CHAPTER XI. THE CROSS OF LORRAINE
The moment Lupin had finished lunch, he at once and, so to speak,without transition, recovered all his mastery and authority. Thetime for joking was past; and he must no longer yield to his love ofastonishing people with claptrap and conjuring tricks. Now that he haddiscovered the crystal stopper in the hiding-place which he hadguessed with absolute certainty, now that he possessed the list of theTwenty-seven, it became a question of playing off the last game of therubber without delay.
It was child's play, no doubt, and what remained to be done presented nodifficulty. Nevertheless, it was essential that he should perform thesefinal actions with promptness, decision and infallible perspicacity. Thesmallest blunder was irretrievable. Lupin knew this; but his strangelylucid brain had allowed for every contingency. And the movements andwords which he was now about to make and utter were all fully preparedand matured:
"Growler, the commissionaire is waiting on the Boulevard Gambetta withhis barrow and the trunk which we bought. Bring him here and have thetrunk carried up. If the people of the hotel ask any questions, say it'sfor the lady in No. 130."
Then, addressing his other companion:
"Masher, go back to the station and take over the limousine. The priceis arranged: ten thousand francs. Buy a chauffeur's cap and overcoat andbring the car to the hotel."
"The money, governor."
Lupin opened a pocketbook which had been removed from Daubrecq's jacketand produced a huge bundle of bank-notes. He separated ten of them:
"Here you are. Our friend appears to have been doing well at the club.Off with you, Masher!"
The two men went out through Clarisse's room. Lupin availed himself ofa moment when Clarisse Mergy was not looking to stow away the pocketbookwith the greatest satisfaction:
"I shall have done a fair stroke of business," he said to himself. "Whenall the expenses are paid, I shall still be well to the good; and it'snot over yet."
Then turning to Clarisse Mergy, he asked:
"Have you a bag?"
"Yes, I bought one when I reached Nice, with some linen and a fewnecessaries; for I left Paris unprepared."
"Get all that ready. Then go down to the office. Say that you areexpecting a trunk which a commissionaire is bringing from the stationcloakroom and that you will want to unpack and pack it again in yourroom; and tell them that you are leaving."
When alone, Lupin examined Daubrecq carefully, felt in all his pocketsand appropriated everything that seemed to present any sort of interest.
The Growler was the first to return. The trunk, a large wicker hampercovered with black moleskin, was taken into Clarisse's room. Assisted byClarisse and the Growler, Lupin moved Daubrecq and put him in the trunk,in a sitting posture, but with his head bent so as to allow of the lidbeing fastened:
"I don't say that it's as comfortable as your berth in a sleeping-car,my dear deputy," Lupin observed. "But, all the same, it's better than acoffin. At least, you can breathe. Three little holes in each side. Youhave nothing to complain of!"
Then, unstopping a flask:
"A drop more chloroform? You seem to love it!..."
He soaked the pad once more, while, by his orders, Clarisse and theGrowler propped up the deputy with linen, rugs and pillows, which theyhad taken the precaution to heap in the trunk.
"Capital!" said Lupin. "That trunk is fit to go round the world. Lock itand strap it."
The Masher arrived, in a chauffeur's livery:
"The car's below, governor."
"Good," he said. "Take the trunk down between you. It would be dangerousto give it to the hotel-servants."
"But if any one meets us?"
"Well, what then, Masher? Aren't you a chauffeur? You're carrying thetrunk of your employer here present, the lady in No. 130, who willalso go down, step into her motor... and wait for me two hundred yardsfarther on. Growler, you help to hoist the trunk up. Oh, first lock thepartition-door!"
Lupin went to the next room, closed the other door, shot the bolt,walked out, locked the door behind him and went down in the lift.
In the office, he said:
"M. Daubrecq has suddenly been called away to Monte Carlo. He asked meto say that he would not be back until Tuesday and that you were to keephis room for him. His things are all there. Here is the key."
