The baron was about to answer, when he caught sight of me.
“Ah, there’s the jackal!” he said, with a sneer.
I stepped forward.
“Do you refer to me?” I asked.
“Unless I am wrong in recognizing my former antagonist, Colonel Despard.”
This was just what I had anticipated. Dumergue did not seem surprised either.
“Of course it is Colonel Despard,” he said. “You would not be likely to forget him, baron.”
We had been speaking in a low tone, but at Dumergue’s sneer, the baron lost his temper. Raising his voice, he said, almost in a shout:
“Then I tell Colonel Despard that he is a mean hound.”
If I assumed the colonel’s name, I felt I must at least defend it from imputations. I began: