The person who defies public opinion is lost.  Now, public opinion was decidedly against Jacques de Boiscoran.  He was down, and everybody was ready to kick him.

“Will he get out of it?”

This problem, which was day by day discussed at the “Literary Club,” had called forth torrents of eloquence, terrible discussions, and even one or two serious quarrels, one of which had ended in a duel.  But nobody asked any longer,—­

“Is he innocent?”

Dr. Seignebos’s eloquence, the influence of M. Seneschal, and the cunning plots of Mechinet, had all failed.

“Ah, what an interesting trial it will be!” said many people, who were all eagerness to know who would be the presiding judge, in order to ask him for tickets of admission.  Day by day the interest in the trial became deeper; and all who were in any way connected with it were watched with great curiosity.  Everybody wanted to know what they were doing, what they thought, and what they had said.

They saw in the absence of the Marquis de Boiscoran an additional proof of Jacques’s guilt.  The continued presence of M. Folgat also created no small wonder.  His extreme reserve, which they ascribed to his excessive and ill-placed pride, had made him generally disliked.  And now they said,—­

“He must have hardly any thing to do in Paris, that he can spend so many months in Sauveterre.”

The editor of “The Sauveterre Independent” naturally found the affair a veritable gold-mine for his paper.  He forgot his old quarrel with the editor of “The Impartial Journal,” whom he accused of Bonapartism, and who retaliated by calling him a Communist.  Each day brought, in addition to the usual mention under the “local” head, some article on the “Boiscoran Case.”  He wrote,—­

“The health of Count C., instead of improving, is declining visibly.  He used to get up occasionally when he first came to Sauveterre; and now he rarely leaves his bed.  The wound in the shoulder, which at first seemed to be the least dangerous, has suddenly become much inflamed, owing to the tropical heat of the last days.  At one time gangrene was apprehended, and it was feared that amputation would become necessary.  Yesterday Dr. S. seemed to be much disturbed.

“And, as misfortunes never come singly, the youngest daughter of Count C. is very ill.  She had the measles at the time of the fire; and the fright, the cold, and the removal, have brought on a relapse, which may be dangerous.

“Amid all these cruel trials, the Countess C. is admirable in her devotion, her courage, and her resignation.  Whenever she leaves the bedside of her dear patients to pray at church for them, she is received with the most touching sympathy and the most sincere admiration by the whole population.”

“Ah, that wretch Boiscoran!” cried the good people of Sauveterre when they read such an article.

The next day, they found this,—­