“Great God!”

Quick as lightning, the marchioness seized the fatal paper.  She read at a glance,—­

“Come quick.  Jacques in prison; close confinement; accused of horrible crime.  The whole town says he is guilty, and that he has confessed.  Infamous calumny!  His judge is his former friend, Galpin, who was to marry his cousin Lavarande.  Know nothing except that Jacques is innocent.  Abominable intrigue!  Grandpa Chandore and I will do what can be done.  Your help indispensable.  Come, come!

“Dionysia Chandore.”

“Ah, my son is lost!” cried the marchioness with tears in her eyes.  The marquis, however, had recovered already from the shock.

“And I—­I say more than ever, with Dionysia, who is a brave girl, Jacques is innocent.  But I see he is in danger.  A criminal prosecution is always an ugly affair.  A man in close confinement may be made to say any thing.”

“We must do something,” said the mother, nearly mad with grief.

“Yes, and without losing a minute.  We have friends:  let us see who among them can help us.”

“I might write to M. Margeril.”

The marquis, who had turned quite pale, became livid.

“What!” he cried.  “You dare utter that name in my presence?”

“He is all powerful; and my son is in danger.”

The marquis stopped her with a threatening gesture, and cried with an accent of bitter hatred,—­

“I would a thousand times rather my son should die innocent on the scaffold than owe his safety to that man!”

His wife seemed to be on the point of fainting.

“Great God!  And yet you know very well that I was only a little indiscreet.”

“No more!” said the marquis harshly.

Then, recovering his self-control by a powerful effort, he went on,—­

“Before we attempt any thing, we must know how the matter stands.  You will leave for Sauveterre this evening.”

“Alone?”

“No.  I will find some able lawyer,—­a reliable jurist, who is not a politician,—­if such a one can be found nowadays.  He will tell you what to do, and will write to me, so that I can do here whatever may be best.  Dionysia is right.  Jacques must be the victim of some abominable intrigue.  Nevertheless, we shall save him; but we must keep cool, perfectly cool.”

And as he said this he rang the bell so violently, that a number of servants came rushing in at once.

“Quick,” he said; “send for my lawyer, Mr. Chapelain.  Take a carriage.”

The servant who took the order was so expeditious, that, in less than twenty minutes, M. Chapelain arrived.

“Ah! we want all your experience, my friend,” said the marquis to him.  “Look here.  Read these telegrams.”

Fortunately, the lawyer had such control over himself, that he did not betray what he felt; for he believed Jacques guilty, knowing as he did how reluctant courts generally are to order the arrest of a suspected person.