Fortunat explained M. de Valorsay's conduct exactly as the old
magistrate had done. However, Mademoiselle Marguerite discreetly
refrained from committing herself. The great interest that M.
Fortunat seemed to take in her affairs aroused her distrust; and
she decided to do what he had attempted in vain--that is, allow
him to do all the talking, and to conceal all that she knew
herself. "Perhaps you are right," she remarked, "but it is
necessary to prove the truth of your assertion."
"I can prove that Valorsay hasn't a shilling, and that he has
lived for a year by expedients which render him liable to arrest
and prosecution at any time. I can prove that he deceived M. de
Chalusse as to his financial position. I can prove that he
conspired with M. de Coralth to ruin your lover. Wouldn't this be
something?"
She smiled in a way that was exceedingly irritating to his vanity,
and in a tone of good-natured incredulity, she remarked: "It is
easy to SAY these things."
"And to do them," rejoined M. Fortunat, quickly. "I never promise
what I cannot perform. A man should never touch a pen when he is
meditating any evil act. Of course, no one is fool enough to
write down his infamy in detail. But a man cannot always be on
the qui vive. There will be a word in one letter, a sentence in
another, an allusion in a third. And by combining these words,
phrases, and allusions, one may finally discover the truth.
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