He walked away quietly and went after the car, where he found Clarisselamenting:
"We shall never be in Paris to-morrow! It's madness! The leastbreakdown..."
"That's why you and I are going to take the train. It's safer..."
He put her into a cab and gave his parting instructions to the two men:
"Thirty miles an hour, on the average, do you understand? You're todrive and rest, turn and turn about. At that rate, you ought to be inParis between six and seven to-morrow evening. But don't force the pace.I'm keeping Daubrecq, not because I want him for my plans, but as ahostage... and then by way of precaution... I like to feel that I canlay my hands on him during the next few days. So look after the dearfellow... Give him a few drops of chloroform every three or four hours:it's his one weakness... Off with you, Masher... And you, Daubrecq,don't get excited up there. The roof'll bear you all right... If youfeel at all sick, don't mind... Off you go, Masher!"
He watched the car move into the distance and then told the cabman todrive to a post-office, where he dispatched a telegram in these words:
"M. Prasville, Prefecture de Police, Paris:
"Person found. Will bring you document eleven o'clock to-morrow morning. Urgent communication.
"CLARISSE."
Clarisse and Lupin reached the station by half-past two.
"If only there's room!" said Clarisse, who was alarmed at the leastthing.
"Room? Why, our berths are booked!"
"By whom?"
"By Jacob... by Daubrecq."
"How?"
"Why, at the office of the hotel they gave me a letter which had comefor Daubrecq by express. It was the two berths which Jacob had sent him.Also, I have his deputy's pass. So we shall travel under the name of M.and Mme. Daubrecq and we shall receive all the attention due to our rankand station. You see, my dear madam, that everything's arranged."
The journey, this time, seemed short to Lupin. Clarisse told him whatshe had done during the past few days. He himself explained the miracleof his sudden appearance in Daubrecq's bedroom at the moment when hisadversary believed him in Italy:
"A miracle, no," he said. "But still a remarkable phenomenon tookplace in me when I left San Remo, a sort of mysterious intuition whichprompted me first to try and jump out of the train--and the Masherprevented me--and next to rush to the window, let down the glass andfollow the porter of the Ambassadeurs-Palace, who had given me yourmessage, with my eyes. Well, at that very minute, the porter aforesaidwas rubbing his hands with an air of such satisfaction that, for noother reason, suddenly, I understood everything: I had been diddled,taken in by Daubrecq, as you yourself were. Heaps of little detailsflashed across my mind. My adversary's scheme became clear to me fromstart to finish. Another minute... and the disaster would have beenbeyond remedy. I had, I confess, a few moments of real despair, at thethought that I should not be able to repair all the mistakes that hadbeen made. It depended simply on the time-table of the trains, whichwould either allow me or would not allow me to find Daubrecq's emissaryon the railway-platform at San Remo. This time, at last, chance favouredme. We had hardly alighted at the first station when a train passed, forFrance. When we arrived at San Remo, the man was there. I had guessedright. He no longer wore his hotel-porter's cap and frock-coat, but ajacket and bowler. He stepped into a second-class compartment. From thatmoment, victory was assured."
"But... how...?" asked Clarisse, who, in spite of the thoughts thatobsessed her, was interested in Lupin's story.
"How did I find you? Lord, simply by not losing sight of Master Jacob,while leaving him free to move about as he pleased, knowing that he wasbound to account
for his actions to Daubrecq. In point of fact, thismorning, after spending the night in a small hotel at Nice, he metDaubrecq on the Promenade des Anglais. They talked for some time. Ifollowed them. Daubrecq went back to the hotel, planted Jacob in oneof the passages on the ground-floor, opposite the telephone-office, andwent up in the lift. Ten minutes later I knew the number of his room andknew that a lady had been occupying the next room, No. 130, since theday before. 'I believe we've done it,' I said to the Growler and theMasher. I tapped lightly at your door. No answer. And the door waslocked."
"Well?" asked Clarisse.
