The Deputy of Arcis [152]
it was always possible to bring a bad case."
"A civil case, yes; but to fail in a criminal case is a far more serious matter. It would be a pretty thing if you were shown not to have a leg to stand on, and the case ended in a decision of /non- lieu/. You couldn't find a better way to put our enemy on a pedestal as high as the column of July."
"So," said Maxime, "you see absolutely nothing that can be done?"
"For us, no. For you, my dear Maxime, who have no official character, and who, if need be, can support the attack on Monsieur de Sallenauve pistol in hand, as it were, nothing hinders you from proceeding in the matter."
"Oh, yes!" said Maxime, bitterly, "I'm a sort of free lance."
"Not at all; you are a man intuitively convinced of facts impossible to prove legally, and you do not give way before the judgment of God or man."
Monsieur de Trailles rose angrily. Vinet rose also, and, shaking hands with Rastignac as he took leave of him, he said,--
"I don't deny that your course is a prudent one, and I don't say that in your place I should not do the same thing."
"Adieu, Maxime; without bitterness, I hope," said Rastignac to Monsieur de Trailles, who bowed coldly and with dignity.
When the two conspirators were alone in the antechamber, Maxime turned to his companion.
"Do you understand such squeamishness?" he asked.
"Perfectly," replied Vinet, "and I wonder to see a clever man like you so duped."
"Yes, duped to make you lose your time and I mine by coming here to listen to a lecture on virtue!"
"That's not it; but I do think you guileless to be taken in by that refusal to co-operate."
"What! do you think--"
"I think that this affair is risky; if it succeeds, the government, arms folded, will reap the benefit. But if on the contrary we fail, it will not take a share in the defeat. But you may be sure of this, for I know Rastignac well: without seeming to know anything, and without compromising himself in any way, he will help us, and perhaps more usefully than by open connivance. Think! did he say a single word on the morality of the affair? Didn't he say, again and again, 'I don't oppose--I have no right to prevent'? And as to the venom of the case, the only fault he found was that it wasn't sure to kill. But in truth, my dear monsieur, this is going to be a hard pull, and we shall want all the cleverness of that fellow Desroches to get us through."
"Then you think I had better see him?"
"Better see him! why, my good friend, you ought to go to him at once."
"Wouldn't it be better if he talked with you?"
"Oh! no, no!" exclaimed Vinet. "I may be the man to put the question in the Chamber; and if Desroches were seen with me, I should lose my virginity."
So saying, he took leave of Maxime with some haste, on the ground that he ought then to be at the Chamber.
"But I," said Maxime, running after him,--"suppose I want to consult you in the matter?"
"I leave to-night for my district, to get things into order before the opening of the new session."
"But about bringing up the question which you say may devolve on you?"
"I or another. I will hasten back as soon as I can; but you understand, I must put my department in order for a six months' absence."
"A good journey to you, then, Monsieur le procureur-general," replied Maxime, sarcastically.
Left to himself, Monsieur de Trailles had a period of discouragement, resulting from the discovery that these two political Bertrands meant that his paw should pull the chestnuts from the fire. Rastignac's behavior particularly galled him. His mind went back to their first interview at Madame Restaud's, twenty years earlier, when he himself held the sceptre of fashion, and Rastignac, a poor student, neither knew how to come into a room nor how to leave it. [See "Pere Goriot.] And now Rastignac was peer of France and minister, while he, Maxime, become his agent, was obliged with folded arms to hear himself told that his plot was weak and he must carry it out alone, if at all.
But this discouragement did not last.
"A civil case, yes; but to fail in a criminal case is a far more serious matter. It would be a pretty thing if you were shown not to have a leg to stand on, and the case ended in a decision of /non- lieu/. You couldn't find a better way to put our enemy on a pedestal as high as the column of July."
"So," said Maxime, "you see absolutely nothing that can be done?"
"For us, no. For you, my dear Maxime, who have no official character, and who, if need be, can support the attack on Monsieur de Sallenauve pistol in hand, as it were, nothing hinders you from proceeding in the matter."
"Oh, yes!" said Maxime, bitterly, "I'm a sort of free lance."
"Not at all; you are a man intuitively convinced of facts impossible to prove legally, and you do not give way before the judgment of God or man."
Monsieur de Trailles rose angrily. Vinet rose also, and, shaking hands with Rastignac as he took leave of him, he said,--
"I don't deny that your course is a prudent one, and I don't say that in your place I should not do the same thing."
"Adieu, Maxime; without bitterness, I hope," said Rastignac to Monsieur de Trailles, who bowed coldly and with dignity.
When the two conspirators were alone in the antechamber, Maxime turned to his companion.
"Do you understand such squeamishness?" he asked.
"Perfectly," replied Vinet, "and I wonder to see a clever man like you so duped."
"Yes, duped to make you lose your time and I mine by coming here to listen to a lecture on virtue!"
"That's not it; but I do think you guileless to be taken in by that refusal to co-operate."
"What! do you think--"
"I think that this affair is risky; if it succeeds, the government, arms folded, will reap the benefit. But if on the contrary we fail, it will not take a share in the defeat. But you may be sure of this, for I know Rastignac well: without seeming to know anything, and without compromising himself in any way, he will help us, and perhaps more usefully than by open connivance. Think! did he say a single word on the morality of the affair? Didn't he say, again and again, 'I don't oppose--I have no right to prevent'? And as to the venom of the case, the only fault he found was that it wasn't sure to kill. But in truth, my dear monsieur, this is going to be a hard pull, and we shall want all the cleverness of that fellow Desroches to get us through."
"Then you think I had better see him?"
"Better see him! why, my good friend, you ought to go to him at once."
"Wouldn't it be better if he talked with you?"
"Oh! no, no!" exclaimed Vinet. "I may be the man to put the question in the Chamber; and if Desroches were seen with me, I should lose my virginity."
So saying, he took leave of Maxime with some haste, on the ground that he ought then to be at the Chamber.
"But I," said Maxime, running after him,--"suppose I want to consult you in the matter?"
"I leave to-night for my district, to get things into order before the opening of the new session."
"But about bringing up the question which you say may devolve on you?"
"I or another. I will hasten back as soon as I can; but you understand, I must put my department in order for a six months' absence."
"A good journey to you, then, Monsieur le procureur-general," replied Maxime, sarcastically.
Left to himself, Monsieur de Trailles had a period of discouragement, resulting from the discovery that these two political Bertrands meant that his paw should pull the chestnuts from the fire. Rastignac's behavior particularly galled him. His mind went back to their first interview at Madame Restaud's, twenty years earlier, when he himself held the sceptre of fashion, and Rastignac, a poor student, neither knew how to come into a room nor how to leave it. [See "Pere Goriot.] And now Rastignac was peer of France and minister, while he, Maxime, become his agent, was obliged with folded arms to hear himself told that his plot was weak and he must carry it out alone, if at all.
But this discouragement did not last.