The Blonde Lady Read online

  CHAPTER V

  KIDNAPPED

  Holmlock Shears restrained his feelings. What was the use of protesting,of accusing those two men? Short of proofs, which he did not possess andwhich he would not waste time in looking for, no one would take hisword.

  With nerves on edge and fists tight-clenched, he had but one thought,that of not betraying his rage and disappointment before the triumphantGanimard. He bowed politely to those two mainstays of society, thebrothers Leroux, and went downstairs.

  In the hall he turned toward a small, low door, which marked theentrance to the cellar, and picked up a small red stone: it was agarnet.

  Outside, he looked up and read, close to the number of the house, theinscription: "_Lucien Destange, architect_, 1877." He saw the sameinscription on No. 42.

  "Always that double outlet," he thought. "Nos. 40 and 42 communicate.Why did I not think of it before? I ought to have stayed with thepolicemen all night."

  And, addressing them, he said, pointing to the door of the next house:

  "Did two people go out by that door while I was away?"

  "Yes, sir; a lady and gentleman."

  He took the arm of the chief-inspector and led him along:

  "M. Ganimard, you have enjoyed too hearty a laugh to be very angry withme for disturbing you like this ..."

  "Oh, I'm not angry with you at all."

  "That's right. But the best jokes can't go on forever and I think wemust put an end to this one."

  "I am with you."

  "This is our seventh day. It is absolutely necessary that I should be inLondon in three days hence."

  "I say! I say!"

  "I shall be there, though, and I beg you to hold yourself in readinesson Tuesday night."

  "For an expedition of the same kind?" asked Ganimard, chaffingly.

  "Yes, of the same kind."

  "And how will this one end?"

  "In Lupin's capture."

  "You think so."

  "I swear it, on my honour."

  Shears took his leave and went to seek a short rest in the nearesthotel, after which, refreshed and full of confidence, he returned to theRue Chalgrin, slipped two louis into the hand of the concierge, madesure that the brothers Leroux were out, learned that the house belongedto a certain M. Harmingeat and, carrying a candle, found his way down tothe cellar through the little door near which he had picked up thegarnet.

  At the foot of the stairs, he picked up another of exactly the sameshape.

  "I was right," he thought. "This forms the communication.... Let's seeif my skeleton-key opens the door of the cellar that belongs to theground-floor tenant.... Yes, capital.... Now let's examine thesewine-bins.... Aha, here are places where the dust has been removed ...and footprints on the floor!..."

  A slight sound made him prick up his ears. He quickly closed the door,blew out his candle and hid behind a stack of empty wine-cases. After afew seconds, he noticed that one of the iron bins was turning slowly ona pivot, carrying with it the whole of the piece of wall to which itwas fastened. The light of a lantern was thrown into the cellar. An armappeared. A man entered.

  He was bent in two, like a man looking for something. He fumbled in thedust with his finger-tips, and, several times, he straightened himselfand threw something into a cardboard box which he carried in his lefthand. Next, he removed the marks of his footsteps, as well as those leftby Lupin and the blonde lady, and went back to the wine-bin.

  He gave a hoarse cry and fell. Shears had leapt upon him. It was thematter of a moment and, in the simplest way possible, the man foundhimself stretched on the floor, with his ankles fastened together andhis wrists bound.

  The Englishman stooped over him:

  "How much will you take to speak?... To tell what you know?"

  The man replied with so sarcastic a smile that Shears understood thefutility of his question. He contented himself with exploring hiscaptive's pockets, but his investigations produced nothing more than abunch of keys, a pocket-handkerchief and the little cardboard box usedby the fellow and containing a dozen garnets similar to those whichShears had picked up. A poor booty!

  Besides, what was he to do with the man? Wait until his friends came tohis assistance and hand them all over to the police? What was the good?What advantage could he derive from it against Lupin?

  He was hesitating, when a glance at the box made him come to a decision.It bore the address of Leonard, jeweler, Rue de la Paix.

  He resolved simply to leave the man where he was. He pushed back thebin, shut the cellar-door and left the house. He went to a post-officeand telegraphed to M. Destange that he could not come until the nextday. Then he went on to the jeweler and handed him the garnets:

  "Madame sent me with these stones. They came off a piece of jewelrywhich she bought here."

  Shears had hit the nail on the head. The jeweler replied:

  "That's right.... The lady telephoned to me. She will call here herselfpresently."

