“You acknowledge, then, the existence of the crime?”

“Yes, I see too plainly that it does exist. But it seems that it is intended to affect me personally. I fear an attack myself, after all these disasters.”

“Oh, man!” murmured d’Avrigny, “the most selfish of all animals, the most personal of all creatures, who believes the earth turns, the sun shines, and death strikes for him alone⁠—an ant cursing God from the top of a blade of grass! And have those who have lost their lives lost nothing?⁠— M. de Saint-Méran, Madame de Saint-Méran, M. Noirtier⁠—”

“How? M. Noirtier?”