“Yes.”
“So—so—you think we have a chance—in this direction.”
“I’m sure of it.”
Beautrelet’s delight at finding that Shears’s opinion agreed with his own was not unmingled with other feelings. If the Englishman attained his object, it meant that, at the very best, the two would share the victory; and who could tell that Shears would not attain it first?
“Have you any proofs? Any clues?”
“Don’t be afraid,” grinned the Englishman, who understood his uneasiness. “I am not treading on your heels. With you, it’s the document, the pamphlet: things that do not inspire me with any great confidence.”
“And with you?”
“With me, it’s something different.”
“Should I be indiscreet, if—?”
“Not at all. You remember the story of the coronet, the story of the Duc de Charmerac?”[7]