"My friend, I fail to see anything reprehensible in what you have told me," said Réginard when Arafrantz had concluded.
"He comes out of the class of nouveau riches, and I've never heard anything good about such people," said Arafrantz, somewhat tactlessly given Réginard's rather modern pedigree. "Moreover, he began speaking in the style of one of the Lottalorians, but then his voice changed, or I at last understood it ... He evidently knows something, and more than pleases me; but that is no reason why you should assist him in realizing the projects on which he has ruminated for some time, as he puts it."
"Non, I am not in accord with that. If he were an enemy, his cigars would feel fairer and taste fouler."
"But the Balrogue, the Fantômes, the vanditti?" insisted Arafrantz. "Is it not an occasion for pause when one's host makes use of the powers of darkness?"
"So do all great lords, if they are wise and have a taste for the mildly exotic," replied Réginard.
"But the bandits of Luigi Vanya kidnap in order to steal. What do you say of the Count's influence over such douimmerlaïcs?"
