"How doest thou know my banker's name?"
"Because thou didst dictate before me."
"What matter, after all? They cannot escape; they are not Greeks, they are English; the courts—I will make complaint!"
"And thou wouldst lose. They have a receipt!"
"That is so. But by what mischance did I give them a receipt?"
"Because I advised thee to do it, poor man!"
"Wretch! dog wrongly baptized! heretic of hell! thou hast ruined me! thou hast betrayed me! Thou hast robbed me! eighty thousand francs! I am responsible! If they were the bankers of the company, I would lose only my share. But they hold only my capital; I shall lose it all. Art thou very sure that she is a partner of the firm of Barley?"
"As I am sure of dying to-day."
"No! thou shalt not die till to-morrow. Thou hast not suffered enough. We will make thee pay for those 80,000 francs. What punishment can we invent? Eighty thousand francs! Eighty thousand deaths would be little. What have I done to this traitor who has robbed me! Peuh! Child's play, a pleasantry! He has not howled two hours! I must invent something better. But may be there are two firms of the same name?"
"Cavendish Square, No. 31."