"Is that all?"

"Oh, yes; more intelligence and perhaps a little more heart than
most."

"Do you know anything particular about her?"

"She ruined Baron de G."

"No more than that?"

"She was the mistress of the old Duke of . . ."

"Was she really his mistress?"

"So they say; at all events, he gave her a great deal of money."

The general outlines were always the same. Nevertheless I was
anxious to find out something about the relations between
Marguerite and Armand. Meeting one day a man who was constantly
about with known women, I asked him: "Did you know Marguerite
Gautier?"

The answer was the usual: "Very well."

"What sort of a girl was she?"

"A fine, good girl. I was very sorry to hear of her death."