"Well, we opened it. Do you think there's only one key in the worldthat will work a lock? So I walked in. Nobody in your room. But thepartition-door was ajar. I slipped through it. Thenceforth, a merehanging separated me from you, from Daubrecq and from the packet oftobacco which I saw on the chimney-slab."
"Then you knew the hiding-place?"
"A look round Daubrecq's study in Paris showed me that that packet oftobacco had disappeared. Besides..."
"What?"
"I knew, from certain confessions wrung from Daubrecq in the Lovers'Tower, that the word Marie held the key to the riddle. Since then I hadcertainly thought of this word, but with the preconceived notion thatit was spelt M A R I E. Well, it was really the first two syllables ofanother word, which I guessed, so to speak, only at the moment when Iwas struck by the absence of the packet of tobacco."
"What word do you mean?"
"Maryland, Maryland tobacco, the only tobacco that Daubrecq smokes."
And Lupin began to laugh:
"Wasn't it silly? And, at the same time, wasn't it clever of Daubrecq?We looked everywhere, we ransacked everything. Didn't I unscrew thebrass sockets of the electric lights to see if they contained a crystalstopper? But how could I have thought, how could any one, however greathis perspicacity, have thought of tearing off the paper band of a packetof Maryland, a band put on, gummed, sealed, stamped and dated by theState, under the control of the Inland Revenue Office? Only think! TheState the accomplice of such an act of infamy! The Inland R-r-r-revenueAwfice lending itself to such a trick! No, a thousand times no!The Regie [*] is not perfect. It makes matches that won't light andcigarettes filled with hay. But there's all the difference in the worldbetween recognizing that fact and believing the Inland Revenue to bein league with Daubrecq with the object of hiding the list of theTwenty-seven from the legitimate curiosity of the government and theenterprising efforts of Arsene Lupin! Observe that all Daubrecq had todo, in order to introduce the crystal stopper, was to bear upon the banda little, loosen it, draw it back, unfold the yellow paper, remove thetobacco and fasten it up again. Observe also that all we had to do, inParis, was to take the packet in our hands and examine it, in order todiscover the hiding-place. No matter! The packet itself, the plug ofMaryland made up and passed by the State and by the Inland RevenueOffice, was a sacred, intangible thing, a thing above suspicion! Andnobody opened it. That was how that demon of a Daubrecq allowed thatuntouched packet of tobacco to lie about for months on his table, amonghis pipes and among other unopened packets of tobacco. And no power onearth could have given any one even the vaguest notion of looking intothat harmless little cube. I would have you observe, besides..." Lupinwent on pursuing his remarks relative to the packet of Maryland and thecrystal stopper. His adversary's ingenuity and shrewdness interested himall the more inasmuch as Lupin had ended by getting the better of him.But to Clarisse these topics mattered much less than did her anxiety asto the acts which must be performed to save her son; and she sat wrappedin her own thoughts and hardly listened to him.
* The department of the French excise which holds the monopoly for the manufacture and sale of tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and matches--Translator's Note.
"Are you sure," she kept on repeating, "that you will succeed?"
"Absolutely sure."
"But Prasville is not in Paris."
"If he's not there, he's at the Havre. I saw it in the paper yesterday.In any case, a telegram will bring him to Paris at once."
"And do you think that he has enough influence?"
"To obtain the pardon of Vaucheray and Gilbert personally. No. If hehad, we should have set him to work before now. But he is intelligentenough to understand the value of what we are bringing him and to actwithout a moment's delay."
"But, to be accurate, are you not deceived as to that value?"
"Was Daubrecq deceived? Was Daubrecq not in a better position thanany of us to know the full power of that paper? Did he not have twentyproofs of it, each more convincing than the last? Think of all that hewas able to do, for the sole reason that people knew him to possess thelist. They knew it; and that was all. He did not use the list, but hehad it. And, having it, he killed your husband. He built up his fortuneon the ruin and the disgrace of the Twenty-seven. Only last week, one ofthe gamest of the lot, d'Albufex, cut his throat in a prison. No, takeit from me, as the price of handing over that list, we could ask foranything we pleased. And we are asking for what? Almost nothing ... lessthan nothing... the pardon of a child of twenty. In other words, theywill take us for idiots. What! We have in our hands..."
