But he was so agitated that he was incapable of thinking or of planning anything.

When he still hesitated to commit the crime, he had said to himself; “I may be discovered.”  And with that possibility in view, he had perfected a plan which should put him beyond all fear of pursuit.  He would do this and that; he would have recourse to this ruse, he would take that precaution.  Useless forethought!  Now, nothing he had imagined seemed feasible.  The police were seeking him, and he could think of no place in the whole world where he would feel perfectly safe.

He was near the Odeon theatre, when a thought quicker than a flash of lightning lit up the darkness of his brain.

It occurred to him that as the police were doubtless already in pursuit of him, his description would soon be known to everyone, his white cravat and well trimmed whiskers would betray him as surely as though he carried a placard stating who he was.

Seeing a barber’s shop, he hurried to the door; but, when on the point of turning the handle, he grew frightened.

The barber might think it strange that he wanted his whiskers shaved off, and supposing he should question him!

He passed on.

He soon saw another barber’s shop, but the same fears as before again prevented his entering.

Gradually night had fallen, and, with the darkness, Noel seemed to recover his confidence and boldness.

After this great shipwreck in port, hope rose to the surface.  Why should he not save himself?  There had been many just such cases.  He could go to a foreign country, change his name, begin his life over again, become a new man entirely.  He had money; and that was the main thing.

And, besides, as soon as his eighty thousand francs were spent, he had the certainty of receiving, on his first request, five or six times as much more.

He was already thinking of the disguise he should assume, and of the frontier to which he should proceed, when the recollection of Juliette pierced his heart like a red hot iron.

Was he going to leave without her, going away with the certainty of never seeing her again?  What! he would fly, pursued by all the police of the civilized world, tracked like a wild beast, and she would remain peaceably in Paris?  Was it possible?  For whom then had he committed this crime?  For her.  Who would have reaped the benefits of it?  She.  Was it not just, then, that she should bear her share of the punishment?

“She does not love me,” thought the advocate bitterly, “she never loved me.  She would be delighted to be forever free of me.  She will not regret me, for I am no longer necessary to her.  An empty coffer is a useless piece of furniture.  Juliette is prudent; she has managed to save a nice little fortune.  Grown rich at my expense, she will take some other lover.  She will forget me, she will live happily, while I—­And I was about to go away without her!”