Maurice Leblanc

“ Can you eat some breakfast, dearie?"
"Yes," said Lupin faintly.
"Hurry up with it," said Victoire in urgent, imperative tones; and Charolais left the room at a run.
"Oh, what a life you lead!" said Victoire, or, to be exact, she wailed it. "Are you never going to change? You're as white as a sheet. . . . Can't you speak, dearie?"
She stooped and lifted his legs on to the couch.
He stretched himself, and, without opening his eyes, said in a faint voice: "Oh, Victoire, what a fright I've had!"
"You? You've been frightened?" cried Victoire, amazed. ”

“ Her face was a dead white; her skin had lost its lustre of fine porcelain, and she stared at him with eyes dim with anguish.
In a hoarse, broken voice, she muttered: "Forgive me! Oh, forgive me!"
"A thief—you?" said the Duke, in a tone of pitying wonder.
Sonia groaned.
"You mustn't stop here," said the Duke in an uneasy tone, and he looked uneasily at the door.
"Ah, you don't want to speak to me any more," said Sonia, in a heartrending tone, wringing her hands.
"Guerchard is suspicious of everything. It is dangerous for us to be talking here. ”

“ And he paused, hesitating.
“Well, what is it you want?” said Lupin. “Out with it! Don’t be shy about it.”
“I offer you—”
“You offer me?” cried Lupin. “Then it isn’t true. You’re fooling me.”
“Reassure yourself,” said Guerchard coldly. “To you personally I offer nothing.”
“Then you are sincere,” said Lupin. “And putting me out of the question?”
“I offer you liberty.”
“Who for? For my concierge?” said Lupin.
“Don’t play the fool. You care only for a single person in the world. I hold you through her: Sonia Kritchnoff.” ”

“ Guerchard is in the lift. What more could I possibly desire?" His voice softened and grew infinitely caressing as he went on: "Yet when you are at my side I shall always have the soul of a lover and the soul of a thief. I long to steal your kisses, your thoughts, the whole of your heart. Ah, Sonia, if you want me to steal nothing else, you have only to stay by my side."
Their lips met in a long kiss.
Sonia drew herself out of his arms and cried, "But we're wasting time! We must make haste! We must fly!"
"Fly?" said Lupin sharply. "No, thank you; never again. ”

“ THE END OF THE DUEL
"THE handcuffs?" said Lupin; and his face fell. Then it cleared; and he added lightly, "After all, there's nothing like being careful; and, by Jove, with me you need to be. I might get away yet. What luck it is for you that I'm so soft, so little of a Charmerace, so human! Truly, I can't be much of a man of the world, to be in love like this!"
"Come, come, hold out your hands!" said Guerchard, jingling the handcuffs impatiently.
"I should like to see that child for the last time," said Lupin gently. ”

“ Charolais came rushing up the stairs and caught them up as they were entering the smoking-room:
"Here! What's all this?" he cried. "You mustn't come in here! His Grace isn't awake yet."
"Awake? Awake? Your precious Duke has been galloping all night," cried Dieusy. "And he runs devilish well, too."
The door of the bedroom opened; and Lupin stood on the threshold in slippers and pyjamas.
"What's all this?" he snapped, with the irritation of a man whose sleep has been disturbed; and his tousled hair and eyes dim with exhaustion gave him every appearance of being still heavy with sleep. ”

“ Sonia saw this, and so did the Duke. He looked at Sonia's white throat. She met his eyes and blushed. She knew that the same thought was in both their minds; the pearls would have looked infinitely better there.
Germaine finished admiring herself; she was incapable even of suspecting that so expensive a pendant could not suit her perfectly.
The Duke said idly: "Goodness! Are all those invitations to the wedding?"
"That's only down to the letter V," said Germaine proudly.
"And there are twenty-five letters in the alphabet! You must be inviting the whole world. ”

“ Marie broke it:
“Speaking of Madame de Relzières, do you know that she is on pins and needles with anxiety? Her son is fighting a duel to-day,” she said.
“With whom?” said Sonia.
“No one knows. She got hold of a letter from the seconds,” said Marie.
“My mind is quite at rest about Relzières,” said Germaine. “He’s a first-class swordsman. No one could beat him.”
Sonia did not seem to share her freedom from anxiety. Her forehead was puckered in little lines of perplexity, as if she were puzzling out some problem; and there was a look of something very like fear in her gentle eyes. ”

