"My friend—"
"Answer me. Had I explained to you the plan I formed, what would you have done?"
"Well—"
"Answer frankly."
"I should have refused."
"I was sure of it. Why would you have done so? Because you would never have consented to violate the laws of hospitality, and betray enemies you sheltered beneath your roof, though you knew all the while that these men, on leaving you, would have considered it their duty to seize you, and that they watched your every movement while sitting by your side, and eating at your table. Is it not so?"
"It is true; my honor as a gentleman would have revolted. I could not have suffered such horrible treachery to be carried out under my very eyes."
"There! You see that I acted wisely in saying nothing to you. In that way your honor is protected, your conscience easy, and I have in the most simple fashion freed you for some days from your enemies."
"That is true; still—"
"What? Have the prisoners to complain of the way in which they have been treated?"