"Oh, yes! Brutus is an honourable man, so are they all, all honourable men," said Delapine, imitating the mocking sarcasm of Mark Antony. "Are you not sarcastic, professor, or do you mean it?" "Yes, doctor," Renée interposed, "Henri is right and he means it. Oh, I know it so well," she replied bitterly. Henri squeezed her hand while she clung close to him for protection. "As far as I am concerned I am not in the least alarmed," said Delapine, "but it is my duty now to defend Renée. I am, as you know, a man of peace, but I shall be sorry for the man who attempts any tricks on Renée, as he will find out to his cost. You know it is written, 'Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,' but, ma foi, if anyone comes fooling around to hurt my dove, I have a right to set my serpent at him. Eh, doctor?" "Ha, ha! capital, capital, those are my sentiments to a 'T'," said Villebois laughing. "But the situation is becoming serious and I promise to help you to the best of my power." "I know you will, doctor," said Delapine, shaking him cordially by the hand. "But promise me you will not let anyone know what I suspect. Please do me the favour to invite the same guests as you had last time, together with any others you may choose to ask, for we must on no account let anyone imagine we are suspicious." "I promise faithfully to do as you wish," said Villebois, pressing his hand. "But you will give us the promised séance at our next party?" "Certainly, why not?" Madame Villebois and Céleste entered the room at this moment and the conversation ceased. CHAPTER VIII DELAPINE MAKES AN EXPERIMENT IN BOTANY Delapine and Villebois left the room arm in arm, and entered the library where they found Riche idly glancing over a magazine, and at the same time quietly smoking his pipe. "Hullo, Riche," called out Villebois in his usual cheery tones. "What have you been doing with yourself for the last hour?" "Well, as a matter of fact, I have been amusing myself looking through your charming work on Turner's paintings illustrated in colour. Ah, Turner was a great artist, a very great artist," said Riche. "He was to England what our Claude Lorraine was to France. Between them they succeeded in teaching the world the true art of landscape painting. Until their time the Dutch and Flemish schools alone had attained a moderate degree of success, but when all is said and done Dutch and Flemish pictures were in the main--that is, in the majority of cases--merely cold, flat, and very conventional. But with the advent of Turner, a great change came over art. He not only copied Nature, but he improved on it, idealised it, and gave it life, warmth, breadth, and depth, such as only Claude before him could conceive. Ma parole, were I not a Frenchman, I would place him in the world of painters absolutely alone in his glory."