Besides, if he produced the
witness who had secretly given him the information, he should be
self-condemned, for he could not conceal that he had been aware of the
circumstance before the trial.
Matters having gone so far, therefore, it was necessary that Jacques
Rollet should die; and so the affair took its course; and early one
morning the guillotine was erected in the court-yard of the gaol, three
criminals ascended the scaffold, and three heads fell into the basket,
which were presently afterward, with the trunks that had been attached
to them, buried in a corner of the cemetery.
Antoine de Chaulieu was now fairly started in his career, and his
success was as rapid as the first step toward it had been tardy. He
took a pretty apartment in the Hotel Marboeuf, Rue Grange Bateliere,
and in a short time was looked upon as one of the most rising young
advocates in Paris. His success in one line brought him success in
another; he was soon a favorite in society, and an object of interest
to speculating mothers; but his affections still adhered to his old
love, Natalie de Bellefonds, whose family now gave their assent to the
match,--at least prospectively,--a circumstance which furnished such
additional incentive to his exertions, that in about two years from
his first brilliant speech he was in a sufficiently flourishing
condition to offer the young lady a suitable home.
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