"How then----?"
"How then? A physician, my dear fellow, has sharp ears, and a physician who is the friend of the family, as he should always be, has them doubly sharp. He hears between the words that are spoken; and I can only repeat to you that I have heard between the words of your wife, and learned that she knows the Bellini to be Constance von Zehren, and that she knows more beside. Whether she knows all, and whether she knows the real truth, is only known to the person that told her."
"And that is----?"
"Our common friend Arthur."
"Arthur has not been in the city for eight weeks."
"Our postal system forwards with admirable fidelity all letters intrusted to it, even anonymous ones."
"But good heaven, doctor, what interest could Arthur have----?"
"Revenge is sweet," said the doctor.
"In this case it would be stupid too, for----"
"It is often stupid too."