lunatic?—­and the lover?  A hero or an adventurer?—­And the husband, the lawyer and the friends of the house?  Mme. Acquet more than all piqued my curiosity.  The daughter of a good house disguised as a hussar to stop the mail like Choppart!  This was not at all commonplace!  Was she young and pretty?  Moisson knew nothing about it; he had never seen her or her lover or husband, Mme. de Combray having quarrelled with all of them.

I was most anxious to learn more, but to do that it would be necessary to consult the report of the trial in the record office at Rouen.  I never had time.  I mentioned it to M. Gustave Bord, to Frederic Masson and M. de la Sicotiere, and thought no more about it even after the interesting article published in the Temps, by M. Ernest Daudet, until walking one day with Lenotre in the little that is left of old Paris of the Cite, the house in the Rue Chanoinesse, where Balzac lodged Mme. de la Chanterie, reminded me of Moisson, whose adventure I narrated to Lenotre, at that time finishing his “Conspiration de la Rouerie.”  That was sufficient to give him the idea of studying the records of the affair of 1807, which no one had consulted before him.  A short time after he told me that the tower of Tournebut was still in existence, and that he was anxious for us to visit it, the son-in-law of the owner of the Chateau of Aubevoye, M. Constantin, having kindly offered to conduct us.

On a fine autumn morning the train left us at the station that served the little village of Aubevoye, whose name has twice been heard in the Courts of Justice, once in the trial of Mme. de Combray and once in that of Mme. de Jeufosse.  Those who have no taste for these sorts of excursions cannot understand their charm.  Whether it be a little historical question to be solved, an unknown or badly authenticated fact to be elucidated, this document hunt with its deceptions and surprises is the most amusing kind of chase, especially in company with a delver like Lenotre, endowed with an admirable flair that always puts him on the right track.  There was, moreover, a particular attraction in this old forgotten tower, in which we alone were interested, and in examining into Moisson’s story!

Of the chateau that had been built by the Marechal de Marillac, and considerably enlarged by Mme. de Combray, nothing, unhappily, remains but the out-buildings, a terrace overlooking the Seine, the court of honour turned into a lawn, an avenue of old limes and the ancient fence.  A new building replaced the old one fifty years ago.  The little chateau, “Gros-Mesnil,” near the large one has recently been restored.

But the general effect is the same as in 1804.  Seeing the great woods that hug the outer wall so closely, one realises how well they lent themselves to the mysterious comings and goings, to the secret councils, to the role destined for it by Mme. de Combray, preparing the finest room for the arrival of the King or the Comte d’Artois, and in both the great and little chateau, arranging hiding-places, one of which alone could accommodate forty armed men.