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"Throat trouble," suggested a voice. " our venerable and excellent mayor," continued Achille Pigoult, taking no notice of the interruption, "is unable to be present at this meeting.
"There are five in the room, and the lamp gives out a good heat; before long the room would be too hot to bear." Hearing these words, the marquis exclaimed: "Ah! this is the good Monsieur Pigoult, formerly justice of the peace." Thus recognized, the old man rose and went up to my father, into whose face he peered. "Parbleu!" he cried, "I recognize you for a Champagnard of the vieille roche.
At the height of the discussion which Achille Pigoult was dramatizing with a coolness and courage worthy of a member of a real parliament, four personages were walking down one of the linden avenues which led from the Avenue of Sighs.
The mayor, Monsieur Phileas Beauvisage, was the first to present himself, accompanied by the successor of his father-in-law, the busiest notary in town, Achille Pigoult, grandson of an old man who had continued justice of the peace in Arcis during the Revolution, the Empire, and the Restoration.
The abduction, however, seemed to point to imprisonment. But why keep their victim imprisoned after searching the castle? It was folly to suppose that the abduction of a dignitary of the Empire could long remain secret. The publicity of the matter would prevent any benefit from it. To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to make out all the motives of scoundrels.
"No, stay with Cecile. Besides, Jean Violette was to pay the rest of the purchase-money to-day. He has twenty thousand francs to bring you. This is the third time he has put us off three months; don't grant him any more delays; if he can't pay now, give his note to Courtet, the sheriff, and take the law of him. Achille Pigoult will tell you how to proceed.
Do not chatter heedlessly, and never walk alone with Monsieur Giguet, or Monsieur Olivier Vinet, or the sub-prefect, or Monsieur Martener, in fact, with any one, not even Achille Pigoult. You will not marry any of the young men of Arcis, or of the department. Your fate is to shine in Paris. Therefore I shall now give you charming dresses, to accustom you to elegance.
"Your opera-glass magnifies," said Achille Pigoult to Madame Mollot, who laughed. "Well, the tiger of the handsome count, drunk as he is, is now riding to Troyes to post a letter, and he'll get there, as they say, in five-quarters of an hour." "I'd like to have that tiger," said Vinet.
"Well, to-morrow all Arcis will be upside-down about it," said Achille Pigoult. "I shall call upon the Unknown and ask him to make me notary of the affair. There'll be two thousand deeds to draw, at the least." "Our romance is turning into a locomotive," said Ernestine to Cecile. "A count with a railway is all the more marriageable," remarked Achille Pigoult.
The sun seemed to him to be setting fire to the salon, and he had, to use his own expression, a lump of salt in his throat. "Return thanks," said Simon, in a low voice. "Messieurs " Such total silence ensued that Phileas had a spasm of colic. "What must I say, Simon?" he whispered. "Well, well!" exclaimed Achille Pigoult.
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