  * * * * *

  It was five o'clock before Shears, standing on the pavement, saw a ladyarrive, wrapped in a thick veil, whose appearance struck him assuspicious. Through the shop-window he saw her place on the counter anold-fashioned brooch set with garnets.

  She went away almost at once, did a few errands on foot, walked uptoward Clichy and turned down streets which the Englishman did not know.At nightfall, he followed her, unperceived by the concierge, into afive-storeyed house built on either side of the doorway and thereforecontaining numberless flats. She stopped at a door on the second floorand went in.

  Two minutes later, the Englishman put his luck to the test and, oneafter the other, carefully tried the keys on the bunch of which he hadobtained possession. The fourth key fitted the lock.

  Through the darkness that filled them, he saw rooms which wereabsolutely empty, like those of an unoccupied flat, with all the doorsstanding open. But the light of a lamp filtered through from the end ofa passage; and, approaching on tip-toe, through the glass door thatseparated the drawing-room from an adjoining bedroom he saw the veiledlady take off her dress and hat, lay them on the one chair which theroom contained and slip on a velvet tea-gown.

  And he also saw her walk up to the chimney-piece and push an electricbell. And one-half of the panel to the right of the chimney moved fromits position and slipped along the wall into the thickness of the nextpanel. As soon as the gap was wide enough, the lady passed through ...and disappeared, taking the lamp with her.

  The system was a simple one. Shears employed it. He found himselfwalking in the dark, groping his way; but suddenly his face came uponsomething soft. By the light of a match, he saw that he was in a littlecloset filled with dresses and clothes hanging from metal bars. Hethrust his way through and stopped before the embrasure of a door closedby a tapestry hanging or, at least, by the back of a hanging. And, hismatch being now burnt out, he saw light piercing through the loose andworn woof of the old stuff.

  Then he looked.

  The blonde lady was there, before his eyes, within reach of his hand.

  She put out the lamp and turned on the electric switch. For the firsttime, Shears saw her face in the full light. He gave a start. The womanwhom he had ended by overtaking after so many shifts and turns was noneother than Clotilde Destange.

  * * * * *

  Clotilde Destange, the murderess of Baron d'Hautrec and the purloiner ofthe blue diamond! Clotilde Destange the mysterious friend of ArseneLupin! The blonde lady, in short!

  "Why, of course," he thought, "I'm the biggest blockhead that everlived! Just because Lupin's friend is fair and Clotilde dark, I neverthought of connecting the two women! As though the blonde lady couldafford to continue fair after the murder of the baron and the theft ofthe diamond!"

  Shears saw part of the room, an elegant lady's boudoir, adorned withlight hangings and valuable knick-knacks. A mahogany settee stood on aslightly-raised platform. Clotilde had sat down on it and remainedm
otionless, with her head between her hands. And soon he noticed thatshe was crying. Great tears flowed down her pale cheeks, trickled by hermouth, fell drop by drop on the velvet of her bodice. And more tearsfollowed indefinitely, as though springing from an inexhaustible source.And no sadder sight was ever seen than that dull and resigned despair,which expressed itself in the slow flowing of the tears.

  But a door opened behind her. Arsene Lupin entered.

  They looked at each other for a long time, without exchanging a word.Then he knelt down beside her, pressed his head to her breast, put hisarms round her; and there was infinite tenderness and great pity in thegesture with which he embraced the girl. They did not move. A softsilence united them, and her tears flowed less abundantly.

  "I so much wanted to make you happy!" he whispered.

  "I am happy."

  "No, for you're crying. And your tears break my heart, Clotilde."

  Yielding, in spite of herself, to the sound of his coaxing voice, shelistened, greedy of hope and happiness. A smile softened her face, but,oh, so sad a smile! He entreated her:

  "Don't be sad, Clotilde; you have no reason, you have no right to besad."

  She showed him her white, delicate, lissom hands, and said, gravely:

  "As long as these hands are mine, Maxime, I shall be sad."

  "But why?"

  "They have taken life."

  Maxime cried:

  "Hush, you must not think of that! The past is dead; the past does notcount."

  And he kissed her long white hands and she looked at him with a brightersmile, as though each kiss had wiped out a little of that hideousmemory:

  "You must love me, Maxime, you must, because no woman will ever love youas I do. To please you, I have acted, I am still acting not onlyaccording to your orders, but according to your unspoken wishes. I dothings against which all my instincts and all my conscience revolt; butI am unable to resist.... All that I do I do mechanically, because it isof use to you and you wish it ... and I am ready to begin againto-morrow ... and always."

