"But hang me if I do."
"You have suffered that calumny to reach her ears."
"What calumny?"
"She must have seen her."
"Her!—whom?"
"She must have spoken with her."
"Do say, plainly, what it is all about?"
"About that—that d—— woman; there, is that intelligible? She is at large, sir, in spite of all I've said—in spite of all you undertook, sir; and she has been filling my wife's ears with those hell-born lies that have been whispered to you, sir, and which it was your business to have suppressed and extinguished. By ——, Blassemare, you deserve my curses and my vengeance."
As he concluded, he struck the glass upon the table with a force that shivered it to pieces.
"Monsieur le Prun," said Blassemare, coolly, "I deprecate no man's vengeance, and fear no man's sword; but whatever be the ground of your present convictions, it is utterly fallacious. The person in question has never stirred abroad—you mean the sister of course—since your marriage, except under close and trustworthy attendance; and the other—that you know is out of the question."