Men of this
type fail in tact with imperturbable coolness, talk folly wittily,
distrust good with extreme shrewdness, and take incredible pains to
fall into traps.
When, by a play of his knife and fork which proclaimed him a good
feeder, he had made up for lost time, he began to look round on the
company. His astonishment was great when he observed the two
Republican officers, and he questioned Madame du Gua with a look,
while she, for all answer, showed him Mademoiselle de Verneuil in the
same way. When he saw the siren whose demeanor had silenced the
suspicions Madame du Gua had excited among the guests, the face of the
stout stranger broke into one of those insolent, ironical smiles which
contain a whole history of scandal. He leaned to his next neighbor and
whispered a few words, which went from ear to ear and lip to lip,
passing Marie and the two officers, until they reached the heart of
one whom they struck to death. The leaders of the Vendeans and the
Chouans assembled round that table looked at the Marquis de Montauran
with cruel curiosity. The eyes of Madame du Gua, flashing with joy,
turned from the marquis to Mademoiselle de Verneuil, who was
speechless with surprise. The Republican officers, uneasy in mind,
questioned each other's thoughts as they awaited the result of this
extraordinary scene. In a moment the forks remained inactive in every
hand, silence reigned, and every eye was turned to the Gars.
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