But the older man drew in his lips, recovered himself, and shook his head.
“I am no spy upon my neighbours,” said he. “I would not bring disgrace upon them, no, no matter what they had done. But—I would not marry into that family—for fifty thousand pounds!”
CHAPTER XIII.
PRUDENCE V. PASSION
Bayre stared at Monsieur Blaise as he stood shivering and wiping his face with a trembling hand under the bare trees of the avenue. That he was suffering from severe excitement was evident. All the pink colour had left his face; his eyes looked dull and glassy. If he had seen a ghost, or if he had been witness of some frightful crime, he could not have looked less like the comfortable, placid Monsieur Blaise of every day.
“Surely,” said the younger man, persuasively, “you can have no scruples about confiding your discovery to me. Remember I am a member of his family; I am his nephew. I am therefore the last person who could or would help to bring disgrace upon the house.”
But Monsieur Blaise shook his head with decision.
“You say you are his nephew? Well, I don’t doubt it, I never have doubted it since you told me so, but Monsieur Bayre did not receive you as a relation; he did not even speak to you. Hein!”
This was undeniable. Bayre was silent.
“If you belong to his family,” went on Monsieur Blaise, after a short pause, during which he had put on his hat and resumed his walk down the avenue, “it is for you to make inquiries, to consult your lawyers, if you choose. But it is not for me to interfere in the matter, neither is it for me to discuss it. We will, if you please, converse upon some other topic.”
But Bayre was not to be put off like this.