She had heard Widow Lerouge speak of having a son still living.
"Are you quite sure of that ?" asked the investigating magistrate.
"As of my existence," answered the woman, "for, on that evening, yes, it was evening, she was, saving your presence, a little tipsy.

She remained in my shop more than an hour." "And what did she say ?" "I think I see her now," continued the shopkeeper: "she was leaning against the counter near the scales, jesting with a fisherman of Marly, old Husson, who can tell you the same; and she called him a fresh water sailor.

'My husband,' said she, 'was a real sailor, and the proof is, he would sometimes remain years on a voyage, and always used to bring me back cocoanuts.

I have a son who is also a sailor, like his dead father, in the imperial navy.'" "Did she mention her son's name ?" "Not that time, but another evening, when she was, if I may say so, very drunk.

She told us that her son's name was Jacques, and that she had not seen him for a very long time." "Did she speak ill of her husband ?" "Never! She only said he was jealous and brutal, though a good man at bottom, and that he led her a miserable life.