He stopped. Clarisse, exhausted by so much excitement, sat fast asleepin front of him.
They reached Paris at eight o'clock in the morning.
Lupin found two telegrams awaiting him at his flat in the Place deClichy.
One was from the Masher, dispatched from Avignon on the previous dayand stating that all was going well and that they hoped to keep theirappointment punctually that evening. The other was from Prasville, datedfrom the Havre and addressed to Clarisse:
"Impossible return to-morrow Monday morning. Come to my office five o'clock. Reckon on you absolutely."
"Five o'clock!" said Clarisse. "How late!"
"It's a first-rate hour," declared Lupin.
"Still, if..."
"If the execution is to take place to-morrow morning: is that what youmean to say?... Don't be afraid to speak out, for the execution will nottake place."
"The newspapers..."
"You haven't read the newspapers and you are not to read them. Nothingthat they can say matters in the least. One thing alone matters: ourinterview with Prasville. Besides..."
He took a little bottle from a cupboard and, putting his hand onClarisse's shoulder, said:
"Lie down here, on the sofa, and take a few drops of this mixture."
"What's it for?"
"It will make you sleep for a few hours... and forget. That's always somuch gained."
"No, no," protested Clarisse, "I don't want to. Gilbert is not asleep.He is not forgetting."
"Drink it," said Lupin, with gentle insistence. She yielded all of asudden, from cowardice, from excessive suffering, and did as she wastold and lay on the sofa and closed her eyes. In a few minutes she wasasleep.
Lupin rang for his servant:
"The newspapers... quick!... Have you bought them?"
"Here they are, governor."
Lupin opened one of them and at once read the following lines:
"ARSENE LUPIN'S ACCOMPLICES"
"We know from a positive source that Arsene Lupin's accomplices, Gilbert and Vaucheray, will be executed to-morrow, Tuesday, morning. M. Deibler has inspected the scaffold. Everything is ready."
He raised his head with a defiant look.
"Arsene Lupin's accomplices! The execution of Arsene Lupin'saccomplices! What a fine spectacle! And what a crowd there will be towitness it! Sorry, gentlemen, but the curtain will not rise. Theatreclosed by order of the authorities. And the authorities are myself!"
He struck his chest violently, with an arrogant gesture:
"The authorities are myself!"
At twelve o'clock Lupin received a telegram which the Masher had sentfrom Lyons:
"All well. Goods will arrive without damage."
At three o'clock Clarisse woke. Her first words were:
"Is it to be to-morrow?"
He did not answer. But she saw him look so calm and smiling that shefelt herself permeated with an immense sense of peace and received theimpression that everything was finished, disentangled, settled accordingto her companion's will.
They left the house at ten minutes past four. Prasville's secretary, whohad received his chief's instructions by telephone, showed them into theoffice and asked them to wait. It was a quarter to five.
Prasville came running in at five o'clock exactly and, at once, cried:
"Have you the list?"
"Yes."
"Give it me."
He put out his hand. Clarisse, who had risen from her chair, did notstir.
Prasville looked at her for a moment, hesitated and sat down. Heunderstood. In pursuing Daubrecq, Clarisse Mergy had not acted onlyfrom hatred and the desire for revenge. Another motive prompted her. Thepaper would not be handed over except upon conditions.
"Sit down, please," he said, thus showing that he accepted thediscussion.
Clarisse resumed her seat and, when she remained silent, Prasville said:
"Speak, my friend, and speak quite frankly. I do not scruple to say thatwe wish to have that paper."
"If it is only a wish," remarked Clarisse, whom Lupin had coached inher part down to the least detail, "if it is only a wish, I fear that weshall not be able to come to an arrangement."
Prasville smiled:
"The wish, obviously, would lead us to make certain sacrifices."
