“I say, I say!” he said, with an attempt at a laugh. “You are using big words!”
“They’re only words,” said the doctor. “I am stating no hypothesis. I am content to sum up the position and to justify my demands.”
“You’re quite right.”
“Then we’re agreed?”
“Yes. Perhaps, however—and this is the last observation I propose to make—you might let me off more cheaply, considering that I’m a friend of Mme. Mosgranem’s.”
“What do you suggest by that?” asked the doctor.
“Mme. Mosgranem herself told me that you charged her nothing.”
“That’s true, I charged her nothing,” replied the doctor, with a fatuous smile, “but perhaps she presented me with a good deal. Mme. Mosgranem was one of those attractive women whose favors command their own price.”
There was a silence. Old Siméon seemed to feel more and more uncomfortable in his interlocutor’s presence. At last the doctor sighed:
“Poor Mme. Mosgranem!”