  He said, bitterly:

  "Ah, Clotilde, why did I ever mix you up in my adventurous life? I oughtto have remained the Maxime Bermond whom you loved five years ago andnot have let you know ... the other man that I am."

  She whispered very low!

  "I love that other man too; and I regret nothing."

  "Yes, you regret your past life, your life in the light of day."

  "I regret nothing, when you are there!" she said, passionately. "Thereis no such thing as guilt, no such thing as crime, when my eyes see you.What do I care if I am unhappy away from you and if I suffer and cry andloathe all that I do! Your love wipes out everything.... I accepteverything.... But you must love me!"

  "I do not love you because I must, Clotilde, but simply because I loveyou."

  "Are you sure?" she asked, trustingly.

  "I am as sure of myself as I am of you. Only, Clotilde, my life is aviolent and feverish one and I cannot always give you as much time as Ishould wish."

  She at once grew terrified.

  "What is it? A fresh danger? Tell me, quick!"

  "Oh, nothing serious as yet. Still...."

  "Still what...?"

  "Well, he is on our track."

  "Shears?"

  "Yes. It was he who set Ganimard at me at the Restaurant Hongrois. Itwas he who posted the two policemen in the Rue Chalgrin last night. Theproof is that Ganimard searched the house this morning and Shears waswith him. Besides...."

  "Besides what?"

  "Well, there is something more: one of our men is missing, Jeanniot."

  "The concierge?"

  "Yes."

  "Why, I sent him to the Rue Chalgrin this morning to pick up somegarnets which had fallen from my brooch."

  "There is no doubt about it, Shears has caught him in a trap."

  "Not at all. The garnets were brought to the jeweler in the Rue de laPaix."

  "Then what has become of Jeanniot since?"

  "Oh, Maxime, I'm so frightened!"

  "There's no cause for alarm. But I admit that the position is veryserious. How much does he know? Where is he hiding? His strength lies inhis isolation. There is nothing to betray him."

  "Then what have you decided on?"

  "Extreme prudence, Clotilde. Some time ago I made up my mind to move mythings to the refuge you know of, the safe refuge. The intervention ofShears hastens the need. When a man like Shears is on a trail, we maytake it that he is bound to follow that trail to the end. So I have madeall my preparations. The removal will take place on the day afterto-morrow, Wednesday. It will be finished by midday. By two o'clock Ishall be able myself to leave, after getting rid of the last vestige ofour occupation, which is no small matter. Until then ..."

  "Yes...?"

  "We must not see each other and no one must see you, Clotilde. Don't goout. I fear nothing for myself. But I fear everything where you'reconcerned."

  "It is impossible for that Englishman to get at me."

  "Everything is possible to him and I am not easy in my mind. Yesterday,when I was nearly caught by your father, I had come to search thecupboard which contains M. Destange's old ledgers. There is dangerthere. There is danger everywhere. I feel that the enemy is prowling inthe shade and drawing nearer and nearer. I know that he is watching us... that he is laying his nets around us. It is one of those intuitionswhich never fail me."

  "In that case," said she, "go, Maxime, and think no more about my tears.I shall be brave and I will wait until the danger is over. Good-bye,Maxime."

  She gave him a long kiss. And she herself pushed him outside. Shearsheard the sound of their voices grow fainter in the distance.

  Boldly, excited by the need of action, toward and against everything,which had been stimulating him since the day before, he made his way toa passage, at the end of which was a staircase. But, just as he wasgoing down, he heard the sound of a conversation below and thought itbetter to follow a circular corridor which brought him to anotherstaircase. At the foot of this staircase, he was greatly surprised tosee furniture the shape and position of which he already knew. A doorstood half open. He entered a large round room. It was M. Destange'slibrary.

  "Capital! Splendid!" he muttered. "I understand everything now. Theboudoir of Clotilde, that is to say, the blonde lady, communicates withone of the flats in the next house and the door of that house is not inthe Place Malesherbes, but in an adjoining street, the Rue Montchanin,if I remember right.... Admirable! And now I see how Clotilde Destangeslips out to meet her sweetheart while keeping up the reputation of aperson who never leaves the house. And I also see how Arsene Lupinpopped out close to me, yesterday evening, in the gallery: there must beanother communication between the flat next door and this library...."And he concluded, "Another faked house. Once again, no doubt, 'Destange,architect!' And what I must now do is to take advantage of my presencehere to examine the contents of the cupboard ... and obtain all theinformation I can about the other faked houses."

