But Antoine de Chaulieu entertained
no doubt of his guilt, and the speech he composed was certainly well
calculated to carry that conviction into the bosom of others. It was
of the highest importance to his own reputation that he should procure
a verdict, and he confidently assured the afflicted and enraged family
of the victim that their vengeance should be satisfied.
Under these circumstances, could anything be more unwelcome than a
piece of intelligence that was privately conveyed to him late on the
evening before the trial was to come on, which tended strongly to
exculpate the prisoner, without indicating any other person as the
criminal. Here was an opportunity lost. The first step of the ladder
on which he was to rise to fame, fortune, and a wife was slipping from
under his feet.
Of course so interesting a trial was anticipated with great eagerness
by the public; the court was crowded with all the beauty and fashion
of Rouen, and amongst the rest, doubly interesting in her mourning,
sat the fair Natalie, accompanied by her family.
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