"Yes, that could have been done," said Latour, "and, faithful servant though you be, I fail to see what counter stroke you could have made."
"No? It seems obvious to me. Play the life of Deputy Latour against the life of Richard Barrington. There would speedily be a yelling crowd on the stairs if I denounced you as the man who had rescued Mademoiselle St. Clair."
Seth looked for some change of expression in his companion's face, but it did not come. Fear never caught at this man's heart.
"I think there would," said Latour, "if you could make the crowd believe it."
"You can make the mob believe anything at the present moment."
"You may be right. I do not study the mob much. There is one point, however, which you overlook," said Latour, quietly. "I might take steps to prevent your telling the mob."
"That is exactly the danger against which I have taken precaution," Seth answered. "You are not the first person to whom I have applied."
Latour was fully alive to the danger which such a precaution implied. A casual word had power in it to ruin him, yet he gave no sign of being disturbed, and Seth appreciated to some extent the kind of man he had to deal with.
"You see, monsieur, there are those who would not wait three days if I did not return from my visit to you," he said.
Latour nodded as though the position were quite an ordinary one, as though he had been aware of it from the first.