placed himself at my disposal, and begged me to spare neither
his time nor his trouble. I then told him what had brought me to Paris,
and also the disappointments I had encountered, for of all the people I
had seen not one had given me a favourable answer. He said that he might
possibly be of some use to me, and the very next day told 'me that he had
seen a capitalist, but could do nothing without more precise information.
Then I thought it might be better to bring him here, so that he might
talk matters over with you. When I first asked him, he refused
altogether, and only yielded to my earnest entreaties and Edouard's.
This is the history, dear, of the circumstances under which I made
Monsieur Derues' acquaintance. I hope you do not think I have acted
foolishly?"

"Very well," said Monsieur de Lamotte, "I will talk to him to-morrow, and
in any case I promise you I will be civil to him. I will not forget that
he has been useful to you." With which promise the conversation came to
a close.

Skilled in assuming any kind of mask and in playing every sort of part,
Derues did not find it difficult to overcome Monsieur de Lamotte's
prejudices, and in order to obtain the goodwill of the father he made a
skilful use of the friendship which the, son had formed with him. One
can hardly think that he already meditated the crime which he carried out
later; one prefers to believe that these atrocious plots were not
invented so long beforehand. But he was already a prey to the idea, and
nothing henceforth could turn him from it. By what route he should
arrive at the distant goal which his greed foresaw, he knew not as yet,
but he had said to himself, "One day this property shall be mine." It
was the death-warrant of those who owned it.

We have no details, no information as to Derues' first visit to
Buisson-Souef, but when he departed he had obtained the complete
confidence of the family, and a regular correspondence was carried on
between him and the Lamottes. It was thus that he was able to exercise
his talent of forgery, and succeeded in imitating the writing of this
unfortunate lady so as to be able even to deceive her husband. Several
months passed, and none of the hopes which Derues had inspired were
realised; a loan was always on the point of being arranged, and regularly
failed because of some unforeseen circumstance. These pretended
negotiations were managed by Derues with so much skill and cunning that
inst