"Every sacrifice," said Mme. Mergy, correcting him.
"Every sacrifice, provided, of course, that we keep within the bounds ofacceptable requirements."
"And even if we go beyond those bounds," said Clarisse, inflexibly.
Prasville began to lose patience:
"Come, what is it all about? Explain yourself."
"Forgive me, my friend, but I wanted above all to mark the greatimportance which you attach to that paper and, in view of the immediatetransaction which we are about to conclude, to specify--what shall Isay?--the value of my share in it. That value, which has no limits,must, I repeat, be exchanged for an unlimited value."
"Agreed," said Prasville, querulously.
"I presume, therefore, that it is unnecessary for me to trace the wholestory of the business or to enumerate, on the one hand, the disasterswhich the possession of that paper would have allowed you to avert and,on the other hand, the incalculable advantages which you will be able toderive from its possession?"
Prasville had to make an effort to contain himself and to answer in atone that was civil, or nearly so:
"I admit everything. Is that enough?"
"I beg your pardon, but we cannot explain ourselves too plainly. Andthere is one point that remains to be cleared up. Are you in a positionto treat, personally?"
"How do you mean?"
"I want to know not, of course, if you are empowered to settle thisbusiness here and now, but if, in dealing with me, you represent theviews of those who know the business and who are qualified to settleit."
"Yes," declared Prasville, forcibly.
"So that I can have your answer within an hour after I have told you myconditions?"
"Yes."
"Will the answer be that of the government?"
"Yes."
Clarisse bent forward and, sinking her voice:
"Will the answer be that of the Elysee?"
Prasville appeared surprised. He reflected for a moment and then said:
"Yes."
"It only remains for me to ask you to give me your word of honour that,however incomprehensible my conditions may appear to you, you will notinsist on my revealing the reason. They are what they are. Your answermust be yes or no."
"I give you my word of honour," said Prasville, formally.
Clarisse underwent a momentary agitation that made her turn paler still.Then, mastering herself, with her eyes fixed on Prasville's eyes, shesaid:
"You shall have the list of the Twenty-seven in exchange for the pardonof Gilbert and Vaucheray."
"Eh? What?"
Prasville leapt from his chair, looking absolutely dumbfounded:
"The pardon of Gilbert and Vaucheray? Of Arsene Lupin's accomplices?"
"Yes," she said.
"The murderers of the Villa Marie-Therese? The two who are due to dieto-morrow?"
"Yes, those two," she said, in a loud voice. "I ask? I demand theirpardon."
"But this is madness! Why? Why should you?"
"I must remind you, Prasville, that you gave me your word..."
"Yes... yes... I know... But the thing is so unexpected..."
"Why?"
"Why? For all sorts of reasons!"
"What reasons?"
"Well... well, but... think! Gilbert and Vaucheray have been sentencedto death!"
"Send them to penal servitude: that's all you have to do."
"Impossible! The case has created an enormous sensation. They are ArseneLupin's accomplices. The whole world knows about the verdict."
"Well?"
"Well, we cannot, no, we cannot go against the decrees of justice."
"You are not asked to do that. You are asked for a commutation ofpunishment as an act of mercy. Mercy is a legal thing."
"The pardoning-commission has given its finding..."
"True, but there remains the president of the Republic."
"He has refused."
"He can reconsider his refusal."
"Impossible!"
"Why?"
"There's no excuse for it."
"He needs no excuse. The right of mercy is absolute. It is exercisedwithout control, without reason, without excuse or explanation. It is aroyal prerogative; the president of the Republic can wield it accordingto his good pleasure, or rather according to his conscience, in the bestinterests of the State."
"But it is too late! Everything is ready. The execution is to take placein a few hours."
"One hour is long enough to obtain your answer; you have just told usso."
"But this is confounded madness! There are insuperable obstacles to yourconditions. I tell you again, it's impossible, physically impossible."
"Then the answer is no?"
"No! No! A thousand times no!"
"In that case, there is nothing left for us to do but to go."
