"We really don't know anything. Constance wrote no particulars."

"In any case, it's not over-respectable."

"I call it a damned rotten business."

"Constance has gone on ahead with Emilie."

"Yes. What a sight Emilie looked!"

"Very odd, that sister and brother."

"Yes, it was because of him that she left her husband. And now—no doubt through his own imprudence—stabbed, I suppose...?"

"Unless he committed suicide."

"Van Raven, after all, was a decent fellow."

"Van Raven? I believe you! Van Raven was a very decent fellow."