It is in a sense through his agency that I am at present in this position, and that I have been confounded with Lesperon.

What, then, could it have availed me to have made appeal to him?
And yet, Monsieur le President, he was born a gentleman, and he may still retain some notion of honour.

Ask him, sir--ask him point-blank, whether I am or not Marcel de Bardelys." The firmness of my tones created some impression upon those feeble minds.

Indeed, the President went so far as to turn an interrogative glance upon the Count.

But Chatellerault, supremely master of the situation, shrugged his shoulders, and smiled a pitying, long-suffering smile.
"Must I really answer such a question, Monsieur le President ?" he inquired in a voice and with a manner that clearly implied how low would be his estimate of the President's intelligence if he were, indeed, constrained to do so.
"But no, Monsieur le Comte," replied the President with sudden haste, and in scornful rejection of the idea.