“Write: ‘It is I who, in a moment of insane folly, took six thousand francs from the wardrobe in the Rondic house.’”
Chariot internally rebelled at these words, but he was afraid that Clarisse would establish the facts in all their naked cruelty.
The superintendent continued: “‘I return the money; it burns me. Release the poor fellows who have been suspected, and entreat my uncle to forgive me. Tell him that I am going away, and shall return only when, through labor and penitence, I shall have acquired the right to shake an honest man’s hand.’ Now sign it.”
Seeing that Chariot hesitated, the superintendent said, peremptorily, “Take care, young man! I warn you that if you do not sign this letter, and address it to me, this woman will be at once arrested.”
Chariot signed.
“Now go,” resumed the superintendent, “to Guérigny, if you will, and try to behave well. Remember, moreover, that if I hear of you in the neighborhood of Indret, you will be arrested at once.”
As Chariot left the room, he cast one glance at Clarisse. But the charm was broken; she turned her head away resolutely, and when the door closed tried to express her gratitude to the superintendent.
“Do not thank me, madame,” he said; “it is for your husband’s sake that I have acted, with the hope of sparing him the most horrible torture that can overwhelm a man.”
“It is in my husband’s name that I thank you. I am thinking of him, and of the sacrifice I must make for him.”
“What sacrifice?”