Though slight suspicion fell upon the Roubauds, they were able to prove an alibi, and as, for political reasons, it was not desired that Grandmorin’s character should be publicly discussed, the inquiry into the murder was dropped.  By a singular chance, however, Jacques Lantier had been a momentary witness of the crime, and the Roubauds became aware of his suspicions.  To secure his silence they invited him constantly to their house, and a liaison with Severine followed.  For the first time Lantier’s blood lust was not aroused; the knowledge that this woman had killed seemed to constitute her a being apart and sacred.  After the murder of Grandmorin a gradual disintegration of Roubaud’s character set in, and he became in time a confirmed gambler.  His relations with his wife were ultimately so strained that she induced Lantier to promise to murder him, in order that they might fly together to America with the proceeds of a small legacy she had received from Grandmorin.  The arrangements were made, but at the last moment Lantier’s frenzy overtook him, and it was Severine who was struck down by the knife destined for her husband.  Lantier escaped without suspicion; but Roubaud, who was found on the scene of the crime under circumstances considered compromising, was tried, and along with a companion equally innocent, was sentenced to penal servitude for life.  But Nemesis was not distant; Jacques had aroused the jealous fury of his fireman, Pecqueux, who, one night in 1870, attacked him as they were driving a train loaded with soldiers bound for the war.  A fierce struggle followed, and in the end the two men fell from the engine and were cut in pieces beneath the wheels of the train, which, no longer under control, rushed on into the darkness with its living freight.

Germinal.

A novel dealing with the labour question in its special relation to coal-mining.  The scene of the book is laid in the north of France at a time preceding and during a great strike; the hero is Etienne Lantier (La Fortune des Rougon and L’Assommoir).  In a moment of passion Lantier had struck one of his superiors, and having been dismissed from his employment as an engineer, found it difficult to get work, till, after drifting from place to place, he eventually became a coal-miner.  The hardships of the life and its miserable remuneration impressed him deeply, and he began to indoctrinate his comrades with a spirit of revolt.  His influence grew, and he became the acknowledged leader of the strike which followed.  The result was disastrous.  After weeks of misery from cold and hunger the infuriated workmen attempted to destroy one of the pits, and were fired upon by soldiers sent to guard it.  Many were killed, and the survivors, with their spirits crushed, returned to work.  But worse was yet to come.  Souvarine, an Anarchist, disgusted with the ineffectual struggle, brought about an inundation of the pit, whereby many of his comrades were entombed.  Among them was Lantier, who was, however, eventually rescued.