He suffers remorse, and does not attempt any
defence, excepting such as you yourself just now gave me, when you
said that the prince had insulted you. Enough to give a semblance
of truth to the story. By the bye, is that true?"
"It is and it is not," answered Gouache, blushing a little. "The
poor man, when I began to explain my position, thought--how shall
I say? He thought I wanted to sell him a picture. It was not his
fault."
"Poor man!" sighed the cardinal. "He had not much tact. And so,
Monsieur Gouache, you think that the great Saracinesca suit has
had nothing to do with the murder?"
"It seems to me impossible. It looks rather as though he had been
murdered by a servant, out of spite. It is hard to believe that
any one not belonging to the house could have done it."
"I think the public will agree with you. I will occupy myself with
the matter. Perhaps I have got the man safe in that room, but who
knows? If you had come first, you might have gone to the Carceri
Nuove instead of him. After all, he may be in love too."
The cardinal smiled, but Gouache started at the suggestion, as
though it hurt him.
"I doubt that," he said quickly.
"So do I. It would be a strange coincidence, if two innocent men
had accused themselves of the same crime, out of love, within
twenty-four hours of its being committed.
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