“But what, what?” persisted the other.
“Well, for one thing, they say he is wiser than was supposed, and knows which side his bread is buttered.”
“And what may that mean?”
“That he has a solid father-in-law, whom it is just as well not to offend.”
Leroux said this with some malice, and expected an explosion. It surprised him that M. Bourget showed no sign of wrath. He jerked his head sideways, and flung open his hands.
“No more?”
“As to that,” said Leroux, spitefully, “there were enough disagreeables said about the Baron Léon about the time he married Mademoiselle Nathalie to serve for an ordinary lifetime.”
“Perhaps,” returned M. Bourget, tranquilly, “more has also been said about others in past years than they would care to have brought up against them.”
The lawyer darted an uneasy look, and his manner changed.