Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 01.pdf/134

 Causes Cetibres. nunciation had been made to the procureur du roi, in which Robert and Bastien were accused of complicity in the murder of the Widow Houet; but the absence of the corps du dclit paralyzed the arm of the law. After the scene at Germiny, Robert, who had succeeded in concealing from Bastien his retreat at Villeneuve-le-Roi, lived there in apparent security until 1832, when Bas tien suddenly reappeared. This time it was an allowance that he exacted, — an allowance of 1,200 francs annually. He was tired, he said, of wandering about the world, and wished to settle down in the country, to raise his own cabbages somewhere, — who knows? At Villeneuve-le-Roi, perhaps. Ro bert shuddered. But Robert refused; he always began by refusing. Then Bastien increased his de mands, and presented an obligation for 40,000 francs. Robert also refused to sign this paper. Then burst forth the secret which united these two men and made the one the slave of the other. "Assassin! Assassin! " cried Bastien, in a loud voice; " you wish me, then, to mount upon the roofs and cry, Robert murdered his mother-in-law! " At these words, at this terrible denunciation, Robert fled, wild with terror. As he descended the stairs he met a neighbor named Fleury, who had been attracted by the noise. "Come and get a commissary of police," said Fleury, " and have that scoundrel locked up." "No, no," stammered Robert; and rush ing up the stairs he ran to the attic, escaped by a window, and fled across the fields back of the house. A few days later, Bastien made a last effort to obtain money; and this time through an intermediary, one Gouvernant, whom he had known in prison, where he had been confined in 1824. The two men speedily became con genial spirits, and Bastien had made singular confidences to Gouvernant. Later, Gouver nant had met Bastien, who had given him to understand that Robert was at his mercy on 16

113

account of a common crime. After the in terview at Villeneuve-le-Roi, Gouvernant was deputed by Bastien to hunt up Robert. He departed armed with two documents, which Bastien assured him would prove irresistible, — a memorandum containing several names and addresses, and a plan of a garden, in a corner of which was traced a red cross. Gouvernant arrived at Villeneuve-le-Roi, presented Bastien's ultimatum, and exhibited the two papers. At the sight of them Ro bert turned deathly pale, his knees trembled, and he sank into a chair, murmuring, — "Ah! the wretch! the scoundrel! But when I have given him my entire fortune, what assurance have I that he will not seek my life?" Gouvernant, seeing Robert in this state of prostration, left him, making an appointment to meet him at a neighboring inn. Robert, suspecting that Bastien would be present at the interview, did not go. Bastien had, in fact, followed Gouvernant. He waited in vain for Robert, and furious at his absence he took a piece of chalk from the inn and went and wrote on the door of Robert's house, — "Robert murdered his mother-in-law!" After these scenes, which began again to awaken the attention of the authorities, Ro bert and his wife suddenly disappeared from Villeneuve-le-Roi. Exasperated beyond endurance by their flight, Bastien went to the administrators of the Widow Houet's estate, and declared that he knew her murderer, and that he was no other than Robert. This time the au thorities were fully aroused. They recalled the still unpunished crime of 1821, and the two fruitless investigations. It was neces sary to strike promptly, for any action by the public minister would be barred by a lapse of ten years from the date of the last in vestigations, and the guilty ones had almost reached the limit fixed by law. An order was immediately issued for the arrest of Bastien, the only one upon whom the law could at that moment lay its hands.