"I have destroyed them."
"Why?"
Paul selected a cigar ere looking up to meet the faintly amused glance of Thessaly. "They bore witness to a phase of his life which he chose to conceal from the world. I could do no less."
"You speak with contempt."
"The hypocrite is contemptible. A frank libertine may be an amusing fellow. If we do not think so, we can avoid him."
"I agree with you up to a point. But in justice remember that every man has pages in his history which are never displayed to the world."
"Very likely. But every man does not pose as a saint. Those who seek the company of a professed rake do so at their own peril. But the disguised satyr is a menace to the innocent."
"I would suggest that some specific 'innocent' occurs to your mind?"
"The adder does not bite itself. Were there no stories?"
"A few. But Sir Jacques was a model of discretion; as an under-secretary he would have glittered in the political firmament. There was a pretty village girl who promised at one time to provide the district with agreeable table-talk, but unfortunately for Miss Kingsbury and company the affair apparently fell through."