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Albert stood respectfully, while his father sat in his great armorial chair, just beneath the large frame in which the genealogical tree of the illustrious family of Rheteau de Commarin spread its luxuriant branches. The old gentleman completely concealed the cruel apprehensions which oppressed him.
"My father, my old friend," replied the advocate, "was, in spite of his youth, one of the friends, one of the confidants, of Charles X.; and he had been entrusted by him with a secret mission to Italy. My father is Count Rheteau de Commarin." "Whew!" exclaimed the old fellow; and the better to engrave the name upon his memory, he repeated several times, between his teeth, "Rheteau de Commarin."
He was followed by a number of men, among whom M. Tabaret could be seen, keeping as much out of sight as possible. The commissary approached Albert. "You are," he asked, "Guy Louis Marie Albert de Rheteau de Commarin?" "Yes, sir." The commissary placed his hand upon him, while pronouncing the usual formula: "M. de Commarin, in the name of the law I arrest you." "Me, sir? me?"
The father who has sacrificed his legitimate son for the sake of his bastard is Count Rheteau de Commarin, and the assassin of Widow Lerouge is the bastard, Viscount Albert de Commarin!" M. Tabaret, like an accomplished artist, had uttered these words slowly, and with a deliberate emphasis, confidently expecting to produce a great impression. His expectation was more than realized.
"Write, sir," continued M. de Commarin with an exaltation of which he did not seem capable ten minutes before, "write my avowal and suppress nothing. I have no longer need of mercy nor of tenderness. What have I to fear now? Is not my disgrace public? Must not I, Count Rheteau de Commarin appear before the tribunal, to proclaim the infamy of our house? Ah! all is lost now, even honour itself.
Since I discovered that I was the only heir of the Rheteau de Commarin, I have found out the antecedents of my new family. "Standing before the dwelling of my ancestors," continued Noel, "you cannot comprehend the excess of my emotion. Here, said I, is the house in which I was born.
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