She moved toward the door. M. Nicole followed her. Prasville boundedacross the room and barred their way:
"Where are you going?"
"Well, my friend, it seems to me that our conversation is at an end. Asyou appear to think, as, in fact, you are certain that the president ofthe Republic will not consider the famous list of the Twenty-seven to beworth..."
"Stay where you are," said Prasville.
He turned the key in the door and began to pace the room, with his handsbehind his back and his eyes fixed on the floor.
And Lupin, who had not breathed a word during the whole of this sceneand who had prudently contented himself with playing a colourless part,said to himself:
"What a fuss! What a lot of affectation to arrive at the inevitableresult! As though Prasville, who is not a genius, but not an absoluteblockhead either, would be likely to lose the chance of revenginghimself on his mortal enemy! There, what did I say? The idea of hurlingDaubrecq into the bottomless pit appeals to him. Come, we've won therubber."
Prasville was opening a small inner door which led to the office of hisprivate secretary.
He gave an order aloud:
"M. Lartigue, telephone to the Elysee and say that I request the favourof an audience for a communication of the utmost importance."
He closed the door, came back to Clarisse and said:
"In any case, my intervention is limited to submitting your proposal."
"Once you submit it, it will be accepted."
A long silence followed. Clarisse's features expressed so profound adelight that Prasville was struck by it and looked at her with attentivecuriosity. For what mysterious reason did Clarisse wish t
o save Gilbertand Vaucheray? What was the incomprehensible link that bound her tothose two men? What tragedy connected those three lives and, no doubt,Daubrecq's in addition?
"Go ahead, old boy," thought Lupin, "cudgel your brains: you'll neverspot it! Ah, if we had asked for Gilbert's pardon only, as Clarissewished, you might have twigged the secret! But Vaucheray, that brute ofa Vaucheray, there really could not be the least bond between Mme. Mergyand him.... Aha, by Jingo, it's my turn now!... He's watching me ... Theinward soliloquy is turning upon myself... 'I wonder who that M. Nicolecan be? Why has that little provincial usher devoted himself body andsoul to Clarisse Mergy? Who is that old bore, if the truth were known? Imade a mistake in not inquiring... I must look into this.... I mustrip off the beggar's mask. For, after all, it's not natural that a manshould take so much trouble about a matter in which he is not directlyinterested. Why should he also wish to save Gilbert and Vaucheray?Why? Why should he?..." Lupin turned his head away. "Look out!... Lookout!... There's a notion passing through that red-tape-merchant's skull:a confused notion which he can't put into words. Hang it all, he mustn'tsuspect M. Lupin under M. Nicole! The thing's complicated enough as itis, in all conscience!..."
But there was a welcome interruption. Prasville's secretary came to saythat the audience would take place in an hour's time.
"Very well. Thank you," said Prasville. "That will do."
And, resuming the interview, with no further circumlocution, speakinglike a man who means to put a thing through, he declared:
"I think that we shall be able to manage it. But, first of all, so thatI may do what I have undertaken to do, I want more precise information,fuller details. Where was the paper?"
"In the crystal stopper, as we thought," said Mme. Mergy.
"And where was the crystal stopper?"
"In an object which Daubrecq came and fetched, a few days ago, from thewriting-desk in his study in the Square Lamartine, an object which Itook from him yesterday."
"What sort of object?"
"Simply a packet of tobacco, Maryland tobacco, which used to lie abouton the desk."
Prasville was petrified. He muttered, guilelessly:
"Oh, if I had only known! I've had my hand on that packet of Maryland adozen times! How stupid of me!"
"What does it matter?" said Clarisse. "The great thing is that thediscovery is made."
Prasville pulled a face which implied that the discovery would have beenmuch pleasanter if he himself had made it. Then he asked:
"So you have the list?"
"Yes."
"Show it to me."
And, when Clarisse hesitated, he added:
"Oh, please, don't be afraid! The list belongs to you, and I will giveit back to you. But you must understand that I cannot take the step inquestion without making certain."
