where he found all that he
needed to prepare a glass of "eau sucree," which he had certainly
earned, and, without looking at la Peyrade, who left the room rather
stunned, he seemed to have no other interest on his mind than that
prosaic preparation.

Was it, indeed, necessary that the morning after this meeting with
Corentin a visit from Madame Lambert, now become an exacting and
importunate creditor, should come to bear its weight on la Peyrade's
determination? As the great chief had pointed out to him the night
before, was there not in his nature, in his mind, in his aspirations,
in the mistakes and imprudences of his past life, a sort of irresistible
incline which drew him down toward the strange solution of existence
thus suddenly offered to him?

Fatality, if we may so call it, was lavish of the inducements to which
he was destined to succumb. This day was the 31st of October; the
vacation of the Palais was just over. The 2nd of November was the day
on which the courts reopened, and as Madame Lambert left his room he
received a summons to appear on that day before the Council of his
order.

To Madame Lambert, who pressed him sharply to repay her, under pretence
that she was about to leave Monsieur Picot and return to her native
place, he replied: "Come here the day after to-morrow, at the same hour,
and your money will be ready for you."

To the summons to give account of his actions to his peers he replied
that he did not recognize the right of the Council to question him
on the facts of his private life. That was an answer of one sort,
certainly. Inevitably it would result in his being stricken from the
roll of the barristers of the Royal courts; but, at least, it had an air
of dignity and protestation which saved, in a measure, his self-love.

Finally, he wrote a letter to Thuillier, in which he said that his
visit to du Portail had resulted in his being obliged to accept another
marriage. He therefore returned to Thuillier his promise, and took back
his own. All this was curtly said, without the slightest expression
of regret for the marriage he renounced. In a postscript he added: "We
shall be obliged to discuss my position on the newspaper,"--indicating
that it might enter into his plans not to retain it.

He was careful to make a copy of this letter, and an hour later, when,
in Corentin's study, he was questioned as to the result of his night's
reflections, he gave that great general, for all answer,