“Words, words,” said Sartines. “He will crumple them up and fling them in your face.”
“He will not. Choiseul is a gentleman and will listen to me.”
“Ay, he will listen to you—you are like a child with your talk of ‘gentleman—gentleman.’ However, you are not quite lost. You had a letter of Choiseul’s.”
“I?”
“Yes, you took it from the saddle-bag of a horse.”
“Oh, that!”
“Yes. Well, I have that letter in my pocket.”
“How did you get it?”
“You gave it to a girl—like a fool—to send back to Choiseul, and the girl, who seems to have cared for you a lot, opened it.”
“Ah, Javotte! Little meddler——”