"Pshaw!" said he; "I know more than you think I know, Guichet. There's our friend, you know--he of whom I made the head t'other day ... you remember?"
The model, still looking at him, made no answer.
"Why didn't you say at once where you had met him, and all the rest of it, mon vieux? You might have been sure I should find out for myself, sooner or later."
The model turned abruptly towards the fire-place, and, leaning his head against the mantel-shelf, stood with his back towards us, looking down into the fire.
"You ask me why I did not tell you at once?" he said, very slowly.
"Ay--why not?"
"Why not? Because--because when a man has begun to lead an honest life, and has gone on leading an honest life, as I have, for years, he is glad to put the past behind him--to forget it, and all belonging to it. How was I to guess you knew anything about--about that place là bas?"
"And why should I not know about it?" replied Müller, flashing a rapid glance at me.
Guichet was silent.
"What if I tell you that I am particularly interested in--that place là bas?"