vinced of the young man's guilt. Many evidences had doubtless been brought forward against him; and after such apparent proofs, perhaps no judge in the world could have acted otherwise than la Regnie had done. But then, the innocent looks and grief of Madelon, with the picture she had drawn of domestic happiness, acted as a complete counterbalance to every evil suspicion, and de Scuderi would rather admit the existence of some inexplicable and even supernatural mystery, than believe that at which her inmost heart revolted. She now determined, therefore, that she would make Olivier relate over again all that had happened on that fatal night; to watch whether his account corresponded exactly to that of Madelon, and, as far as possible, to reconcile those difficulties with which the judges would perhaps give themselves no farther trouble, as they considered the prisoner's guilt so clearly established.
On arriving at the Conciergerie, de Scuderi was conducted into a large and well lighted chamber, where the rattling of chains soon announced Brusson's approach; but no sooner had he crossed the threshold, than, to the astonishment of the attendants, de Scuderi trembled, grew deadly pale, and without uttering a word, sank fainting into a chair. When she recovered, the prisoner was no longer in the room, and she demanded impatiently that she should be led back to her carriage. She was determined not to remain another moment in this abode of crime and misery, for, alas! she had recognized in Brusson, at the very first glance, the young man who had thrown the billet into her carriage on the Pont Neuf, and who, (according to Martiniere's evidence,) had brought her the casket with the jewels. La Regnie's horrid suggestions were therefore too surely confirmed, and as Brusson belonged evidently to that band of midnight assassins, there could be little or no doubt that he was the murderer of his master.—But still, the beauty, youth, and apparent innocence of Madelon? Never having been till now so bitterly deceived by her own benevolent impulses, and forced to admit the existence
