produced the same effect. Lachaussee was so far from being suspected,
that the councillor, in recognition of the care he had bestowed on him in
his last illness, left him in his will a legacy of a hundred crowns;
moreover, he received a thousand francs from Sainte-Croix and the
marquise.

So great a disaster in one family, however, was not only sad but
alarming. Death knows no hatred: death is deaf and blind, nothing more,
and astonishment was felt at this ruthless destruction of all who bore
one name. Still nobody suspected the true culprits, search was
fruitless, inquiries led nowhere: the marquise put on mourning for her
brothers, Sainte-Croix continued in his path of folly, and all things
went on as before. Meanwhile Sainte-Croix had made the acquaintance of
the Sieur de Saint Laurent, the same man from whom Penautier had asked
for a post without success, and had made friends with him. Penautier had
meanwhile become the heir of his father-in-law, the Sieur Lesecq, whose
death had most unexpectedly occurred; he had thereby gained a second post
in Languedoc and an immense property: still, he coveted the place of
receiver of the clergy. Chance now once more helped him: a few days after
taking over from Sainte-Croix a man-servant named George, M. de
Saint-Laurent fell sick, and his illness showed symptoms similar to those
observed in the case of the d'Aubrays, father and sons; but it was more
rapid, lasting only twenty-four hours. Like them, M. de Saint-Laurent
died a prey to frightful tortures. The same day an officer from the
sovereign's court came to see him, heard every detail connected with his
friend's death, and when told of the symptoms said before the servants to
Sainfray the notary that it would be necessary to examine the body. An
hour later George disappeared, saying nothing to anybody, and not even
asking for his wages. Suspicions were excited; but again they remained
vague. The autopsy showed a state of things not precisely to be called