“Perhaps he was，”said Brown stolidly；“it is possible.”
“In that case，”cried Valentin, with a dreadful smile，“you may indeed know a great deal about him. About his life and about his……”
Commandant O‘Brien laid a hand on Valentin’s arm.“Drop that slanderous rubbish, Valentin，”he said，“or there may be more swords yet.”
But Valentin（under the steady, humble gaze of the priest）had already recovered himself.“Well，”he said shortly，“people‘s private opinions can wait. You gentlemen are still bound by your promise to stay；you must enforce it on yourselves-and on each other. Ivan here will tell you anything more you want to know；I must get to business and write to the authorities. We can’t keep this quiet any longer. I shall be writing in my study if there is any more news.”