"
"That evening, I went out walking," murmured Albert.
"Now," continued the magistrate, "where did you dine?"
"At home, as usual."
"No, not as usual. At the end of your meal, you asked for a bottle of
Bordeaux, of which you drank the whole. You doubtless had need of some
extra excitement for your subsequent plans."
"I had no plans," replied the prisoner with very evident uneasiness.
"You make a mistake. Two friends came to seek you. You replied to them,
before sitting down to dinner, that you had a very important engagement
to keep."
"That was only a polite way of getting rid of them."
"Why?"
"Can you not understand, sir? I was resigned, but not comforted. I was
learning to get accustomed to the terrible blow. Would not one seek
solitude in the great crisis of one's life?"
"The prosecution pretends that you wished to be left alone, that you
might go to La Jonchere. During the day, you said, 'She can not resist
me.' Of whom were you speaking?"
"Of some one to whom I had written the evening before, and who had
replied to me. I spoke the words, with her letter still in my hands."
"This letter was, then, from a woman?"
"Yes.
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