"A murder!" muttered the valet de chambre. "It was for money then;
it must have been known--"
"What?" asked the mayor.
"Monsieur the Count received a very large sum yesterday morning."
"Large! yes," added a chambermaid. "He had a large package of
bank-bills. Madame even said to Monsieur that she should not shut
her eyes the whole night, with this immense sum in the house."
There was a silence; each one looked at the others with a frightened
air. M. Courtois reflected.
"At what hour did you leave the chateau last evening?" asked he of
the servants.
"At eight o'clock; we had dinner early."
"You went away all together?"
"Yes, sir."
"You did not leave each other?"
"Not a minute."
"And you returned all together?"
The servants exchanged a significant look.
"All," responded a chambermaid--"that is to say, no. One left us
on reaching the Lyons station at Paris; it was Guespin."
"Yes, sir; he went away, saying that he would rejoin us at Wepler's,
in the Batignolles, where the wedding took place." The mayor
nudged the justice with his elbow, as if to attract his attention,
and continued to question the chambermaid.
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