"Rafael Sabatini. Scaramouche" - читать интересную книгу автора

slightly behind him.
"The goodness of my request we will leave out of question for the
moment," said he, darkly, and M. de Chabrillane laughed. Andre-Louis thought
him easily moved to mirth, and almost envied him the faculty.
"But I am grateful," Philippe insisted, "that you should condescend to
hear me plead their cause.
The Marquis stared at him over his shoulder. "Whose cause?" quoth he.
"Why, the cause of the widow and orphans of this unfortunate Mabey."
The Marquis looked from Vilmorin to the Chevalier, and again the
Chevalier laughed, slapping his leg this time.
"I think," said M. de La Tour d'Azyr, slowly, "that we are at
cross-purposes. I asked you to come here because the Chateau de Gavrillac
was hardly a suitable place in which to carry our discussion further, and
because I hesitated to incommode you by suggesting that you should come all
the way to Azyr. But my object is connected with certain expressions that
you let fall up there. It is on the subject of those expressions, monsieur,
that I would hear you further - if you will honour me."
Andre-Louis began to apprehend that there was something sinister in the
air. He was a man of quick intuitions, quicker far than those of M. de
Vilmorin, who evinced no more than a mild surprise.
"I am at a loss, monsieur," said he. "To what expressions does monsieur
allude?"
"It seems, monsieur, that I must refresh your memory." The Marquis
crossed his legs, and swung sideways on his chair, so that at last he
directly faced M. de Vilmorin. "You spoke, monsieur - and however mistaken
you may have been, you spoke very eloquently, too eloquently almost, it
seemed to me - of the infamy of such a deed as the act of summary justice
upon this thieving fellow Mabey, or whatever his name may be. Infamy was the
precise word you used. You did not retract that word when I had the honour
to inform you that it was by my orders that my gamekeeper Benet proceeded as
he did."
"If," said M. de Vilmorin, "the deed was infamous, its infamy is not
modified by the rank, however exalted, of the person responsible. Rather is
it aggravated."
"Ah!" said M. le Marquis, and drew a gold snuffbox from his pocket.
"You say, 'if the deed was infamous,' monsieur. Am I to understand that you
are no longer as convinced as you appeared to be of its infamy?"
M. de Vilmorin's fine face wore a look of perplexity. He did not
understand the drift of this.
"It occurs to me, M. le Marquis, in view of your readiness to assume
responsibility, that you must believe justification for the deed which is
not apparent to myself."
"That is better. That is distinctly better." The Marquis took snuff
delicately, dusting the fragments from the fine lace at his throat. "You
realize that with an imperfect understanding of these matters, not being
yourself a landowner, you may have rushed to unjustifiable conclusions. That
is indeed the case. May it be a warning to you, monsieur. When I tell you
that for months past I have been annoyed by similar depredations, you will
perhaps understand that it had become necessary to employ a deterrent
sufficiently strong to put an end to them. Now that the risk is known, I do