Clarisse consulted M. Nicole with a glance which did not escapePrasville. Then she said:
"Here it is."
He seized the scrap of paper with a certain excitement, examined it andalmost immediately said:
"Yes, yes... the secretary's writing: I recognize it.... And thesignature of the chairman of the company: the signature in red....Besides, I have other proofs.... For instance, the torn piece whichcompletes the left-hand top corner of this sheet..."
He opened his safe and, from a special cash-box, produced a tiny pieceof paper which he put against the top left corner:
"That's right. The torn edges fit exactly. The proof is undeniable. Allthat remains is to verify the make of this foreign-post-paper."
Clarisse was radiant with delight. No one would have believed that themost terrible torture had racked her for weeks and weeks and that shewas still bleeding and quivering from its effects.
While Prasville was holding the paper against a window-pane, she said toLupin:
"I insist upon having Gilbert informed this evening. He must be soawfully unhappy!"
"Yes," said Lupin. "Besides, you can go to his lawyer and tell him."
She continued:
"And then I must see Gilbert to-morrow. Prasville can think what helikes."
"Of course. But he must first gain his cause at the Elysee."
"There can't be any difficulty, can there?"
"No. You saw that he gave way at once."
Prasville continued his examination with the aid of a magnifying-glassand compared the sheet with the scrap of torn paper. Next, he took fromthe cash-box some other sheets of letter-paper and examined one of theseby holding it up to the light:
"That's done," he said. "My mind is made up. Forgive me, dear friend: itwas a very difficult piece of work.... I passed through various stages.When all is said, I had my suspicions... and not without cause..."
"What do you mean?" asked Clarisse.
"One second.... I must give an order first."
He called his secretary:
"Please telephone at once to the Elysee, make my apologies and saythat I shall not require the audience, for reasons which I will explainlater."
He closed the door and returned to his desk. Clarisse and Lupin stoodchoking, looking at him in stupefaction, failing to understand thissudden change. Was he mad? Was it a trick on his part? A breach offaith? And was he refusing to keep his promise, now that he possessedthe list?
He held it out to Clarisse:
"You can have it back."
"Have it back?"
"And return it to Daubrecq."
"To Daubrecq?"
"Unless you prefer to burn it."
"What do you say?"
"I say that, if I were in your place, I would burn it."
"Why do you say that? It's ridiculous!"
"On the contrary, it is very sensible."
"But why? Why?"
"Why? I will tell you. The list of the Twenty-seven, as we know forabsolutely certain, was written on a sheet of letter-paper belonging tothe chairman of the Canal Company, of which there are a few samples inthis cash-box. Now all these samples have as a water-mark a little crossof Lorraine which is almost invisible, but which can just be seen in thethickness of the paper when you hold it up to the light. The sheet whichyou have brought me does not contain that little cross of Lorraine." [*]
* The Cross of Lorraine is a cross with two horizontal lines or bars across the upper half of the perpendicular beam. --Translator's Note.
Lupin felt a nervous trembling shake him from head to foot and he darednot turn his eyes on Clarisse, realizing what a terrible blow this wasto her. He heard her stammer:
"Then are we to suppose... that Daubrecq was taken in?"
"Not a bit of it!" exclaimed Prasville. "It is you who have been takenin, my poor friend. Daubrecq has the real list, the list which he stolefrom the dying man's safe."
"But this one..."
"This one is a forgery."
"A forgery?"
"An undoubted forgery. It was an admirable piece of cunning onDaubrecq's part. Dazzled by the crystal stopper which he flashed beforeyour eyes, you did nothing but look for that stopper in which he hadstowed away no matter what, the first bit of paper that came to hand,while he quietly kept..."
Prasville interrupted himself. Clarisse was walking up to him withshort, stiff steps, like an automaton. She said:
"Then..."
"Then what, dear friend?"
"You refuse?"
"Certainly, I am obliged to; I have no choice."
"You refuse to take that step?"
