elf, still detained by
ill-health. But a new and inexplicable circumstance made him resolve to
go to Paris and endeavour to clear up the mystery which appeared to
surround his wife and son. He received an unsigned letter in unknown
handwriting, and in which Madame de Lamotte's reputation was attacked
with a kind of would-be reticence, which hinted that she was an
unfaithful wife and that in this lay the cause of her long absence. Her
husband did not believe this anonymous denunciation, but the fate of the
two beings dearest to him seemed shrouded in so much obscurity that he
could delay no longer, and started for Paris.

His resolution not to accompany Derues had saved his life. The latter
could not carry out his culminating crime at Buisson-Souef; it was only
in Paris that his victims would disappear without his being called to
account. Obliged to leave hold of his prey, he endeavoured to bewilder
him in a labyrinth where all trace of truth might be lost. Already, as
he had arranged beforehand, he had called calumny to his help, and
prepared the audacious lie which was to vindicate himself should an
accusation fall upon his head. He had hoped that Monsieur de Lamotte
would fall defenceless into his hands; but now a careful examination of
his position, showing the impossibility of avoiding an explanation had
become inevitable, made him change all his plans, and compelled him to
devise an infernal plot, so skilfully laid that it bid fair to defeat all
human sagacity.

Monsieur de Lamotte arrived in Paris early in March. Chance decided that
he should lodge in the rue de la Mortellerie, in a house not far from the
one where his wife's body lay buried. He went to see Derues, hoping to
surprise him, and determined to make him speak, but found he was not at
home. Madame Derues, whether acting with the discretion of an accomplice
or really ignorant of her husband's proceedings, could not say where he
was likely to be found. She said that he told her nothing about his
actions, and that Monsieur de Lamotte must have observed during their
stay at Buisson (which was true) that she never questioned him, but
obeyed his wishes in everything; and that he had now gone away without
saying where he was going. She acknowledged that Madame de Lamotte had
lodged with them for six weeks, and that she knew that lady had been at
Versailles, but since then she had heard nothing. All Monsieur de
Lamotte's questions, his entreaties,