'You were on the point of
being married, Monsieur,' I said negligently and without looking
at him, 'and suddenly your marriage becomes impossible because of
the writer of that letter; because as soon as his letter was read,
you spoke of the necessity for a crime to win Mademoiselle
Stangerson. Therefore there is someone between you and her someone
who has attempted to kill her, so that she should not be able to
marry!' And I concluded with these words: 'Now, monsieur, you have
only to tell me in confidence the name of the murderer!'--The words
I had uttered must have struck him ominously, for when I turned my
eyes on him, I saw that his face was haggard, the perspiration
standing on his forehead, and terror showing in his eyes.
"'Monsieur,' he said to me, 'I am going to ask of you something
which may appear insane, but in exchange for which I place my life
in your hands. You must not tell the magistrates of what you saw
and heard in the garden of the Elysee,--neither to them nor to
anybody. I swear to you, that I am innocent, and I know, I feel,
that you believe me; but I would rather be taken for the guilty man
than see justice go astray on that phrase, "The presbytery has lost
nothing of its charm, nor the garden its brightness.
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