“That concerns the legal authorities now.”
“Officially, General; but we also, on our side, may investigate, in a quiet way, and I have no doubt—”
“The lesson to be learned is that our officers are becoming too gallant!”
“If you know any means, General,” said Vallenot, with a laugh, “of suppressing that, please tell me.”
“To think of this old General! Sixty years old, too! True, he did not appear more than fifty! In what position does he leave his daughter?”
“General de Trémont was a widower?”
“Yes, that is his excuse! But he has a daughter, still at school. She is eighteen years old, and without dowry. Luckily, Baradier is there.”
“You mean Baradier and Graff, the bankers?”
“Certainly. Baradier fought in the war of 1870; he is a true patriot, and his son, Marcel, a fine young fellow, just out of the Central School, has been working with General de Trémont. Marcel Baradier was principally occupied in investigating vegetable dyes, connected with the woollen weaving manufactures his father owns in the Aube. But the General opened his laboratory to him, and probably informed him of his own investigations. We may learn a great deal from this young man, I think.”
“Is the Baradier family in good circumstances?”