"Oh, be quiet!" cried Victoire. "Don't talk like that. You're working yourself up; you're intoxicating yourself! And all that, it is not Catholic. Come, at your age, you ought to have one idea in your head which should drive out all these others, which should make you forget all these thefts.... Love ... that would change you, I'm sure of it. That would make another man of you. You ought to marry."
"Yes ... perhaps ... that would make another man of me. That's what I've been thinking. I believe you're right," said Lupin thoughtfully.
"Is that true? Have you really been thinking of it?" cried Victoire joyfully.
"Yes," said Lupin, smiling at her eagerness. "I have been thinking about it--seriously."
"No more messing about--no more intrigues. But a real woman ... a woman for life?" cried Victoire.
"Yes," said Lupin softly; and his eyes were shining in a very grave face.
"Is it serious--is it real love, dearie?" said Victoire. "What's she like?"
"She's beautiful," said Lupin.
"Oh, trust you for that. Is she a blonde or a brunette?"
"She's very fair and delicate--like a princess in a fairy tale," said Lupin softly.
"What is she? What does she do?" said Victoire.
"Well, since you ask me, she's a thief," said Lupin with a mischievous smile.
"Good Heavens!" cried Victoire.
"But she's a very charming thief," said Lupin; and he rose smiling.
He lighted a cigar, stretched himself and yawned: "She had ever so much more reason for stealing than ever I had," he said. "And she has always hated it like poison."
"Well, that's something," said Victoire; and her blank and fallen face brightened a little.
Lupin walked up and down the room, breathing out long luxurious puffs of smoke from his excellent cigar, and watching Victoire with a humorous eye. He walked across to his book-shelf, and scanned the titles of his books with an appreciative, almost affectionate smile.
"This is a very pleasant interlude," he said languidly. "But I don't suppose it's going to last very long. As soon as Guerchard recovers from the shock of learning that I spent a quiet night in my ducal bed as an honest duke should, he'll be getting to work with positively furious energy, confound him! I could do with a whole day's sleep--twenty-four solid hours of it."
"I'm sure you could, dearie," said Victoire sympathetically.
"The girl I'm going to marry is Sonia Kritchnoff," he said.
"Sonia? That dear child! But I love her already!" cried Victoire. "Sonia, but why did you say she was a thief? That was a silly thing to say."
"It's my extraordinary sense of humour," said Lupin.
The door opened and Charolais bustled in: "Shall I clear away the breakfast?" he said.
Lupin nodded; and then the telephone bell rang. He put his finger on his lips and went to it.
"Are you there?" he said. "Oh, it's you, Germaine.... Good morning.... Oh, yes, I had a good night--excellent, thank you.... You want to speak to me presently? ... You're waiting for me at the Ritz?"
"Don't go--don't go--it isn't safe," said Victoire, in a whisper.
"All right, I'll be with you in about half an hour, or perhaps three-quarters. I'm not dressed yet ... but I'm ever so much more impatient than you ... good-bye for the present." He put the receiver on the stand.
"It's a trap," said Charolais.
"Never mind, what if it is? Is it so very serious?" said Lupin. "There'll be nothing but traps now; and if I can find the time I shall certainly go and take a look at that one."
"And if she knows everything? If she's taking her revenge ... if she's getting you there to have you arrested?" said Victoire.
"Yes, M. Formery is probably at the Ritz with Gournay-Martin. They're probably all of them there, weighing the coronet," said Lupin, with a chuckle.
He hesitated a moment, reflecting; then he said, "How silly you are! If they wanted to arrest me, if they had the material proof which they haven't got, Guerchard would be here already!"
"Then why did they chase you last night?" said Charolais.
"The coronet," said Lupin. "Wasn't that reason enough? But, as it turned out, they didn't catch me: and when the detectives did come here, they disturbed me in my sleep. And that me was ever so much more me than the man they followed. And then the proofs ... they must have proofs. There aren't any--or rather, what there are, I've got!" He pointed to a small safe let into the wall. "In that safe are the coronet, and, above all, the death certificate of the Duke of Charmerace ... everything that Guerchard must have to induce M. Formery to proceed. But still, there is a risk--I think I'd better have those things handy in case I have to bolt."
He went into his bedroom and came back with the key of the safe and a kit-bag. He opened the safe and took out the coronet, the real coronet of the Princesse de Lamballe, and along with it a pocket-book with a few papers in it. He set the pocket-book on the table, ready to put in his coat-pocket when he should have dressed, and dropped the coronet into the kit-bag.
"I'm glad I have that death certificate; it makes it much safer," he said. "If ever they do nab me, I don't wish that rascal Guerchard to accuse me of having murdered the Duke. It might prejudice me badly. I've not murdered anybody yet."
"That comes of having a good heart," said Victoire proudly.
"Not even the Duke of Charmerace," said Charolais sadly. "And it would have been so easy when he was ill--just one little draught. And he was in such a perfect place--so out of the way--no doctors."
"You do have such disgusting ideas, Charolais," said Lupin, in a tone of severe reproof.
"Instead of which you went and saved his life," said Charolais, in a tone of deep discontent; and he went on clearing the table.
"I did, I did: I had grown quite fond of him," said Lupin, with a meditative air. "For one thing, he was so very like one. I'm not sure that he wasn't even better-looking."
"No; he was just like you," said Victoire, with decision. "Any one would have said you were twin brothers."
"It gave me quite a shock the first time I saw his portrait," said Lupin. "You remember, Charolais? It was three years ago, the day, or rather the night, of the first Gournay-Martin burglary at Charmerace. Do you remember?"
"Do I remember?" said Charolais. "It was I who pointed out the likeness to you. I said, 'He's the very spit of you, master.' And you said, 'There's something to be done with that, Charolais.' And then off you started for the ice and snow and found the Duke, and became his friend; and then he went and died, not that you'd have helped him to, if he hadn't."
"Poor Charmerace. He was indeed grand seigneur. With him a great name was about to be extinguished.... Did I hesitate? ... No.... I continued it," said Lupin.
He paused and looked at the clock. "A quarter to eight," he said, hesitating. "Shall I telephone to Sonia, or shall I not? Oh, there's no hurry; let the poor child sleep on. She must be worn out after that night-journey and that cursed Guerchard's persecution yesterday. I'll dress first, and telephone to her afterwards. I'd better be getting dressed, by the