“Him, and no one else.”
“I have always felt the most inexplicable aversion toward him. Ah, if we could only get his account in addition to what you already have!”
“I have been furnished with a few notes concerning the Clameran family by your father, who knew them well; they are brief, but I expect more.”
“What did my father tell you?”
“Nothing favorable, you may be sure. I will read you the synopsis of this information:
“‘Louis de Clameran was born at the Chateau de Clameran, near Tarascon. He had an elder brother named Gaston, who, in consequence of an affray in which he had the misfortune to kill one man and badly wound another, was compelled to fly the country in 1842. Gaston was an honest, noble youth, universally beloved. Louis, on the contrary, was a wicked, despicable fellow, detested by all who knew him.
“‘Upon the death of his father, Louis came to Paris, and in less than two years had squandered not only his own patrimony, but also the share of his exiled brother.
“‘Ruined and harassed by debt, Louis entered the army, but behaved so disgracefully that he was dismissed.
“‘After leaving the army we lose sight of him; all we can discover is, that he went to England, and thence to a German gambling resort, where he became notorious for his scandalous conduct.
“‘In 1865 we find him again at Paris. He was in great poverty, and his associates were among the most depraved classes.