Mademoiselle de Bellefeuille, who bore him
illegitimate children--didn't she? Well, such a magistrate is no saint;
he is a man like any other; he can be won over; he must give a hold
somewhere; you must discover the weak spot and flatter him; ask his
advice, point out the dangers of attending the case; in short, try to
get him into the same boat, and you will be----"

"I ought to kiss your footprints!" exclaimed Camusot, interrupting his
wife, putting his arm round her, and pressing her to his heart. "Amelie,
you have saved me!"

"I brought you in tow from Alencon to Mantes, and from Mantes to the
Metropolitan Court," replied Amelie. "Well, well, be quite easy!--I
intend to be called Madame la Presidente within five years' time. But,
my dear, pray always think over everything a long time before you come
to any determination. A judge's business is not that of a fireman; your
papers are never in a blaze, you have plenty of time to think; so in
your place blunders are inexcusable."

"The whole strength of my position lies in identifying the sham Spanish
priest with Jacques Collin," the judge said, after a long pause. "When
once that identity is established, even if the Bench should take the
credit of the whole affair, that will still be an ascertained fact which
no magistrate, judge, or councillor can get rid of. I shall do like the
boys who tie a tin kettle to a cat's tail; the inquiry, whoever carries
it on, will make Jacques Collin's tin kettle clank."

"Bravo!" said Amelie.

"And the public prosecutor would rather come to an understanding with
me than with any one else, since I am the only man who can remove the
Damocles' sword that hangs over the heart of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

"Only you have no idea how hard it will be to achieve that magnificent
result. Just now, when I was with Monsieur de Granville in his
private office, we agreed, he and I, to take Jacques Collin at his
own valuation--a canon of the Chapter of Toledo, Carlos Herrera. We
consented to recognize his position as a diplomatic envoy, and allow him
to be claimed by the Spanish Embassy. It was in consequence of this plan
that I made out the papers by which Lucien de Rubempre was released, and
revised the minutes of the examinations, washing the prisoners as white
as snow.

"To-morrow, Rastignac, Bianchon, and some others are to be confronted
with the self-styled Canon of Toledo; they will not recognize him as
Jacques Collin who was arreste