The Beast Within - Emile Zola [98]
Monsieur Denizet was astute enough to realize where the question was leading; he pursed his lips and half closed his eyes.
‘I think the President had certainly treated her badly,’ he said, ‘and that is bound to come out at the trial. What’s more, she wasn’t the only one. If the defence is entrusted to an opposition lawyer, you can be sure that the President’s name will be well and truly dragged through the mud; up in Rouen, stories of his amorous pursuits are in plentiful supply.’
This Denizet was no fool, especially when for a moment he put professional ethics to one side and stopped thinking of himself as some supreme being, all-knowing and all-powerful. He obviously understood perfectly well why he had been invited to see the Secretary-General in private rather than at the Ministry of Justice.
‘In fact,’ he concluded, seeing that Monsieur Camy-Lamotte didn’t seem in the least surprised by what he had said, ‘we are likely to end up with some pretty sordid business on our hands.’
Monsieur Camy-Lamotte merely nodded. He was trying to work out what would happen if, instead of Cabuche, it was the Roubauds who were put on trial. One thing was certain; Roubaud would tell everything - how his wife had also been violated when she was a young girl, the subsequent adultery, the jealous rage which had driven him to commit murder. Moreover, it would no longer be the trial of a domestic servant and a criminal who had already served time; Roubaud was respectably employed and he was married, to a very attractive woman. People would start asking all sorts of questions about middle-class morality and the sort of people that the railway companies chose to employ. What was more, with a man like President Grandmorin, you never knew what might come to light. How many other unforeseen scandals would they run into? No, the Roubauds might well be guilty, but to put them on trial would be a very messy affair. Monsieur Camy-Lamotte had decided; they must avoid proceeding against the Roubauds at all costs. If anyone was to be prosecuted, he tended to think it should be Cabuche, even though he was innocent.
‘Your theory is very persuasive,’ he finally said to Monsieur Denizet. ‘There is a lot of circumstantial evidence against Cabuche, and he obviously felt he was justified in taking revenge ... What a wretched business this is! I dread to think of the damage it’s going to cause! ... I know that the law must remain indifferent to the consequences of its findings, that it should rise above vested interest ...’
He raised his hand dismissively, and his sentence was left unfinished. The magistrate too remained silent, glumly awaiting the instructions that he knew he was about to be given. If he was allowed to proceed with his own version of events, this singular product of his own intelligence, he was prepared to sacrifice justice to the needs of the government. The Secretary, however, although normally very adept at handling arrangements of this sort, was a little too hasty, coming quickly to the point, like someone used to being obeyed.
‘In short,’ he said, ‘we want the case dismissed ... I would like you to make the necessary arrangements.’
‘I’m afraid, monsieur, that I can no longer do just as I please,’ replied Denizet. ‘It is a matter of professional conscience.’
Monsieur Camy-Lamotte smiled and immediately resumed his official manner.
‘But of course!’ he said, with a display of worldly-wise courtesy that barely disguised his contempt. ‘It is your professional conscience that I am relying on. I leave you to take the decision which your conscience thinks best. I have every confidence that you will weigh the pros and cons fairly, that common sense will prevail and that the public interest will be well served ... You will know better than I that it is sometimes more courageous