Les Misérables, page 68
CHAPTER VII--THE TRAVELLER ON HIS ARRIVAL TAKES PRECAUTIONS FORDEPARTURE
It was nearly eight o'clock in the evening when the cart, which weleft on the road, entered the porte-cochère of the Hotel de la Poste inArras; the man whom we have been following up to this moment alightedfrom it, responded with an abstracted air to the attentions of thepeople of the inn, sent back the extra horse, and with his own handsled the little white horse to the stable; then he opened the door of abilliard-room which was situated on the ground floor, sat down there,and leaned his elbows on a table; he had taken fourteen hours forthe journey which he had counted on making in six; he did himself thejustice to acknowledge that it was not his fault, but at bottom, he wasnot sorry.
The landlady of the hotel entered.
"Does Monsieur wish a bed? Does Monsieur require supper?"
He made a sign of the head in the negative.
"The stableman says that Monsieur's horse is extremely fatigued."
Here he broke his silence.
"Will not the horse be in a condition to set out again to-morrowmorning?"
"Oh, Monsieur! he must rest for two days at least."
He inquired:--
"Is not the posting-station located here?"
"Yes, sir."
The hostess conducted him to the office; he showed his passport, andinquired whether there was any way of returning that same night to M.sur M. by the mail-wagon; the seat beside the post-boy chanced to bevacant; he engaged it and paid for it. "Monsieur," said the clerk,"do not fail to be here ready to start at precisely one o'clock in themorning."
This done, he left the hotel and began to wander about the town.
He was not acquainted with Arras; the streets were dark, and hewalked on at random; but he seemed bent upon not asking the way of thepassers-by. He crossed the little river Crinchon, and found himself in alabyrinth of narrow alleys where he lost his way. A citizen was passingalong with a lantern. After some hesitation, he decided to apply to thisman, not without having first glanced behind and in front of him, asthough he feared lest some one should hear the question which he wasabout to put.
"Monsieur," said he, "where is the court-house, if you please."
"You do not belong in town, sir?" replied the bourgeois, who was anoldish man; "well, follow me. I happen to be going in the direction ofthe court-house, that is to say, in the direction of the hotel of theprefecture; for the court-house is undergoing repairs just at thismoment, and the courts are holding their sittings provisionally in theprefecture."
"Is it there that the Assizes are held?" he asked.
"Certainly, sir; you see, the prefecture of to-day was the bishop'spalace before the Revolution. M. de Conzié, who was bishop in '82, builta grand hall there. It is in this grand hall that the court is held."
On the way, the bourgeois said to him:--
"If Monsieur desires to witness a case, it is rather late. The sittingsgenerally close at six o'clock."
When they arrived on the grand square, however, the man pointed out tohim four long windows all lighted up, in the front of a vast and gloomybuilding.
"Upon my word, sir, you are in luck; you have arrived in season. Do yousee those four windows? That is the Court of Assizes. There is lightthere, so they are not through. The matter must have been greatlyprotracted, and they are holding an evening session. Do you take aninterest in this affair? Is it a criminal case? Are you a witness?"
He replied:--
"I have not come on any business; I only wish to speak to one of thelawyers."
"That is different," said the bourgeois. "Stop, sir; here is the doorwhere the sentry stands. You have only to ascend the grand staircase."
He conformed to the bourgeois's directions, and a few minutes later hewas in a hall containing many people, and where groups, intermingledwith lawyers in their gowns, were whispering together here and there.
It is always a heart-breaking thing to see these congregations of menrobed in black, murmuring together in low voices, on the threshold ofthe halls of justice. It is rare that charity and pity are the outcomeof these words. Condemnations pronounced in advance are more likelyto be the result. All these groups seem to the passing and thoughtfulobserver so many sombre hives where buzzing spirits construct in concertall sorts of dark edifices.
This spacious hall, illuminated by a single lamp, was the old hall ofthe episcopal palace, and served as the large hall of the palaceof justice. A double-leaved door, which was closed at that moment,separated it from the large apartment where the court was sitting.
