“Who told you that tale?” asked Brigitte, not willing to admit that she had fallen into such a snare.
“Oh, it isn’t a tale,” said the mayor, eagerly. “I know the thing myself, ‘de visu.’”
“Dear me! do you frequent such women?” said Brigitte, resuming the offensive. “That’s a pretty thing! what would Zelie say if she knew it?”
“In the discharge of my duties,” said Minard, stiffly, provoked at this reception of his news, “I have seen your friend, Madame de Godollo, in company with others of her class.”
“How do you know it was she if you only saw her?” demanded Brigitte.
The wily Provencal was not the man to lose an occasion that fell to him ready-made.
“Monsieur le maire is not mistaken,” he said, with decision.
“Tiens! so you know her, too,” said Brigitte; “and you let us consort with such vermin?”
“No,” said la Peyrade, “on the contrary. Without scandal, without saying a word to any one, I removed her from your house. You remember how suddenly the woman left it? It was I who compelled her to do so; having discovered what she was, I gave her two days to leave the premises; threatening her, in case she hesitated, to tell you all.”
“My dear Theodose,” said Thuillier, pressing his hand, “you acted with as much prudence as decision. This is one more obligation that we owe to you.”