once kept pigs at Chamblas, and that I shall
soon be master there."

Jérome Pugin, the ladies' neighbour,
perfectly remembered that, on the 1st of September,
about midnight or half an hour afterwards,
their door suddenly opened and was violently
closed again. His wife said  " They have let in
somebody who is very glad to be within doors."
The presumption is that Besson, returning from
the murder, was admitted then by Marie Boudon.

The olive-green pantaloons stuck to the
prisoner like the poisoned shirt of antiquity. He
was repeatedly seen wearing them immediately
before and after the murder. He made a great
deal too much fuss about the state in which the
small-pox had left his feet. To one he simply
showed them, complaining. To another he said,
"They would accuse me, if I had not been ill.
Misfortune is good for something." To another,
*' At any rate, they won't say it's me; I am too
weak upon my legs." Pugin's wife could not
help exclaiming, " How tiresome that Besson
is! He talks of nothing but his feet."

The Comtesse de la Roche-Négly de
Chamblas, the "fatal" mother-in-law, is called. The
spectators try to make out, through her veil, the
features of this haughty lady. She is attired,
with rich simplicity, in a silk robe with a fur
palatine. Her head-dress is a blue silk hood.
Long black curls frame in her aristocratic
countenance, which still appears young in spite of
her eight-and-fifty years. The eyes are bright,
the look assured; the lips, thin and compressed,
are drawn down at the corners; the gait is
stately and imperious. She answers in a firm
voice which does not betray the slightest emotion.

"M. de Marcellange had not made her
daughter happy at the outset of their married
life. After she went to live with them, she
sometimes witnessed quarrels. She took no
part in those discussions. She never—never—
never—heard of her son-in-law's being poisoned
by an omelette prepared by her servants. He
had not complained bitterly of Besson's and
Marie's conduct, nor had they mixed themselves
up in any dispute. In her house, servants were
kept in their places. On the 1st of September
Besson remained at Le Puy. He went to bed
at eight o'clock. He did not go out at all on
the evening of that day. He took a walk before
going to bed, but not far. She and her daughter
came home at nine in the evening. No one
returned to the house about midnight or one
in the morning. Besson, although in her
service, often spent part of the week at Chamblas.
It was because he had work to do; there was no
other motive. She had heard of disputes between
Besson and her son-in-law, but never thought
them serious. After the separation, some
members of the family tried to bring about a
reconciliation. She never was opposed to it—never!"

After this examination, sustained without
flinching, she resumed her place, motionless and
disdainful, amongst the witnesses.

A woman named Chamard declared that,
after the separation, she saw Besson walking
in the wood with the Dames de Chamblas, with
each of them hanging on either arm. She perhaps
saw something more; her master had heard
her say that Besson " did things which ought
not to be done."

The widow, Théodora de la Roche-Négly de
Chamblas, is introduced next. She is dressed
in black; a deep veil covers her face. She
states her age to be thirty-eight; but her natural
plainness and the effects of small-pox make her
appear considerably older. Her likeness to her
mother is striking. Her answers, at first
scarcely audible, are soon given in a firmer
tone. You may hear a pin drop in the court.
The president politely requests her to raise her
veil, and is obeyed immediately.

This witness can give no particulars respecting
her husband's murder; does not know
if he had enemies in that locality, having long
been separated from him. Their quarrels were
occasioned by her mother's claims; M. de
Marcellange wished to separate, because she desired
to remain with her mother. She did not answer
her husband's summons to return, because her
health did not allow it. Chamblas is a very
chilly residence, and her own wish was to winter
at Le Puy. She believes that the violence of
their discussions has been much exaggerated.
It is false that her husband had said that he
would have lived on good terms with her but
for her mother. There was an interval of four
months between the deaths of her children.
She did not acquaint her husband with the
second death; the illness was very short. After
that her husband made advances; as to her
reception of them she can say nothing. Besson
caught the small-pox soon after she had had
it. She knows nothing of any one's entering
late on the 1st of September; she was fast
asleep. Knows nothing of the attempted poisoning;
never wished her husband to be threshed
like corn, nor shot over a precipice, &c., &c.
Had sent luxuries to Besson in prison, not
believing him guilty. To a juryman, who asked
whether her husband was not put into an
uncomfortable chamber, she answers, " It was
the only one at her disposal." She retires,
and takes her seat beside her mother, without
manifesting the slightest emotion.

                                IV.

THERE was another important witness to
be examined—the femme de chambre, Marie
Boudon. She was not forthcoming. Madame
de Marcellange was recalled to explain her
servant's absence.

"She did not know what had become of the
girl. After Marie left her service, she wanted
her back for a journey; and since then she had
never seen nor heard of her, nor inquired after
her. Did not know how she subsisted; had
not sent her money, and did not leave any with
her. She took her to Aix, in Savoy, and left
her there; she wished to remain, as she liked
the place. It was no business of hers to
persuade Marie to the contrary."

These replies, uttered in a hard, cold voice,
stupefied the audience. They were convinced
that Marie Boudon's absence involved some
terrible mystery. The witness again retired,