was of that admirable
southern quality, which enabled him to pour forth fire and flames, and
to remain as cold as ice within, But in this case he showed what he
thought fully. He had said quite enough, too, and had presented the
whole affair under such a new aspect, that his friends became very
thoughtful.

"You would have converted me, doctor," said M. Folgat, "if I had not
been of your opinion before."

"I am sure," added M. de Chandore, after hearing the doctor, "the thing
no longer looks impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," said M. Seneschal, like a philosopher.

The eminent advocate of Sauveterre alone remained unmoved.

"Well," said he, "I had rather admit one hour of utter insanity even
than five years of such monstrous hypocrisy. Jacques may have committed
the crime, and be nothing but a madman; but, if the countess is guilty,
one might despair of mankind, and renounce all faith in this world. I
have seen her, gentlemen, with her husband and her children. No one can
feign such looks of tenderness and affection."

"He will never give her up!" growled Dr. Seignebos,--

And touching his friend on the shoulder,--for M. Magloire had been his
friend for many years, and they were quite intimate,--he said,--

"Ah! There I recognize my friend, the strange lawyer, who judges others
by himself, and refuses to believe any thing bad. Oh, do not protest!
For we love and honor you for that very faith, and are proud to see you
among us Republicans. But I must confess you are not the man to bring
light into such a dark intrigue. At twenty-eight you married a girl
whom you loved dearly: you lost her, and ever since you have remained
faithful to her memory, and lived so far from all passions that you no
longer believe in their existence. Happy man! Your heart is still at
twenty; and with your grey hair you still believe in the smiles and
looks of woman."

There was much truth in this; but there are certain truths which we are
not overfond of hearing.

"My simplicity has nothing to do with the matter," said M. Magloire. "I
affirm and maintain that a man who has been for five years the lover of
a woman must have some proof of it."

"Well, there you are mistaken, master," said the physician, arranging
his spectacles with an air of self-conceit, which, under other
circumstances, would have been irresistibly ludicrous.

"When women determine to be prudent and suspicious," remarked M. de
Chandore, "they never are so by