“Very good. But when you came back to Beaucourt, what did you do?”
“I wished to rebuild my hotel, but the luck was against me. There was no labour to be had, and these people had thieved the best of the stuff.”
Anatole Durand interrupted him.
“That is not true. They took what lay ready to their hands—and they have repaid it.”
Clemenceau smiled at Anatole.
“Please leave it to me, monsieur. Now, I ask you, Louis Blanc, did you move a single brick or use your hands to help clearing the ruins?”
“No. It is not my way.”
“You are blind, now.”
“Yes.”
“We have been told how you came by your blindness. Do you deny it?”