"Look here, how can I do what you ask? It's not possible, on thestrength of a valueless document..."
"You won't do it?... You won't do it?... And, to-morrow morning... in afew hours... Gilbert..."
She was frightfully pale, her face sunk, like the face of one dying. Hereyes opened wider and wider and her teeth chattered...
Lupin, fearing the useless and dangerous words which she was about toutter, seized her by the shoulders and tried to drag her away. But shethrust him back with indomitable strength, took two or three more steps,st
aggered, as though on the point of falling, and, suddenly, in a burstof energy and despair, laid hold of Prasville and screamed:
"You shall go to the Elysee!... You shall go at once!... You must!...You must save Gilbert!"
"Please, please, my dear friend, calm yourself..."
She gave a strident laugh:
"Calm myself!... When, to-morrow morning, Gilbert... Ah, no, no, I amterrified... it's appalling.... Oh, run, you wretch, run! Obtain hispardon!... Don't you understand? Gilbert... Gilbert is my son! My son!My son!"
Prasville gave a cry. The blade of a knife flashed in Clarisse's handand she raised her arm to strike herself. But the movement was notcompleted. M. Nicole caught her arm in its descent and, taking the knifefrom Clarisse, reducing her to helplessness, he said, in a voice thatrang through the room like steel:
"What you are doing is madness!... When I gave you my oath that I wouldsave him! You must... live for him... Gilbert shall not die.... How canhe die, when... I gave you my oath?..."
"Gilbert... my son..." moaned Clarisse.
He clasped her fiercely, drew her against himself and put his hand overher mouth:
"Enough! Be quiet!... I entreat you to be quiet.... Gilbert shall notdie..."
With irresistible authority, he dragged her away like a subdued childthat suddenly becomes obedient; but, at the moment of opening the door,he turned to Prasville:
"Wait for me here, monsieur," he commanded, in an imperative tone. "Ifyou care about that list of the Twenty-seven, the real list, wait forme. I shall be back in an hour, in two hours, at most; and then we willtalk business."
And abruptly, to Clarisse:
"And you, madame, a little courage yet. I command you to show courage,in Gilbert's name."
He went away, through the passages, down the stairs, with a jerky step,holding Clarisse under the arm, as he might have held a lay-figure,supporting her, carrying her almost. A court-yard, another court-yard,then the street.
Meanwhile, Prasville, surprised at first, bewildered by the course ofevents, was gradually recovering his composure and thinking. He thoughtof that M. Nicole, a mere supernumerary at first, who played besideClarisse the part of one of those advisers to whom we cling in theserious crises of our lives and who suddenly, shaking off his torpor,appeared in the full light of day, resolute, masterful, mettlesome,brimming over with daring, ready to overthrow all the obstacles thatfate placed on his path.
Who was there that was capable of acting thus?
Prasville started. The question had no sooner occurred to his mind thanthe answer flashed on him, with absolute certainty. All the proofs roseup, each more exact, each more convincing than the last.
Hurriedly he rang. Hurriedly he sent for the chief detective-inspectoron duty. And, feverishly:
"Were you in the waiting-room, chief-inspector?"
"Yes, monsieur le secretaire-general."
"Did you see a gentleman and a lady go out?"
"Yes."
"Would you know the man again?"
"Yes."
"Then don't lose a moment, chief-inspector. Take six inspectors withyou. Go to the Place de Clichy. Make inquiries about a man called Nicoleand watch the house. The Nicole man is on his way back there."
"And if he comes out, monsieur le secretaire-general?"
"Arrest him. Here's a warrant."
He sat down to his desk and wrote a name on a form:
"Here you are, chief-inspector. I will let the chief-detective know."
The chief-inspector seemed staggered:
"But you spoke to me of a man called Nicole, monsieur lesecretaire-general."
"Well?"
"The warrant is in the name of Arsene Lupin."
"Arsene Lupin and the Nicole man are one and the same individual."
The Crystal Stopper Page 11