He saw first incredulity, then consternation, and lastly disgust
overspread her face.
"Of course," said she, after a long pause, "that would have the
advantage of bringing you closer to your charmer."
"That was only one of the inducements. There was another. Finding
myself forced to choose between the stage and the gallows, I had the
incredible weakness to prefer the former. It was utterly unworthy
of a man of my lofty ideals, but - what would you? Like other
ideologists, I find it easier to preach than to practise. Shall I
stop the carriage and remove the contamination of my disgusting
person? Or shall I tell you how it happened?"
"Tell me how it happened first. Then we will decide."
He told her how he met the Binet Troupe, and how the men of the
marechaussee forced upon him the discovery that in its bosom he could
lie safely lost until the hue and cry had died down. The explanation
dissolved her iciness.
"My poor Andre, why didn't you tell me this at first?"
"For one thing, you didn't give me time; for another, I feared to
shock you with the spectacle of my degradation.
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