He makes a very good thing out of managing
their affairs, which want a _man of mark_ to see about them."
"Ha! ha! do you see the pun, mademoiselle?" asked Poiret. "This
gentleman calls himself a _man of mark_ because he is a _marked man_
--branded, you know."
"This so-called Vautrin," said the detective, "receives the money
belonging to my lords the convicts, invests it for them, and holds it
at the disposal of those who escape, or hands it over to their
families if they leave a will, or to their mistresses when they draw
upon him for their benefit."
"Their mistresses! You mean their wives," remarked Poiret.
"No, sir. A convict's wife is usually an illegitimate connection. We
call them concubines."
"Then they all live in a state of concubinage?"
"Naturally."
"Why, these are abominations that his Excellency ought not to allow.
Since you have the honor of seeing his Excellency, you, who seem to
have philanthropic ideas, ought really to enlighten him as to their
immoral conduct--they are setting a shocking example to the rest of
society."
"But the Government does not hold them up as models of all the
virtues, my dear sir----"
"Of course not, sir; but still----"
"Just let the gentleman say what he has to say, dearie," said Mlle.
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