my innocence, canst Thou not ordain a miracle to save an honest
man? Wilt Thou not command this dead body to bear witness for me?"

The mason was stupefied by this flow of language. Unable to restrain his
tears, he promised to keep silence, persuaded that Derues was innocent,
and that appearances only were against him. The latter, moreover, did
not neglect other means of persuasion; he handed the mason two gold
pieces, and between them they buried the body of Madame de Lamotte.

However extraordinary this fact, which might easily be supposed
imaginary, may appear, it certainly happened. In the examination at his
trial. Derues himself revealed it, repeating the story which had
satisfied the mason. He believed that this man had denounced him: he was
mistaken, for this confidant of his crime, who might have been the first
to put justice on his track, never reappeared, and but for Derues'
acknowledgment his existence would have remained unknown.

This first deed accomplished, another victim was already appointed.
Trembling at first as to the consequences of his forced confession,
Derues waited some days, paying, however, his creditor as promised. He
redoubles his demonstrations of piety, he casts a furtive glance on
everyone he meets, seeking for some expression of distrust. But no one
avoids him, or points him out with a raised finger, or whispers on seeing
him; everywhere he encounters the customary expression of goodwill.
Nothing has changed; suspicion passes over his head without alighting
there. He is reassured, and resumes his work. Moreover, had he wished
to remain passive, he could not have done so; he was now compelled to
follow that fatal law of crime which demands that blood must be effaced
with blood, and which is compelled to appeal again to death in order to
stifle the accusing voice already issuing from the tomb.

Edouard de Lamotte, loving his mother as much as she loved him, became
uneasy at receiving no visits, and was astonished at this sudden
indifference. Derues wrote to him as follows:

"I have at length some good news for you, my dear boy, but you must not
tell your mother I have betrayed her secret; she would scold me, because
she is planning a surprise for you, and the various steps and care
necessary in arranging this important matter have caused her absence.
You were to know nothing until the 11th or 12th of this month, but now
that all is settled, I should blame myself if I prolonge