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Clarie Archman had dropped into a chair, and had buried his face in his arms that were out-flung across the table. Then Laroque spoke again: "Do you see where you stand Clarie? Tell your story and it's the story that sounds like a neat 'plant' of your lawyer's to get you off. You only get in deeper with the jury for trying to trick them, see? Here's the evidence and it's got you cold.
All three are now dead Albert Delpit died a disappointed man, for he had tried everything and succeeded in nothing, the Dutch baron was killed in a railway accident, and Felix Faure was President of the French Republic. The young woman, on hearing my name, introduced herself in her turn. "I think we are slightly related," she said. "I am Madame Laroque." "Of Bordeaux?" I asked. "Yes."
Among the different versions of this catastrophe, Laroque asserts that, after an absence on a long journey, on De Rancé's return, he called at the Hôtel Montbazon, and then learned, for the first time, the death of the Duchess; that he was shown into her room, where, to his horror, the headless body lay in its coffin.
Jimmie Dale might have been a shadow moving against the wall for all the sound he made as he changed his cramped position; but, just below the mask, his lips were pressed fiercely together. Would Gentleman Laroque never get through! Sonnino was not only likely to return in a very few minutes now, but was almost certain to do so.
And then Gentleman Laroque laughed gratingly. "Hello, Sonnino!" he said coolly. "A little late, aren't you? You've kept me stalling for the last five minutes. Know my friend Mr. Martin Moore, alias Mr. Clarie Archman? Clarie, this is Signor Niccolo Sonnino, the proprietor of this joint."
"It was addressed to Martin Moore on Sixth Avenue, wasn't it?" "My God!" It came in a sudden, pitiful cry from the boy, and his hand involuntarily went to his own pocket. "You you've got that letter!" "Do you think you're up against a piker game!" exclaimed Laroque maliciously. "Well then, forget it!
It still seemed incredible that Clarie Archman was a thief, a safe-tapper, even if but an amateur one. The boy must have travelled a pace of late that was fast and furious. How had he ever become intimate enough with Gentleman Laroque to be associated with the other in such a crime as this?
There was a priory in the town below, mention of which is found in a charter of 1187. The remarkable range of chambers and structures in the face of the precipice formed the castle of the family of Laroque. It was a worthy family, greatly respected in the neighbourhood, and loyal to the crown of France. The seigneur was the protector of the little town that lay below.
"And just one last word," added Laroque sharply. "Don't make the mistake of thinking that if you refuse to get the affidavits it puts a crimp in us. It's only because we're playing white with you, and to give you a chance, that you're getting any choice at all.
What would you say, Laroque, would be the sentence handed out for that little affair to a man with, say, your past record?" Laroque's lips were twitching; his face had gone gray. "Fourteen years would be a light sentence, wouldn't it?" resumed Jimmie Dale, an even colder menace in his voice.