It surprised me, but it was nevertheless, a good question. I realized that, perhaps, I should have pressed the Baron for more details. Now, it was too late, but I was curious to hear what Sanvergogne had in mind. “C’est exact!” I said, in response to his query. “Eh bien voilà!” he exclaimed, triumphantly. “The Baron lied! Because, V.S. are the initials of his wife: Valfort Simone.” I remained a few seconds speechless. What I just heard, instead of elucidating the mystery of the initials, added another dimension to it. How could Sanvergogne be able to decipher those initials? I had not told him that the name of the Baron’s wife was Simone! I was sure of it! The very reason being that I didn’t know it! The Baron had never, during our conversation, mentioned his spouse’s first name. My friend must have, in the past, dealt with the Baron, or at least, had a chance to learn who the latter was. Since he obviously didn’t want to confide in me, I was not going to confront him with the suspicion which had crossed my mind, knowing that it would certainly hurt his feelings. I chose therefore to pass under silence the source of his information, and stick to the substantive matter of a possible lie from the part of the Baron by simply express my disagreement in a detached tone of
It surprised me, but it was nevertheless, a good question. I realized that, perhaps, I should have pressed the Baron for more details. Now, it was too late, but I was curious to hear what Sanvergogne had in mind. “C’est exact!” I said, in response to his query. “Eh bien voilà!” he exclaimed, triumphantly. “The Baron lied! Because, V.S. are the initials of his wife: Valfort Simone.” I remained a few seconds speechless. What I just heard, instead of elucidating the mystery of the initials, added another dimension to it. How could Sanvergogne be able to decipher those initials? I had not told him that the name of the Baron’s wife was Simone! I was sure of it! The very reason being that I didn’t know it! The Baron had never, during our conversation, mentioned his spouse’s first name. My friend must have, in the past, dealt with the Baron, or at least, had a chance to learn who the latter was. Since he obviously didn’t want to confide in me, I was not going to confront him with the suspicion which had crossed my mind, knowing that it would certainly hurt his feelings. I chose therefore to pass under silence the source of his information, and stick to the substantive matter of a possible lie from the part of the Baron by simply express my disagreement in a detached tone of