In prison."

And the two other Questors?"

Also in prison. And I beg you to believe, gentlemen," added M. de

Panat, "that I have had nothing to do with the insult which has been

offered me, in not arresting me."

Indignation was at its height; every political shade was blended in the

same sentiment of contempt and anger, and M. de Rességuier was no less

energetic than Eugène Sue. For the first time the Assembly seemed only

to have one heart and one voice. Each at length said what he thought of

the man of the Elysée, and it was then seen that for a long time past

Louis Bonaparte had imperceptibly created a profound unanimity in the

Assembly--the unanimity of contempt.

M. Collas (of the Gironde) gesticulated and told his story. He came from

the Ministry of the Interior. He had seen M. de Morny, he had spoken to

him; and he, M. Collas, was incensed beyond measure at M. Bonaparte's

crime. Since then, that Crime has made him Councillor of State.

M. de Panat went hither and thither among the groups, announcing to the

Representatives that he had convened the Assembly for one o'clock. But it

was impossible to wait until that hour. Time pressed. At the Palais

Bourbon, as in the Rue Blanche, it was the universal feeling that each

hour which passed by helped to accomplish the coup d'état. Every one

felt as a reproach the weight of his silence or of his inaction; the

The History of a Crime