When one gives a dying man an immense bowl of hot wine, which has also been narcotized,--for the Perrache woman slept all night in a sort of lethargy after drinking a small glass of it,--it is evident that the catastrophe has been hastened." "I am ignorant, monsieur," said Cerizet, with dignity, "of what Madame Cardinal may have given to her uncle.

I have no doubt committed a great piece of thoughtlessness in assisting this woman to obtain an inheritance to which she assured me she had legal rights; but as to attempting the life of that old pauper, I am quite incapable of such a thing; nothing of the kind ever entered my mind." "You wrote me this letter, I think," said du Portail, abruptly, taking from beneath a bohemian glass bowl a paper which he offered to Cerizet.
"A letter ?" replied Cerizet, with the hesitation of a man who doesn't know whether to lie or speak the truth.
"I am quite sure of what I say," continued du Portail.

"I have a mania for autographs, and I possess one of yours, obtained at the period when the Opposition exalted you to the glorious rank of martyr.

I have compared the two writings, and I find that you certainly wrote me, yesterday, the letter which you hold in your hand, informing me of the money embarrassments of young la Peyrade at the present moment." "Well," said Cerizet, "knowing that you had given a home to Mademoiselle de la Peyrade, who is probably cousin of Theodose, I thought I recognized in you the mysterious protector from whom, on more than one occasion, my friend has received the most generous assistance.

Now, as I have a sincere affection for that poor fellow, it was in his interests that I permitted myself--" "You did quite right," interrupted du Portail.