"
He suddenly checked himself, warned of his fresh imprudence by the
expression on Mademoiselle Marguerite's face. She drew back, and
looking him full in the eyes, she exclaimed: "Then you have been
in M. de Valorsay's confidence, sir? Would you be willing to swear
that you never helped him in his designs?"
A silent and ignored witness of this scene, Victor Chupin was
secretly delighted. "Hit!" he thought--"hit just in the bull's-
eye. Zounds! there's a woman for you! She has beaten the guv'nor
on every point."
M. Fortunat was so taken by surprise that he made no attempt to
deny his guilt. "I confess that I acted as M. de Valorsay's
adviser for some time," he replied, "and he frequently spoke to me
of his intention of marrying a rich wife in order to retrieve his
shattered fortunes. Upon my word, I see nothing so very bad about
that! It is not a strictly honest proceeding, perhaps, but it is
done every day. What is marriage in this age? Merely a business
transaction, is it not? Perhaps it would be more correct to say
that it is a transaction in which one person tries to cheat the
other. The fathers-in-law are deceived, or the husband, or the
wife, and sometimes all of them together. But when I discovered
this scheme for mining M. Ferailleur, I cried 'halt!' My
conscience revolted at that. Dishonor an innocent man! It was
base, cowardly, outrageous! And not being able to prevent this
infamous act, I swore that I would avenge it.
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