"It is quite simple," replied the Count. "I could have turned Luigi Vanya over to the whips and chains of Galadriella; doing so did not seem worth my bother; so I did not. As this left him free to besiege Mina Tiretta and inflict cruel damage upon Gondor with impunity, he naturally felt some gratitude."
"And the people of Gondor? Your solicitude for them is charming," said Pierre-Jacques-Philippe-Michel Boyen-Xènes-Baguines.
"Perhaps it will seem strange to messieurs the socialists, progressives, wizards; but I never concern myself with my neighbour, or seek to protect a society that does not protect me, or jump down a dragon's throat – or even abstain from pipe-weed – to save the life of another."
"Finally, someone dares to espouse the purest and most brutal egoism! Bravo!" cried Château-Renard.
"But it seems, monsieur le comte, that you violated your own principes in saving Réginard from the horror of the vanditti," said Morrie.
"Monsieur le comte, vous voilà pris au raisonnement, you who are the most subtle logician I have ever met!" cried Réginard. "The biter bit, the hawk under the eagle's foot, the spider in the steel web of an evil tower!"
