“I should never have advised such imprudence; but, when it was once
committed, I did not feel bound to insist upon its being abandoned: and
even if I should be blamed for it, or more, I mean to profit by it.”
M. Magloire did not reply; but, after having read Jacques’s letter, he
said,--
“I am at M. de Boiscoran’s disposal; and I shall go to him as soon as he
is no longer in close confinement. I think, as Miss Dionysia does, that
he will insist upon saying nothing. However, as we have the means of
reaching him by letter,--well, here I am myself ready to profit by the
imprudence that has been committed!--beseech him, in the name of his own
interest, in the name of all that is dear to him, to speak, to explain,
to prove his innocence.”
Thereupon M. Magloire bowed, and withdrew suddenly, leaving his audience
in consternation, so very evident was it, that he left so suddenly
in order to conceal the painful impression which Jacques’s letter had
produced upon him.
“Certainly,” said M. de Chandore, “we will write to him; but we might
just as well whistle. He will wait for the end of the investigation.”
“Who knows?” murmured Dionysia.