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By Root 1434 0

reactions appeared to confirm the truth of what he said. The three men looked at each other, and a feeling of unspeakable sadness passed between them. A deathly silence filled the hall. The members of the jury sensed that the moment was crucial, that the truth was at that minute passing unspoken before them. The judge asked Jacques what he thought of Cabuche’s story of someone running away into the night. Jacques simply shook his head, as if he had no desire to make things worse for the man who stood accused. Then something happened which took everyone completely by surprise. Tears appeared in Jacques’s eyes and began to run down his cheeks. He had suddenly had a vision of Séverine, as he had seen her once before, the image he had carried away with him as she lay dead on the floor, with her blue eyes staring, wide open, and her dark hair swept up above her head like some hideous garland of terror. He still loved her and was overcome with sorrow. He wept bitterly for her, apparently unaware of his crime, forgetting where he was and all the people who were watching him. Some of the ladies were overcome by this display of emotion and were moved to tears; they found the spectacle of this broken-hearted lover altogether touching. The husband, they noticed, remained dry-eyed. The judge asked the defence whether they had any further questions to put to the witness; they thanked him and declined. The two prisoners watched dumbfounded as Jacques went back to his seat amidst murmurs of sympathy.

The third day of the hearing was entirely taken up by the Public Prosecutor’s indictment and by speeches from counsellors for the defence. The presiding judge began by giving his summing-up, taking care to appear completely impartial yet at the same time emphasizing the charges brought by the prosecution. Then it was the turn of the Public Prosecutor. He didn’t appear to be at his best; normally he spoke with more conviction and less empty verbiage. People put it down to the heat; it really was unbearable. On the other hand the lawyer from Paris who was representing Cabuche was most entertaining, though not at all convincing. Roubaud’s defence was led by a distinguished member of the Rouen bar, who did the best he could with a very weak case. The Public Prosecutor was feeling tired and didn’t even deign to respond. When the jury retired to consider its verdict, it was only six o’clock, and daylight still entered the hall through the ten stained-glass windows. A last ray of sunshine lit up the coats of arms of the towns of Normandy which adorned the mullions. A hum of voices rose to the ancient gilded ceiling, and people pressed themselves expectantly against the iron grill which separated the reserved seats from the standing public. When the jury returned and the court was reconvened a religious hush once again fell over the hall. The verdict made allowance for extenuating circumstances, and the two men were sentenced to hard labour for life. This was not at all what people had been expecting, and the announcement was greeted with noisy protests and catcalls, as if it were a theatre.

That evening the sentence was discussed endlessly all over Rouen. The general view was that it represented a slap in the face for Madame Bonnehon and the Lachesnayes. Nothing short of the death penalty, it seems, would have satisfied Grandmorin’s family. There had obviously been pressure from some other quarter. The name of Madame Leboucq was being whispered; three or four of the jury were known to be close friends of hers. Her husband had no doubt performed his duties as assessor quite correctly, but people seemed to think that neither the second assessor, Monsieur Chaumette, nor even the presiding judge, Monsieur Desbazeilles, had been as fully in control of proceedings as they would have wished. Perhaps it was simply that the jury, in making allowance for extenuating circumstances, had had second thoughts, yielding to that awkward moment of doubt, when the melancholy truth had passed silently through the courtroom. None the less, the case was still seen as