M. Merivel's fat countenance expressed the most exalted admiration.
"Isn't he a wonderful man?" he breathed ecstatically. "Always getting ideas like that! A benefactor of humanity! Most certainly a benefactor!"
But his partner and Laroque did not heed.
"Do you know her husband's name?" asked the former.
"No, she never told me that."
"How old would you take her to be?"
"Past forty."
"H'm! He must have been rather young for the position if he was near her age. You are sure she never mentioned his name?"
"I would have remembered it if she had," replied Laroque.
"H'm! Well, I don't know that it matters. A Deputy Attorney in Paris whose wife left him twenty years ago ought not be difficult to find."