The obscurity was such that he did not fear to accost the first lawyerwhom he met.
"What stage have they reached, sir?" he asked.
"It is finished," said the lawyer.
"Finished!"
This word was repeated in such accents that the lawyer turned round.
"Excuse me sir; perhaps you are a relative?"
"No; I know no one here. Has judgment been pronounced?"
"Of course. Nothing else was possible."
"To penal servitude?"
"For life."
He continued, in a voice so weak that it was barely audible:--
"Then his identity was established?"
"What identity?" replied the lawyer. "There was no identity to beestablished. The matter was very simple. The woman had murdered herchild; the infanticide was proved; the jury threw out the question ofpremeditation, and she was condemned for life."
"So it was a woman?" said he.
"Why, certainly. The Limosin woman. Of what are you speaking?"
"Nothing. But since it is all over, how comes it that the hall is stilllighted?"
"For another case, which was begun about two hours ago."
"What other case?"
"Oh! this one is a clear case also. It is about a sort of blackguard;a man arrested for a second offence; a convict who has been guilty oftheft. I don't know his name exactly. There's a bandit's phiz for you!I'd send him to the galleys on the strength of his face alone."
"Is there any way of getting into the court-room, sir?" said he.
"I really think that there is not. There is a great crowd. However,the hearing has been suspended. Some people have gone out, and when thehearing is resumed, you might make an effort."
"Where is the entrance?"
"Through yonder large door."
The lawyer left him. In the course of a few moments he had experienced,almost simultaneously, almost intermingled with each other, all possibleemotions. The words of this indifferent spectator had, in turn, piercedhis heart like needles of ice and like blades of fire. When he saw thatnothing was settled, he breathed freely once more; but he could not havetold whether what he felt was pain or pleasure.
He drew near to many groups and listened to what they were saying. Thedocket of the session was very heavy; the president had appointedfor the same day two short and simple cases. They had begun with theinfanticide, and now they had reached the convict, the old offender, the"return horse." This man had stolen apples, but that did not appear tobe entirely proved; what had been proved was, that he had already beenin the galleys at Toulon. It was that which lent a bad aspect tohis case. However, the man's examination and the depositions of thewitnesses had been completed, but the lawyer's plea, and the speechof the public prosecutor were still to come; it could not befinished before midnight. The man would probably be condemned; theattorney-general was very clever, and never _missed_ his culprits; hewas a brilliant fellow who wrote verses.
An usher stood at the door communicating with the hall of the Assizes.He inquired of this usher:--
"Will the door be opened soon, sir?"
"It will not be opened at all," replied the usher.
"What! It will not be opened when the hearing is resumed? Is not thehearing suspended?"
"The hearing has just been begun again," replied the usher, "but thedoor will not be opened again."
"Why?"
"Because the hall is full."
"What! There is not room for one more?"
"Not another one. The door is closed. No one can enter now."
The usher added after a pause: "There are, to tell the truth, twoor three extra places behind Monsieur le Président, but Monsieur lePrésident only admits public functionaries to them."
So saying, the usher turned his back.
He retired with bowed head, traversed the antechamber, and slowlydescended the stairs, as though hesitating at every step. It is probablethat he was holding counsel with himself. The violent conflict which hadbeen going on within him since the preceding evening was not yet ended;and every moment he encountered some new phase of it. On reaching thelanding-place, he leaned his back against the balusters and folded hisarms. All at once he opened his coat, drew out his pocket-book, tookfrom it a pencil, tore out a leaf, and upon that leaf he wrote rapidly,by the light of the street lantern, this line: _M. Madeleine, Mayor ofM. sur M._; then he ascended the stairs once more with great strides,made his way through the crowd, walked straight up to the usher, handedhim the paper, and said in an authoritative manner:--
"Take this to Monsieur le Président."
The usher took the paper, cast a glance upon it, and obeyed.
