“Do I know him? Alas! my dear sir, it is to him I owe.... But no matter! Were you thinking of going to see him?”
“I suppose so; if I must.”
“He is the best of men....” With a rapid whisk of his hand, he wiped the corner of his eye. “You know where to find him, of course?”
“I suppose anyone could tell me. Everyone knows him in Naples.”
“Naturally! But I don’t suppose you are going to inform all Naples of your visit. Surely, you can’t have been told of his participation in ... you know what, and perhaps entrusted with some message for him, without having been instructed at the same time how to gain access to him.”
“Pardon me,” said Fleurissoire timidly, for Arnica had given him no such instructions.
“What! were you meaning to go and see him straight off—in the archbishop’s palace, perhaps!—and speak to him point-blank?”
“I confess that....”
“But are you aware, sir,” went on the other severely, “are you aware that you run the risk of getting him imprisoned too?”
He seemed so deeply vexed that Fleurissoire did not dare to speak.