Causes Célèbres. de la Motte from the eyes of all, he at once started to join her. On the 7th he arrived at the H6tel Blanc. On the 8th, early in the morning, he went to the post-office; and there the first person he saw was Madame de la Motte herself. "She appeared," added Desrües, " sur prised and vexed at seeing me. ' Ah! Madame,' I said, approaching her, ' you have placed me in a strange and painful position! My enemies accuse me of your death and that of your son.' I entreated her to ac company me to some place where we could talk more freely, and after persistent urging she consented to come to my room at the hotel. There I demonstrated to her that she ought to relieve me from my embarrass ing situation, and that she might save my life by some authenticated act proving her existence. That she refused to do. I per suaded her, finally, to send a power of attor ney to M. de la Motte, in order that this unhappy affair of Buisson-Soiief might be finally terminated. She did, in fact, go to a notary, and executed the instrument. After that I did not see her again." On the next day, the 25th of March, Desrües was again brought before the Procureur du Roi. "You have, doubtless," said the Procureur, " kept the letter which Madame de la Motte sent to you from Lyons?" "No, Monsieur; it was only a few lines, and was not signed." "Desrües, you are lying! You killed that woman and her son. You substituted an other woman at Lyons, to deceive justice." "Ah, Monsieur, God knows my inno cence, and he will make it appear." On the 18th of April an investigation was made in Lyons. No one could be found who had seen a woman there early in March resembling Madame de la Motte. If she had been there, she must have attracted attention, for her figure was almost gigantic, she being five feet eight inches in height. The notary Pourra and his wife, the employes of the Hotel Blanc, and all who had seen
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the false Desportes and the veiled lady were sent to Paris to be confronted with Desrües. Desrües had in the mean time been kept in solitary confinement. He asked and ob tained permission to see his wife. The next day a letter was received by a certain M. Dubois, with whom Desrües had had some business transactions, purporting to have been sent at the instance of Madame de la Motte. On the 10th of April an order was issued for the arrest of Madame Desrües. The commissary Mutel, to whom was intrusted the execution of the order, made a new and more careful search of the premises. He fonnd a gold watch which Bertin identified as having belonged to young De la Motte. How did this watch happen to be in Desrües's house? Madame Desrües said : " All that I know about it is that I saw the watch in a writing-desk two days after my husband's return from Versailles. Desrües told me that he had bought a better one for the young man." Madame Desrües was conducted to GrandChatelet. As for Desrües, although in soli tary confinement, he was not idle in his prison; he wrote letters to his friends at Buisson-Souef. "This wretch," he said, speaking of M. de la Motte, " has circulated the most outrageous stories concerning me. It is unfortunate for me that I ever knew him." And he narrated with his usual pro lixity his relations with the De la Mottes. These epistles, destined to pass under the eyes of his judges, were filled with pious expressions, with protestations of innocence, and a firm reliance on Divine Providence. The affair was pushed as rapidly as possi ble, conformably to the pressing orders of the Procureur-General; but it was neces sarily retarded by the absence of important witnesses from Lyons. There were also lack ing the two corps de de~lit. An investigation was commenced a little later at Versailles, to discover traces of young De la Motte; but on that side it was impossible to dis cover anything.
