"You misapprehend me.

I do not say that this is not Mademoiselle de La Vauvraye; I do not say that--" He paused; he was at the end of his resources.

He did not know how to put the thing without giving offence, and it had been his resolve--realizing the necessity for it--to conduct this matter with a grave courtesy.
To feel that after having carried the affair so far with a for him--commendable lightness of touch, he should be at a loss for a delicate word to convey a harsh accusation began to anger him.

And once Garnache began to be angered, the rest followed quickly.

It was just that flaw in his character that had been the ruin of him, that had blighted what otherwise might have been a brilliant career.