"And further, considering the state in which the said minor now
is, and the traces of violence which, according to the report of
the physicians, are now upon her person, we commission the
attending physician and the surgeon in charge of the hospital of
Provins to visit her, and in case the injuries from the said
assault become alarming, the matter will be held to await the
action of the criminal courts; and this without prejudice to the
civil suit undertaken by Auffray the surrogate-guardian."
This severe judgment was read out by President Tiphaine in a loud and
distinct voice.
"Why not send them to the galleys at once?" said Vinet. "And all this
fuss about a girl who was carrying on an intrigue with an apprentice
to a cabinet-maker! If the case goes on in this way," he cried,
insolently, "we shall demand other judges on the ground of legitimate
suspicion."
Vinet left the court-room, and went among the chief men of his party
to explain Rogron's position, declaring that he had never so much as
given a flip to his cousin, and that the judge had viewed him much
less as Pierrette's guardian than as a leading elector in Provins.
To hear Vinet, people might have supposed that the Tiphaines were
making a great fuss about nothing; the mounting was bringing forth a
mouse. Sylvie, an eminently virtuous and pious woman, had discovered
an intrigue between her brother's ward and a workman, a Breton named
Brigaut.
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