  Shears went up to the gallery and hid behind the hangings of the rail.He stayed there till the end of the evening. A man-servant came to putout the electric lights. An hour later, the Englishman pressed thespring of his lantern and went down to the cupboard. As he knew, itcontained the architect's old papers, files, plans, estimates andaccount-books. At the back stood a row of ledgers, arranged inchronological order.

  He took down the more recent volumes one by one and at once lookedthrough the index-pages, more particularly under the letter H. At last,finding the word "Harmingeat" followed by the number 63, he turned uppage 63 and read:

  "Harmingeat, 40, Rue Chalgrin."

  There followed a detailed statement of works executed for this customer,with a view to the installation of a central heating-apparatus in hisproperty. And in the margin was this note:

  "See file M. B."

  "I knew it," muttered Shears. "File M. B. is the one I want. When I havebeen through that, I shall know the whereabouts of
M. Lupin's presentabode."

  The small hours had struck before he found file M. B. It consisted offifteen pages. One was a copy of the page concerning M. Harmingeat ofthe Rue Chalgrin. Another contained a detailed account of works executedfor M. Vatinel, the owner of 25, Rue Clapeyron. A third was devoted toBaron d'Hautrec, 134, Avenue Henri-Martin; a fourth to the Chateau deCrozon; and the eleven others to different Paris landlords.

  Shears took down the list of eleven names and addresses and thenrestored the papers to their place, opened a window and jumped out intothe deserted square, taking care to close the shutters behind him.

  On reaching his room at the hotel, he lit his pipe with the gravitywhich he always applied to that ceremony and, enveloped in clouds ofsmoke, studied the conclusions to be drawn from file M. B., or, to bemore exact, the file devoted to Maxime Bermond, _alias_ Arsene Lupin.

  At eight o'clock, he sent Ganimard an express letter:

  "I shall probably call on you in the Rue Pergolese this morning and place in your charge a person whose capture is of the highest importance. In any case, stay at home to-night and until twelve o'clock to-morrow, Wednesday, morning; and arrange to have thirty men at your disposal."

  Then he went down the boulevard, picked out a motor-cab with a driverwhose good-humoured but unintelligent face took his fancy and drove tothe Place Malesherbes, fifty yards beyond the Hotel Destange.

  "Close the hood, my man," he said, to the driver, "turn up the collar ofyour fur, for it's a cold wind, and wait for me patiently. Start yourengine in an hour and a half from now. The moment I get in again, drivestraight to the Rue Pergolese."

  With his foot on the doorstep of the house, he had a last moment ofhesitation. Was it not a mistake to take so much trouble about theblonde lady, when Lupin was completing his preparations for departure?And would he not have done better, with the aid of his list of houses,to begin by finding out where his adversary lived?

  "Pooh!" he said. "When the blonde lady is my prisoner, I shall be masterof the situation."

  And he rang the bell.

  * * * * *

  He found M. Destange waiting in the library. They worked together for alittle while and Shears was seeking a pretext to go up to Clotilde'sroom, when the girl entered, said good-morning to her father, sat downin the little drawing-room and began to write letters.

  From where he was sitting, Shears could see her as she bent over thetable and, from time to time, meditated with poised pen and a thoughtfulface. He waited and then, taking up a volume, said to M. Destange:

  "Oh, this is the book which Mlle. Destange asked me to give her when Ifound it."

  He went into the little room, stood in front of Clotilde, in such a waythat her father could not see her, and said:

  "I am M. Stickmann, M. Destange's new secretary."

  "Oh?" she said, without moving. "Has my father changed his secretary?"

  "Yes, mademoiselle, and I should like to speak to you."

  "Take a seat, monsieur; I have just finished."

  She added a few words to her letter, signed it, sealed the envelope,pushed back her papers, took up the telephone, asked to be put on to herdressmaker, begged her to hurry on a travelling-cloak which she neededurgently and then, turning to Shears:

  "I am at your service, monsieur. But cannot our conversation take placebefore my father?"

  "No, mademoiselle, and I will even entreat you not to raise your voice.It would be better that M. Destange should not hear us."

