“And since the gentlemen of the Academy shut the door in my face, I’ll give them good cause for it; for they had none—no cause whatever.”
His voice suddenly turned shrill as he emphasised the last words; then he went on more calmly:
“Well, then, this is what I have imagined.... Are you listening?”
“With my whole soul,” said Lafcadio, still laughing.
“And do you follow me?”
“To the devil himself!”
Julius again soused his handkerchief and sat down in an arm-chair; Lafcadio sat himself astride on a chair opposite him.
“The hero is to be a young man whom I wish to make a criminal.”
“I see no difficulty in that.”
“Hum! hum!” said Julius, who was not to be done out of his difficulty.