he had no
particular desire to talk to him now; he had already told him everything
he intended to tell him, and he had no intention of allowing the case to
be boomed as a sensation; quite the reverse indeed: in his opinion, the
flatter the case fell, the better it would be for his interests, though
no doubt Maitre Barberoux would not be of the same way of thinking.

But he said nothing, and merely walked in front of Nibet along the
corridor towards the barristers' room, the way to which he was already
familiar with. On the way they passed some masons who were at work in
the prison, and these men stopped to watch him pass, but contrary to
Gurn's apprehensions they did not seem to recognise him. He hoped it
meant that the murder was already ceasing to be a nine days' wonder for
the public at large.

Nibet pushed Gurn into the barristers' room, saying respectfully to the
person in it already, "You only have to ring, sir, when you have
finished," and then withdrew, leaving Gurn in presence, not of his
counsel as he had expected, but of that personage's assistant, a young
licentiate in law named Roger de Seras, who was also a most incredible
dandy.

Roger de Seras greeted Gurn with an engaging smile and advanced as if to
shake hands with him, but suddenly wondering whether that action might
not suggest undue familiarity, he raised his hand to his own head
instead and scratched it; the young fellow was still younger in his
business, and did not rightly know whether it was etiquette for a
barrister, or even a barrister's junior, to shake hands with a prisoner
who was implicated in a notorious murder.

Gurn felt inclined to laugh, and on the whole was glad that it was the
junior whom he had to see; the futile verbosity of this very young
licentiate might possibly be amusing.

Maitre Roger de Seras began with civil apologies.

"You will excuse me if I only stay for a few minutes, but I am most
frightfully busy; besides, two ladies are waiting for me outside in my
carriage: I may say confidentially that they are actresses, old friends
of mine, and, just fancy, they are most frightfully anxious to see you!
That's what it means to be famous, M. Gurn; eh, what?" Gurn nodded, not
feeling unduly flattered. Roger de Seras continued. "Just to please them
I have made any number of applications to the governor of the prison,
but there was nothing doing, my dear chap; that beast of a magistrate,
Fuselier, insists on your being kept