  "Better for whom?"

  "For you, mademoiselle."

  "I will not permit a conversation which my father cannot hear."

  "And yet you must permit this one."

  They both rose, with their eyes fixed on each other. And she said:

  "Speak, monsieur."

  Still standing, he began:

  "You must forgive me if I am inaccurate in a few less importantparticulars. I will vouch for the general correctness of what I am goingto say."

  "No speeches, I beg. Facts."

  He felt, from this abrupt interruption, that the girl was on her guardand he continued:

  "Very well, I will come straight to the point. Five years ago, yourfather happened to meet a M. Maxime Bermond, who introduced himselfas a contractor ... or an architect, I am not sure which. In any case,M. Destange took a liking to this young man and, as the state of hishealth no longer allowed him to attend to his business, he entrustedto M. Bermond the execution of a few orders which he had accepted toplease some old customers and which appeared to him to come withinthe scope of his assistant's capacity."

  Shears stopped. It seemed to him that the girl had grown paler. Still,she answered with the greatest calmness.

  "I know nothing of the things about which you are talking, monsieur, andI am quite unable to see how they can interest me."

  "They interest you in so far, mademoiselle, that M. Maxime Bermond'sreal name, which you know as well as I do, is Arsene Lupin."

  She burst out laughing:

  "Nonsense! Arsene Lupin? M. Maxime Bermond's name is Arsene Lupin?"

  "As I have the honour to inform you, mademoiselle, and, since you refuseto understand me unless I speak plainly, I will add that Arsene Lupin,to accomplish his designs, has found in this house a friend, more than afriend, a blind and ... passionately devoted accomplice."

  She rose and, betraying no emotion or, at least, so little emotion thatShears was impressed by her extraordinary self-control, said:

  "I do not know the reason for your behaviour, monsieur, and I have nowish to know it. I will ask you, therefore, not to add another word andto leave the room."

  "I had no intention, mademoiselle, of imposing my presence upon youindefinitely," said Shears, as calmly as herself. "Only I have resolvednot to leave this house alone."

  "And who is going with you, monsieur?"

  "You!"

  "I?"

  "Yes, mademoiselle, we shall leave this house together, and you willaccompany me without a word, without a protest."

  The strange feature of this scene was the absolute coolness of the twoadversaries. To judge by their attitudes and the tone of their voices,it might have been a courteous discussion between two people who differin opinion, rather than an implacable duel between two powerful wills.

  Through the great open recess, M. Destange could be seen in the roundlibrary, handling his books with leisurely movements.

  Clotilde sat down again with a slight shrug of the shoulders. HolmlockShears took out his watch:

  "It is now half-past ten. We will start in five minutes."

  "And, if I refuse?"

  "If you refuse, I shall go to M. Destange and tell him ..."

  "What?"

  "The truth. I shall describe to him the false life led by Maxime Bermondand the double life of his accomplice."

  "Of his accomplice?"

  "Yes, of the one known as the blonde lady, the lady whose hair was oncefair."

  "And what proofs will you give him?"

  "I shall take him to the Rue Chalgrin and show him the passage whichArsene Lupin, when managing the works, made his men construct betweenNos. 40 and 42, the passage employed by the two of you on the nightbefore last."

  "Next?"

  "Next, I shall take M. Destange to Maitre Detinan's. We will go down theservants' staircase which you ran down, with Arsene Lupin, to escapeGanimard. And we will both look for the doubtless similar means ofcommunication with the next house, which has its entrance on theBoulevard des Batignolles and not in the Rue Clapeyron."

  "Next?"

  "Next, I shall take M. Destange to the Chateau de Crozon and it will beeasy for him, who knows the nature of the works executed by Arsene Lupinat the time of the restoration of the Chateau, to discover the secretpassages which Arsene Lupin made his men construct. He will find thatthese passages enabled the blonde lady to enter Madame de Crozon's roomat night and take the blue diamond from the chimney and, a fortnightlater, to
enter Herr Bleichen's room and hide the blue diamond at thebottom of a flask ... a rather queer thing to do, I admit: perhaps itwas a woman's petty vengeance; I do not know and it makes nodifference."

  "Next?"

  "Next," said Holmlock Shears, in a more serious voice, "I shall takeM. Destange to 134, Avenue Henri-Martin, and together we will try todiscover how Baron d'Hautrec...."

