He certainly did not prevent others from speaking of them before him, although it was easy to perceive that this kind of conversation, in which he only mingled by bitter words and misanthropic remarks, was very disagreeable to him.
Seulement il n'empêchait pas qu'on en parlât devant lui, quoiqu'il fût facile de voir que ce genre de conversation, auquel il ne se mêlait que par des mots amers et des aperçus misanthropiques, lui était parfaitement désagréable.