“ Guerchard opened the case, and the coronet sparkled and gleamed brightly in the electric light: "Yes, it is there; you see it?" said Guerchard.
"Yes, I see it; well?" said the Duke, looking at him in some bewilderment, so unlike himself did he seem.
"We're going to wait," said Guerchard.
"What for?" said the Duke.
"Lupin," said Guerchard.
"Lupin? And you actually do believe that, just as in a fairy tale, when that clock strikes twelve, Lupin will enter and take the coronet?"
"Yes, I do; I do," said Guerchard with stubborn conviction. And he snapped the case to. ”

“ M. Formery turned to him and said, "You must admit that it was materially impossible for me to see her."
"It was possible if you went down on all fours," said Guerchard.
"On all fours?" said M. Formery.
"Yes; on all fours you could see her heels sticking out beyond the mattress," said Guerchard simply.
M. Formery shrugged his shoulders: "That screen looked as if it had stood there since the beginning of the summer," he said.
"The first thing, when you're dealing with Lupin, is to distrust appearances," said Guerchard.
"Lupin!" cried M. Formery hotly. Then he bit his lip and was silent. ”

“ THE night was very black; the rain pattered in their faces.
Again the millionaire bellowed: "Jean! Firmin! Firmin! Jean!"
No answer came out of the darkness, though his bellow echoed and re-echoed among the out-buildings and stables away on the left.
He turned and looked at the Duke and said uneasily, "What on earth can they be doing?"
"I can't conceive," said the Duke. "I suppose we must go and hunt them out."
"What! in this darkness, with these burglars about?" said the millionaire, starting back.
"If we don't, nobody else will," said the Duke. ”

“ When the door closed behind the two detectives Lupin tottered across the room, dropped on to the couch with a groan of exhaustion, and closed his eyes. Presently the door opened, Victoire came in, saw his attitude of exhaustion, and with a startled cry ran to his side.
"Oh, dearie! dearie!" she cried. "Pull yourself together! Oh, do try to pull yourself together." She caught his cold hands and began to rub them, murmuring words of endearment like a mother over a young child. Lupin did not open his eyes; Charolais came in. ”

“ Turning to the Duke, Germaine said, "Did you fight on my account?"
"Would you be pleased to know that I had fought on your account?" said the Duke; and there was a faint mocking light in his eyes, far too faint for the self-satisfied Germaine to perceive.
"Yes. But it isn't true. You've been fighting about some woman," said Germaine petulantly.
"If I had been fighting about a woman, it could only be you," said the Duke.
"Yes, that is so. Of course. It could hardly be about Sonia, or my maid," said Germaine. ”

“ Lupin was looking at her over his shoulder, standing sideways to hide the handcuffs. He said sadly. "Sonia——"
"No, no, I understand! It was impossible!" she cried quickly, cutting him short. "And yet if you only knew—if you knew how I have changed—with what a changed spirit I came here. . . . Ah, I swear that now I hate all my past. I loathe it. I swear that now the mere presence of a thief would overwhelm me with disgust."
"Hush!" said Lupin, flushing deeply, and wincing. "Hush!"
"But, after all, you're right," she said, in a gentler voice. "One can't wipe out what one has done. ”

“ In the derangement of their minds—and it was sheer derangement, mind you—already prepared at Charmerace, in the derangement of Guerchard, I had only to put out my hand and pluck the coronet. And the joy, the ineffable joy of enraging the police! To see Guerchard’s furious eyes when I downed him.... And look round you!” He waved his hand round the luxurious room. “Duke of Charmerace! This trade leads to everything ... to everything on condition that one sticks to it ....I tell you, Victoire, that when one cannot be a great artist or a great soldier, the only thing to be is a great thief!” ”

“ The front-door bell rang again.
"There's a lot of ringing at your bell this morning," said Guerchard, under his breath; and hope sprang afresh in him.
Again they stood silent, waiting.
Dieusy opened the door, put in his head, and said, "It's Mademoiselle Kritchnoff."
"Collar her! . . . Here's the warrant! . . . collar her!" shouted Guerchard, with savage, triumphant joy.
"Never! You shan't touch her! By Heaven, you shan't touch her!" cried Lupin frantically; and he sprang like a tiger at Guerchard. ”

“ At the end of the room was, of all curious things, the opening into the well of a lift. The doors of it were open, though the lift itself was on some other floor. To the left of the opening stood a book-case, its shelves loaded with books of a kind rather suited to a cultivated, thoughtful man than to an idle dandy.
Beside the window, half-hidden, and peering through the side of the curtain into the street, stood M. Charolais. ”

