For himself, it mattered very little, but for the honour of the school he considered the matter should not be allowed to drop until it was properly cleared up.

With a view to assisting in such a result, he might mention that towards the end of last term a rumour had come to his ears--he was not at liberty to say through what channel--that the secret was not quite as dead as was generally supposed.

He had heard, on what he considered reliable authority, that in Mr Railsford's house--the house most interested in this painful question--the name of the culprit or culprits was generally known, or, at least, suspected; and he believed he was not going too far in mentioning a rumour that no one could make a better guess as to that name than Mr Railsford himself.
Here Mr Grover and Monsieur Lablache both rose to their feet.
Monsieur, of course, gave way, but what he had meant to say was pretty much what Mr Grover did say.

He wished to point out that in his friend's absence such an insinuation as that just made by the speaker was quite unjustifiable.

For his own part, he thought it a great pity to revive the unfortunate question at all.