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This was Villette de Rétaux, a "pal" of Jeanne's and of her husband Lamotte, who had, by the way, become a low-class gambler and swindler by occupation.
"I am prepared to show the proof at once that I speak the truth," said Retaux de Vilette. "If you will give me writing-materials I will write the signature of the queen in the manner in which it is written on the promissory note." The president gave the order for the requisite articles to be brought and laid on a side-table.
Answer, therefore: What have you done? Why were you afraid of being involved in the trial of Countess Lamotte?" "Because I had done a great wrong," answered Retaux, with vehemence. "Because I had allowed myself to be led astray by the promises, the seductive arts, the deceptions of the countess. I was poor; I lived unseen and unnoticed, and I wished to be rich, honored, and distinguished.
And at proper times sundry notes from the Queen are bestowed upon the enraptured noodle. These are written in imitation of the Queen's handwriting, by that Villette de Rétaux who personated the Queen's valet, and who was an expert at counterfeiting.
The writing, the basis of the trial, the note and signatures, are declared to be forged in imitation of the queen's hand. "Second. Count Lamotte is sentenced in contumacion to the galleys for life. "Third. The woman Lamotte to be whipped, marked on both shoulders with the letter O, and to be confined for life. "Fourth. Retaux de Vilette to be banished for life from France. "Fifth.
De Rohan knew it was the Queen's confidential valet, for he saw with his own eyes that it was the same man who had escorted the countess from the side gate at the Trianon! And so it was; to wit, Villette de Rétaux, who, calmly receiving the fifteen hundred thousand franc treasure, marched but as solemnly as he had come in.
He answered that his name was Retaux de Vilette, and that he was steward and secretary of the Countess Lamotte-Valois. On further questioning, he declared that after the count and the countess had been arrested he had fled, and had gone to Geneva in order to await the end of the trial. But as it lingered so long, he had attempted to escape to England, but had been arrested.
"Retaux de Vilette," cried she madly, doubling up her little hands into fists and extending them toward the man who now entered the hall. "Shameful, shameful! He has turned against me!" And losing for a moment her composure, she sank back upon the seat from which she had risen in her fright. A deathly paleness covered her cheeks, and, almost swooning, she rested her head on the back of the chair.
They were only asking what they had already assured themselves of obtaining. The queen's signature was indeed declared to be a forgery, and the La Mothes, Mademoiselle Oliva, and a man named Retaux de Villette, who had been the actual writer of the forged letters, were convicted and sentenced to the punishment which the counsel for the crown had demanded.
"If that man has the slightest sense of honor," he repeated. She felt that she would not gain anything by speaking to him in that manner, and in spite of her anger and indignation, trembling as she was from humiliated pride, she said to him, almost politely: "Monsieur, the legend says that Retaux de Villette, when in possession of the Queen's Necklace, did not disfigure the mounting.
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