"Assistance is impossible, monsieur, with half-hearted confidences. A lady called upon you, and you refuse her name."
"Monsieur Roché discovered that it was the Countess Renazé."
"It was Mlle. Desormes," I said, coldly. Gaspard's face turned even a shade paler, and his eyes fell before my gaze.
"You know that?" he said, in astonishment.
"Yes; why did you not tell Monsieur Roché?"
"Because there are circumstances in which explanation may be counted as half-confession."
"Indeed."
"I was appalled at the accusation, and such an admission must have stamped my guilt. Think, the daughter of the very man who had tricked us, Monsieur Roché's implacable enemy. It was impossible, and so I kept silent."
"It was a criminal silence, a worse falsehood than a spoken untruth. Why did she call?"
Gaspard flushed, and after a moment's pause spoke in a voice that was hesitating and constrained.