urned to Madeleine: "Do you confess, Madame, that
this gentleman is your lover?"

She replied boldly: "I do not deny it. That is sufficient."

The magistrate made several notes; when he had finished writing, the
minister, who stood ready, coat upon arm, hat in hand, asked: "Do you
need me any longer, sir? Can I go?"

Du Roy addressed him with an insolent smile: "Why should you go, we
have finished; we will leave you alone together." Then, taking the
officer's arm, he said: "Let us go, sir; we have nothing more to do in
this place."

An hour later Georges du Roy entered the office of "La Vie Francaise."
M. Walter was there; he raised his head and asked: "What, are you here?
Why are you not dining at my house? Where have you come from?"

Georges replied with emphasis: "I have just found out something about
the minister of foreign affairs."

"What?"

"I found him alone with my wife in hired apartments. The commissioner
of police was my witness. The minister is ruined."

"Are you not jesting?"

"No, I am not. I shall even write an article on it."

"What is your object?"

"To overthrow that wretch, that public malefactor."

Georges placed his hat upon a chair and added: "Woe to those whom I
find in my path. I never pardon."

The manager stammered: "But your wife?"

"I shall apply for a divorce at once."

"A divorce?"

"Yes, I am master of the situation. I shall be free. I have a stated
income. I shall offer myself as a candidate in October in my native
district, where I am known. I could not win any respect were I to be
hampered with a wife whose honor was sullied. She took me for a
simpleton, but since I have known her game, I have watched her, and now
I shall get on, for I shall be free."

Georges rose.

"I will write the item; it must be handled prudently."

The old man hesitated, then said: "Do so: it serves those right who are
caught in such scrapes."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE FINAL PLOT

Three months had elapsed. Georges du Roy's divorce had been obtained.
His wife had resumed the name of Forestier.

As the Walters were going to Trouville on the fifteenth of July, they
decided to spend a day in the country before starting.

The day chosen was Thursday, and they set out at nine o'clock in the
morning in a large six-seated carriage drawn by four horses. They were
going to lunch at Saint-Germain. Bel-Ami had requested that he might be
the only young man in the party, for he could not bea