In town, word gets around the Maitre Houlbreque's pocketbook, containing five hundred francs and business papers, has been lost. Earlier, Maitre Hauchecorne had bent down to pick up a piece of string. He was embarrassed to be seen picking up something so cheap and small. Noting that his enemy, Maitre Malandain was watching him, Maitre Hauchecorne pretended to be looking for something else. When Houlbreque's pocketbook goes missing, Malandain uses this as an opportunity to accuse Hauchecorne of the crime.
Hauchecorne is accused but they find nothing on him. He is accosted by others in the village and he tells them that he had merely picked up a piece of string. No one believes his story. This made him more desperate and he made it a point to tell everyone his side of the story. But this desperation just makes everyone laugh at him. Even when the pocketbook is found, many still suspect Hauchecorne. So, when the farmer calls him a rogue (one who is dishonest), he (and many others) still thinks that Hauchecorne stole it and gave it to someone else to return.
No comments:
Post a Comment