“ The Duke did not answer. He put his hands in his pockets and walked impatiently up and down the hall. Germaine sat down on a chair. Sonia put her hands on the back of a couch, and leaned forward, watching him. Firmin stood by the door, whither he had retired to be out of the reach of his excited master, with a look of perplexity on his stolid face. They all watched the Duke with the air of people waiting for an oracle to deliver its message. The millionaire kept mopping the beads of anguish from his brow. The more he thought of his impending loss, the more freely he perspired. ”

“ It won't hold them all. There isn't a church in Paris that will," said the Duke.
"Won't it be a splendid marriage!" said Germaine. "There'll be something like a crush. There are sure to be accidents."
"If I were you, I should have careful arrangements made," said the Duke.
"Oh, let people look after themselves. They'll remember it better if they're crushed a little," said Germaine.
There was a flicker of contemptuous wonder in the Duke's eyes. But he only shrugged his shoulders, and turning to Sonia, said, "Will you be an angel and play me a little Grieg, Mademoiselle Kritchnoff? ”

“ Lupin went to the telephone, rang the bell, and put the receiver to his ear.
"You've no time to waste telephoning. They may be here at any moment!" cried Victoire anxiously.
"I must. If I don't telephone Sonia will come here. She will run right into Guerchard's arms. Why the devil don't they answer? They must be deaf!" And he rang the bell again.
"Let's go to her! Let's get out of here!" cried Victoire, more anxiously. "There really isn't any time to waste." ”

“ The hues of rare porcelain, of the rich inlays of Oriental or Renaissance cabinets, mingled with the hues of the pictures, the tapestry, the Persian rugs about the polished floor to fill the hall with a rich glow of colour.
But of all the beautiful and precious things which the sun-rays warmed to a clearer beauty, the face of the girl who sat writing at a table in front of the long windows, which opened on to the centuries-old turf of the broad terrace, was the most beautiful and the most precious. ”

“ They had suddenly the air of fencers who have lost their tempers, and are twisting the buttons off their foils.
"Not a bit of it, your Grace," said Guerchard; and his voice lingered on the words "your Grace" with a contemptuous stress. "This famous Lupin is immensely overrated."
"However, he has done some things which aren't half bad," said the Duke, with his old charming smile.
He had the air of a duelist drawing his blade lovingly through his fingers before he falls to.
"Oh, has he?" said Guerchard scornfully.
"Yes; one must be fair. ”

“ It’s true that I’m full of surprises. It’s my knowledge. I understand so much. I understand business, and I love art, pictures, a good bargain, bric-a-brac, fine tapestry. They’re first-class investments. Yes, certainly I do love the beautiful. And I don’t want to boast, but I understand it. I have taste, and I’ve something better than taste; I have a flair, the dealer’s flair.”
“Yes, your collections, especially your collection in Paris, prove it,” said the Duke, stifling a yawn.
“And yet you haven’t seen the finest thing I have—the coronet of the Princesse de Lamballe. ”

“ Lupin laughed: "I can give you a glass of port," he said, "but I'm afraid that's all I can do for you."
"I'll throw Victoire in," said Guerchard.
"What?" cried Lupin. "You've arrested Victoire?" There was a ring of utter dismay, almost despair, in his tone.
"Yes; and I'll throw her in. She shall go scot-free. I won't bother with her," said Guerchard eagerly.
The front-door bell rang.
"Wait, wait. Let me think," said Lupin hoarsely; and he strove to adjust his jostling ideas, to meet with a fresh plan this fresh disaster. ”

“ There was a great sigh of relief from the frightened detectives, and then the chunking of machinery as the lift sank.
Their grip on Guerchard loosened. He shook himself free, and shouted, "After him! You've got to make up for this! Down into the cellars, some of you! Others go to the secret entrance! Others to the servants' entrance! Get into the street! Be smart! Dieusy, take the lift with me!"
The others ran out of the room and down the stairs, but with no great heartiness, since their minds were still quite full of the bomb, and Lupin still had it with him. ”

“ I don't think that your Grace realizes to what a perfection constant practice brings one's power of observation. The inspector and I will cheerfully eat anything we've missed—won't we, inspector?" And he laughed heartily at his joke.
"It might always prove a large mouthful," said the Duke with an ironical smile.
M. Formery assumed his air of profound reflection, and walked a few steps up and down the room, frowning:
"The more I think about it," he said, "the clearer it grows that we have disposed of the Lupin theory. This is the work of far less expert rogues than Lupin. ”

“ Dieusy went out of the room.
"Now let us settle exactly how we stand," said Lupin, in a clear, incisive voice. "The bargain is this: If I give you the pictures, the tapestry, the cabinets, the coronet, and the death-certificate of the Duke of Charmerace, you give me your word of honour that Mademoiselle Kritchnoff shall not be touched." ”