"Because he wishes to preserve his reputation—because he would rather die than avow his services."
"Ah, indeed!" said H.... "The matter is difficult. The minister will not revoke these orders: for, while one of the men ceases to be an enemy of the country, the other two yet are."
"More than two—twenty of the most powerful, and two hundred thousand others to follow them."
"But what interest," asked M. H...., who hoped to arrive by a round about way at a discovery of the one of the three, the presence of whom was so necessary at Paris. "What reason can your patron have to serve us, if he asks for neither gold, place, nor favor?"
"A far deeper interest than any of them. That I can confide to you—revenge."
"On whom?"
"His associates—ungrateful men, who have humiliated him in his self-esteem."
"How?"
"That is my secret and his."
"Well," said H...., "I can understand that. Hatred and revenge make as many informers as cupidity. Our criminal archives prove that."