were not too openly hostile to the
throne and the altar. So du Croisier's charge and the young Count's
arrest had not been very easy to manage. The President and du Croisier
had compassed their ends in the following manner.

M. Sauvager, a young Royalist barrister, had reached the position of
deputy public prosecutor by dint of subservience to the Ministry. In
the absence of his chief he was head of the staff of counsel for
prosecution, and, consequently, it fell to him to take up the charge
made by du Croisier. Sauvager was a self-made man; he had nothing but
his stipend; and for that reason the authorities reckoned upon some one
who had everything to gain by devotion. The President now exploited
the position. No sooner was the document with the alleged forgery in du
Croisier's hands, than Mme. la Presidente du Ronceret, prompted by her
spouse, had a long conversation with M. Sauvager. In the course of it
she pointed out the uncertainties of a career in the magistrature debout
compared with the magistrature assise, and the advantages of the bench
over the bar; she showed how a freak on the part of some official, or a
single false step, might ruin a man's career.

"If you are conscientious and give your conclusions against the powers
that be, you are lost," continued she. "Now, at this moment, you might
turn your position to account to make a fine match that would put you
above unlucky chances for the rest of your life; you may marry a wife
with fortune sufficient to land you on the bench, in the magistrature
assise. There is a fine chance for you. M. du Croisier will never have
any children; everybody knows why. His money, and his wife's as well,
will go to his niece, Mlle. Duval. M. Duval is an ironmaster, his purse
is tolerably filled, to begin with, and his father is still alive, and
has a little property besides. The father and son have a million of
francs between them; they will double it with du Croisier's help, for
du Croisier has business connections among great capitalists and
manufacturers in Paris. M. and Mme. Duval the younger would be certain
to give their daughter to a suitor brought forward by du Croisier, for
he is sure to leave two fortunes to his niece; and, in all probability,
he will settle the reversion of his wife's property upon Mlle. Duval in
the marriage contract, for Mme. du Croisier has no kin. You know how du
Croisier hates the d'Esgrignons. Do him a service, be his man, take
up this charg