und that my foot was still
sure and my head cool. Ha! ha! old sergeant," he added, looking at his
leg, "old hidalgo, old mole-catcher, after this they won't make so many
jokes about your calves!"

XXIX

If Anthony Mauprat had been a man of mettle he might have done me a
bad turn by declaring that he had been a witness of my attempt to
assassinate Edmee. As he had reasons for hiding himself before this last
crime, he could have explained why he had kept out of sight, and why he
had been silent about the occurrences at Gazeau Tower. I had nothing in
my favour except Patience's evidence. Would this have been sufficient
to procure my acquittal? The evidence of so many others was against
me, even that given by my friends, and by Edmee, who could not deny my
violent temper and the possibility of such a crime.

But Antony, in words the most insolent of all the "Hamstringers," was
the most cowardly in deeds. He no sooner found himself in the hands
of justice than he confessed everything, even before knowing that his
brother had thrown him over.

At his trial there were some scandalous scenes, in which the two
brothers accused each other in a loathsome way. The Trappist, whose rage
was kept in check by his hypocrisy, coldly abandoned the ruffian to his
fate, and denied that he had ever advised him to commit the crime. The
other, driven to desperation, accused him of the most horrible deeds,
including the poisoning of my mother, and Edmee's mother, who had both
died of violent inflammation of the intestines within a short time of
each other. John Mauprat, he declared, used to be very skilful in the
art of preparing poisons and would introduce himself into houses under
various disguises to mix them with the food. He affirmed that, on
the day that Edmee had been brought to Roche-Mauprat, John had called
together all his brothers to discuss plans for making away with this
heiress to a considerable fortune, a fortune which he had striven
to obtain by crime, since he had tried to destroy the effects of the
Chevalier Hubert's marriage. My mother's life, too, had been the
price paid for the latter's wish to adopt his brother's child. All
the Mauprats had been in favour of making away with Edmee and myself
simultaneously, and John was actually preparing the poison when the
police happened to turn aside their hideous designs by attacking the
castle. John denied the charges with pretended horror, saying humbly
that he had commit