"Krafft … Christophe Krafft…. Never heard the name."
To Christophe it was as though he had been struck, full in the chest. The blood rushed to his cheeks. He replied angrily:
"You'll hear it later on."
Hecht took no notice, and went on imperturbably, as though Christophe did not exist:
"Krafft … no, never heard it."
He was one of those people for whom not to be known to them is a mark against a man.
He went on in German:
"And you come from the Rhine-land?… It's wonderful how many people there are there who dabble in music! But I don't think there is a man among them who has any claim to be a musician."
He meant it as a joke, not as an insult: but Christophe did not take it so.
He would have replied in kind if Kohn had not anticipated him.
"Oh, come, come!" he said to Hecht. "You must do me the justice to admit that I know nothing at all about it."