第60章

"Come in here, Paul! Come and see Monsieur Bonnard and Mademoiselle Alexandre."He came.It was a pleasure for me to see his frank broad face, and to press his strong square hand.Then we went, all four of us, into the dining-room; and while some cold meat was being cut for Jeanne--which she never touched notwithstanding--I related our adventure.Paul de Gabry asked me permission to smoke his pipe, after which he listened to me in silence.When I had finished my recital he scratched the short, stiff beard upon his chin, and uttered a tremendous "Sacrebleu!" But, seeing Jeanne stare at each of us in turn, with a frightened look in her face, he added:

"We will talk about this matter to-morrow morning.Come into my study for a moment; I have an old book to show you that I want you to tell me something about."I followed him into his study, where the steel of guns and hunting knives, suspended against the dark hangings, glimmered in the lamp-light.There, pulling me down beside him upon a leather-covered sofa, he exclaimed, "What have you done? Great God! Do you know what you have done?

Corruption of a minor, abduction, kidnapping! You have got yourself into a nice mess! You have simply rendered yourself liable to a sentence of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten years.""Mercy on us!" I cried; "ten years imprisonment for having saved an innocent child.""That is the law!" answered Monsieur de Gabry."You see, my dear Monsieur Bonnard, I happen to know the Code pretty well--not because I ever studied law as a profession, but because, as mayor of Lusance, I was obliged to teach myself something about it in order to be able to give information to my subordinates.Mouche is a rascal; that woman Prefere is a vile hussy; and you are a...Well! I really cannot find a word strong enough to signify what you are!"After opening his bookcase, where dog-collars, riding-whips, stirrups, spurs, cigar-boxes, and a few books of reference were indiscriminately stowed away, he took out of it a copy of the Code, and began to turn over the leaves.

"'CRIMES AND MISDEMEANOURS'...'SEQUESTRATION OF PERSONS'--that is not your case....'ABDUCTION OF MINORS'--here we are....'ARTICLE354':--'Whosever shall, either by fraud or violence, have abducted or have caused to be abducted any minor or minors, or shall have enticed them, or turned them away from, or forcibly removed them, or shall have caused them to be enticed, or turned away from or forcibly removed from the places in which they have been placed by those to whose authority or direction they have been submitted or confided, shall be liable to the penalty of imprisonment.See PENAL CODE, 21 and 28.' Here is 21:--'The term of imprisonment shall not be less than five years.' 28.'The sentence of imprisonment shall be considered as involving a loss of civil rights.' Now all that is very plain, is it not, Monsieur Bonnard?""Perfectly plain."

"Now let us go on: 'ARTICLE 356':--'In case the abductor be under the age of 21 years at the time of the offense, he shall only be punished with'...But we certainly cannot invoke this artice in your favour.'ARTICLE 357:':--'In case the abductor shall have married the girl by him abducted, he can only be prosecuted at the insistence of such persons as, according to the Civil Code, may have the right to demand that the marriage shall be declared null; nor can he be condemned until after the nullity of the marriage shall have been pronounced.' I do not know whether it is a part of your plans to marry Mademoiselle Alexandre! You can see that the code is good-natured about it; it leaves you one door of escape.But no--I ought not to joke with you, because really you have put yourself in a very unfortunate position! And how could a man like you imagine that here in Paris, in the middle of the nineteenth century, a young girl can be abducted with absolute impunity? We are not living in the Middle Ages now; and such things are no longer permitted by law.""You need not imagine," I replied, "that abduction was lawful under the ancient Code.You will find in Baluze a decree issued by King Cheldebert at Cologne, either in 593 or 594, on the subject:

moreoever, everybody knows that the famous 'Ordonance de Blois,' of May 1579, formally enacted that any persons convicted of having suborned any son or daughter under the age of twenty-five years, whether under promise of marriage or otherwise, without the full knowledge, will, or consent of the father, mother, and guardians, should be punished with death; and the ordinance adds: 'Et pareillement seront punis extraordinairement tous ceux qui auront participe audit rapt, et qui auront prete conseil, confort, et aide en aucune maniere que ce soit.' (And in like manner shall be extraordinarily punished all persons whomsoever, who shall have participated in the said abduction, and who shall have given thereunto counsel, succor, or aid in any manner whatsoever.) Those are the exact, or very nearly the exact, terms of the ordinance.

As for that article of the Code-Napoleon which you have just told me of, and which excepts from liability to prosecution the abductor who marries the young girl abducted by him, it reminds me that according to the laws of Bretagne, forcible abduction, followed by marriage, was not punished.But this usage, which involved various abuses, was suppressed in 1720--at least I give you the date within ten years.My memory is not very good now, and the time is long passed when I could repeat by heart without even stopping to take breath, fifteen hundred verses of Girart de Rousillon.

"As far as regards the Capitulary of Charlemagne, which fixes the compensation for abduction, I have not mentioned it because I am sure that you must remember it.So, my dear Monsieur de Gabry, you see abduction was considered as decidedly a punishable offense under the three dynasties of Old France.It is a very great mistake to suppose that the Middle Ages represent a period of social chaos.