"This is too terrible," muttered he, but Mascarin went on,-- "I know, at least, two thousand persons in Paris who only exist by the exercise of this profession; for I have studied them all, from the convict who screws money out of his former companions, in penal servitude, to the titled villain, who, having discovered the frailty of some unhappy woman, forces her to give him her daughter as his wife.
I know a mere messenger in the Rue Douai, who in five years amassed a comfortable fortune.

Can you guess how?
When he was intrusted with a letter, he invariably opened it, and made himself master of its contents, and if there was a compromising word in it, he pounced down upon either the writer or the person to whom it was addressed.

I also know of one large limited company which pays an annual income to a scoundrel with half a dozen foreign orders, who has found out that they have broken their statues of association, and holds proofs of their having done so.

But the police are on the alert, and our courts deal very severely with blackmailers." Mascarin went on: "The English, however, are our masters, for in London a compromising servant is as easily negotiable as a sound bill of exchange.

There is in the city a respectable jeweller, who will advance money on any compromising letter with a good name at the foot.