and hurried to the Miséricorde, a loathsome dungeon below the Hotel de
Ville, at Toulouse. Next day, heavily ironed, he was thrown into a
cart, and thus set out on a journey of 500 miles to Paris. While the
cart was in motion he was chained to it; when they halted he was
chained to the inn table; at night he was chained to his bed. At
length, after seventeen wearisome days, the capital was reached, and
the prisoner was taken from his cart and cast into the vaults of the
Châtelet. After considerable and unnecessary delay, the supposed
abductor was brought to trial; and not only were the charges against
him easily disproved, but the whole of the Abbé's grand hypothesis was
destroyed beyond reconstruction. A host of witnesses came forward to
testify that the young count did not leave Toulouse under the
guardianship of Cazeaux, until the 4th of September 1773, whereas
Joseph was found at Peronne on the 1st of August. Moreover, the
contemporary history of the two youths was clearly traced, it being
shown that in November 1773, the Count Solar was at Bagnères de
Bigorre while Joseph was an inmate of the Bicêtre; and finally it was
conclusively proved that on the 28th of January 1774, the real Count
Solar died at Charlas, near Bagnères, of small-pox, having outlived
his father about a year.

The acquittal of Cazeaux followed as a matter of course, and he was
dismissed from the bar of the Châtelet with unblemished reputation,
but broken in health and ruined in fortune. Happily for him, a M.
Avril, a rich judge of the Châtelet, who had been active against him
during his trial, repented of the evil he had done him, sought his
acquaintance, and bequeathed him a large fortune. Thus raised to
wealth, and aided by the revolution, which levelled all social
distinctions, he aspired to the hand of the widowed Countess Solar who
had lost her estates. Success crowned his suit, and his former