the assassin full in the face, and he fell
backward with a cry of fear.

This incident terminated the enquiry; the body was returned to the
earth, and those who had been present at the exhumation started for La
Delivrande. Foison walked alone behind the others; no one spoke to him,
and when they arrived at the mayor's, where all had been invited to
dine, he remained on the threshold which he dared not cross, knowing
that for the rest of his life he would never again enter the house of an
honest man.

The same evening at Caen, where everything was known, although Fouche
was still looking for Morin-Cochu, the vengeance of the corpse
annihilating Foison was the topic of all conversations. There was a
certain gaiety in the town, that was proud of its prefect's attitude.
When the curtain went up at the theatre, while all the young "swells"
were in the orchestra talking of the event that was agitating "society,"
they saw a blonde woman with a red scarf on her shoulders in one of the
boxes. The first one that saw her could not believe his eyes: it was
Mme. de Vaubadon! The name was at first whispered, then a murmur went
round that at last broke into an uproar. The whole theatre rose
trembling, and with raised fists cried: "Down with the murderess! She is
the woman with the red shawl; it is stained with d'Ache's blood. Death
to her!"

The unhappy woman tried to put on a bold face, and remained calm; it is
supposed that Pontecoulant was in the theatre, and perhaps she hoped
that he, at least, would champion her. But when she understood that in
that crowd, among whom many perhaps had loved her, no one now would
defend her, she rose and left her box, while some of the most excited
hustled into the corridor to hoot her in passing. She at last escaped
and got to her house in the Rue Guilbert, and the next day she left Caen
forever.

Less culpable certainly, and now pitied by all to whom d'Ache's death
recalled the affair of Quesnay, Mme. Acquet was spending her last days
in the conciergerie at Rouen. After the petition for a reprieve on
account of her pregnancy, and the visit of two doctors, who said they
could not admit the truth of her plea, Ducolombier used all his efforts
to obtain grace from the Emperor. As soon as the sentence was pronounced
he had hurried to Paris in quest of means of approaching his Majesty.
His relative, Mme. de Saint-Leonard, wife of the Mayor of Falaise,
joined him there, and got her relatives in of