But--you know w-what is--is usually said when his name comes up among men." "Do you mean about his habits ?" he asked simply.
"Yes.

Is it not an outrage to drag in that sort of thing?
It angers me intensely, Mr.Plank.Why do they do it?
Is there a single one among them qualified to criticise Mr.Siward?
And besides, it is not true any more! ...

is it ?--what was once said of him with--with some truth?
Is it ?" The dull red blood mantled Plank's heavy visage.

The silence grew grim as he did his slow, laborious thinking, the while his eyes, expressionless and almost opaque in the dim light, never left her's, until, under the unchanging, merciless inspection, the mask dropped for an instant from her anxious face, and he saw what he saw.
He was no fool.

What he had come to believe she at last had only confirmed; and now the question became simple: was she worth enlightening?
And by what title did she demand his confidence?
"You ask me if it is true any more.