And not the less because on that side, in their suspicion, in their grudging jealousy, in their unwinking integrity, lay the one difficulty.
A difficulty exasperated by the insult that, in a moment of bitter disappointment, he had flung in Baudichon's face.

That hasty word had revealed to the speaker a lack of self-control that terrified him, even as it had revealed to Baudichon a glimpse of something underneath the Fourth Syndic's dry exterior that might well set a man thinking as well as talking.

This matter Blondel saw plainly he must deal with at once, or it might do harm.

To absent himself from the next day's council might rouse a storm beyond his power to weather, or short of that might give rise at a later period to a dangerous amount of gossip and conjecture.
He was early at the meeting, therefore, but to his surprise found it in session before the hour.

This, and the fact that the hubbub of voices and discussion died down at his entrance--died down and was succeeded by a chilling silence--put him on his guard.