“Yes,” said Michu.  “In my opinion, instead of letting the young man out on bail, we ought to pull him out of this mess at once.  Everything turns on the examination of du Croisier and his wife.  You might summons them to appear while the court is sitting, M. Camusot; take down their depositions before four o’clock, send in your report to-night, and we will give our decision in the morning before the court sits.”

“We will settle what course to pursue while the barristers are pleading,” said Vice-President Blondet, addressing Camusot.

And with that the three judges put on their robes and went into court.

At noon Mlle. Armande and the Bishop reached the Hotel d’Esgrignon; Chesnel and M. Couturier were there to meet them.  There was a sufficiently short conference between the prelate and Mme. du Croisier’s director, and the latter set out at once to visit his charge.

At eleven o’clock that morning du Croisier received a summons to appear in the examining magistrate’s office between one and two in the afternoon.  Thither he betook himself, consumed by well-founded suspicions.  It was impossible that the President should have foreseen the arrival of the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse upon the scene, the return of the public prosecutor, and the hasty confabulation of his learned brethren; so he had omitted to trace out a plan for du Croisier’s guidance in the event of the preliminary examination taking place.  Neither of the pair imagined that the proceedings would be hurried on in this way.  Du Croisier obeyed the summons at once; he wanted to know how M. Camusot was disposed to act.  So he was compelled to answer the questions put to him.  Camusot addressed him in summary fashion with the six following inquiries:—­

“Was the signature on the bill alleged to be a forgery in your handwriting?—­Had you previously done business with M. le Comte d’Esgrignon?—­Was not M. le Comte d’Esgrignon in the habit of drawing upon you, with or without advice?—­Did you not write a letter authorizing M. d’Esgrignon to rely upon you at any time?—­ Had not Chesnel squared the account not once, but many times already?—­ Were you not away from home when this took place?”

All these questions the banker answered in the affirmative.  In spite of wordy explanations, the magistrate always brought him back to a “Yes” or “No.”  When the questions and answers alike had been resumed in the proces-verbal, the examining magistrate brought out a final thunderbolt.

“Was du Croisier aware that the money destined to meet the bill had been deposited with him, du Croisier, according to Chesnel’s declaration, and a letter of advice sent by the said Chesnel to the Comte d’Esgrignon, five days before the date of the bill?”

That last question frightened du Croisier.  He asked what was meant by it, and whether he was supposed to be the defendant and M. le Comte d’Esgrignon the plaintiff?  He called the magistrate’s attention to the fact that if the money had been deposited with him, there was no ground for the action.