treatment of
all kinds for four years from a man who was her husband only from
interest, so much so that he tried to get rid of her.... Fearful at one
time of being poisoned, at another of having her brains dashed out,...
her suit for separation had brought her in touch with Le Chevalier, whom
she had not known until her husband let him loose on her in order