They laughed hysterically--the poor wretches--on the verge of tears.
There was only one person who remained unmoved.

It was de Barral himself.

He preserved his serene, gentle expression, I am told (for I have not witnessed those scenes myself), and looked around at the people with an air of placid sufficiency which was the first hint to the world of the man's overweening, unmeasurable conceit, hidden hitherto under a diffident manner.

It could be seen too in his dogged assertion that if he had been given enough time and a lot more money everything would have come right.

And there were some people (yes, amongst his very victims) who more than half believed him, even after the criminal prosecution which soon followed.