His creditors dunned him relentlessly: one final reprieve had been granted him, but that at an end, if he could not meet their demands, it was all up with his career and reputation.
One morning in the beginning of February 1660, Trumeau called to see his cousin.

He had not been there for nearly a month, and Quennebert and the widow had begun to think that, hopeless of success, he had retired from the contest.

But, far from that, his hatred had grown more intense than ever, and having come upon the traces of an event in the past life of his rival which if proved would be the ruin of that rival's hopes, he set himself to gather evidence.

He now made his appearance with beaming looks, which expressed a joy too great for words.

He held in one hand a small scroll tied with a ribbon.