ieur du Croisier has regularly allowed
M. le Comte d'Esgrignon to draw upon him for very large sums," said
Chesnel. "We are going to produce drafts for more than a hundred
thousand crowns, which he continually met; the amounts being remitted
by me--bear that well in mind--either before or after the bills fell
due. M. le Comte d'Esgrignon is in a position to produce a receipt for
the sum paid by him, before this bill, this alleged forgery was drawn.
Can you fail to see in that case that this charge is a piece of spite
and party feeling? And a charge brought against the heir of a great
house by one of the most dangerous enemies of the Throne and Altar,
what is it but an odious slander? There has been no more forgery in
this affair than there has been in my office. Summon Mme. du Croisier,
who knows nothing as yet of the charge of forgery; she will declare to
you that I brought the money and paid it over to her, so that in her
husband's absence she might remit the amount for which he has not
asked her. Examine du Croisier on the point; he will tell you that he
knows nothing of my payment to Mme. du Croisier.

"You may make such assertions as these, sir, in M. d'Esgrignon's
salon, or in any other house where people know nothing of business,
and they may be believed; but no examining magistrate, unless he is a
driveling idiot, can imagine that a woman like Mme. du Croisier, so
submissive as she is to her husband, has a hundred thousand crowns
lying in her desk at this moment, without saying a word to him; nor
yet that an old notary would not have advised M. du Croisier of the
deposit on his return to town."

"The old notary, sir, had gone to Paris to put a stop to the young
man's extravagance."

"I have not yet examined the Comte d'Esgrignon," Camusot began; "his
answers will point out my duty."

"Is he in close custody?"

"Yes."

"Sir," said Chesnel, seeing danger ahead, "the examination can be made
in our interests or against them. But there are two courses open to
you: you can establish the fact on Mme. du Croisier's deposition that
the amount was deposited with her before the bill was drawn; or you
can examine the unfortunate young man implicated in this affair, and
he in his confusion may remember nothing and commit himself. You will
decide which is the more credible--a slip of memory on the part of a
woman in her ignorance of business, or a forgery committed by a
d'Esgrignon."

"All this is beside the point,"