  "Hush, hush!" stammered the girl, in sudden dismay. "You must not...!Do you dare to say it was I...? Do you accuse me...?"

  "I accuse you of killing Baron d'Hautrec."

  "No, no; this is monstrous!"

  "You killed Baron d'Hautrec, mademoiselle. You entered his service underthe name of Antoinette Brehat, with the intention of robbing him of theblue diamond, and you killed him."

  Again she murmured, breaking down and reduced to entreaties:

  "Hush, monsieur, I beg.... As you know so much, you must also know thatI did not murder the baron."

  "I did not say that you murdered him, mademoiselle. Baron d'Hautrec wassubject to fits of insanity which only Soeur Auguste was able tocheck. She has told me this herself. He must have thrown himself uponyou in her absence; and it was in the course of the ensuing strugglethat you struck at him, in self-defence. Appalled by what you had done,you rang the bell and fled, without even taking from his finger the bluediamond which you had come to secure. A moment later, you returned withone of Lupin's accomplices, a man-servant in the next house, lifted thebaron on to his bed and arranged the room ... but still without daringto take the blue diamond. That's what happened. Therefore, I repeat, youdid not murder the baron. And yet it was your hands that killed him."

  She was holding them clasped before her forehead, her slim, white,delicate hands, and she kept them long like that, motionless. Then,uncrossing her fingers, she showed her sorrow-stricken face and said:

  "And you mean to tell all this to my father?"

  "Yes; and I shall tell him that I have as witnesses Mlle. Gerbois, whowill recognize the blonde lady, Soeur Auguste, who will recognizeAntoinette Brehat, the Comtesse de Crozon, who will recognize Mme. deReal. That is what I shall tell him."

  "You will not dare!" she said, recovering her presence of mind, in theface of immediate danger.

  He rose and took a step toward the library. Clotilde stopped him:

  "One moment, monsieur."

  She reflected and, now fully mistress of herself, asked, very calmly:

  "You are Holmlock Shears, are you not?"

  "Yes."

  "What do you want with me?"

  "What do I want? I have entered upon a contest with Arsene Lupin fromwhich I must emerge the winner. Pending a result which cannot be fardistant, I am of opinion that a hostage as valuable as yourself willgive me a considerable advantage over my adversary. You shall go withme, therefore, mademoiselle, and I will place you under the care of afriend of mine. As soon as my object is attained, you shall be setfree."

  "Is that all?"

  "That is all. I do not belong to the police of your country andconsequently I claim no ... no justiciary rights."

  Her mind appeared made up. However, she asked for a moment's delay. Hereyelids closed and Shears stood watching her, suddenly grown calm,almost indifferent to the perils that threatened her.

  "I wonder," thought the Englishman, "if she believes herself to be indanger? Probably not, with Lupin to protect her. With Lupin there,nothing can happen to her, she thinks: Lupin is omnipotent, Lupin isinfallible.... Mademoiselle," he said aloud, "I spoke of five minutes:it is now more than thirty."

  "May I go to my room, monsieur, and fetch my things?"

  "If you like, mademoiselle, I will go and wait for you in the RueMontchanin. I am a great friend of Jeanniot, the concierge."

  "Ah, so you know...!" she said, with visible dismay.

  "I know a great many things."

  "Very well. Then I will ring."

  The servant brought her hat and cloak and Shears said:

  "You must give M. Destange some reason to explain our departure and thereason must be enough, in case of need, to explain your absence for twoor three days."

  "That is unnecessary. I shall be back presently."

  Again, they exchanged a defiant glance, skeptical, both of them, andsmiling.

  "How you trust him!" said Shears.

  "Blindly."

  "Whatever he does is right, is it not? Whatever he wishes is realized.And you approve of everything and are prepared to do everything for hissake."

  "I love him," she said, with a tremor of passion.

  "And you believe that he will save you?"

  She shrugged her shoulders and, going up to her father, told him:

  "I am robbing you of M. Stickmann. We are going to the NationalLibrary."

  "Will you be back to lunch?"

  "Perhaps ... or more likely not ... but don't worry about me, in anycase...."

  And, in a firm voice, she said to Shears:

  "I am ready, monsieur."

  "Without reserve?" he whispered.

  "With my eyes closed."

  "If you try to escape, I shall shout and call for help, you will bearrested and it will mean prison. Don't forget that there is a warrantout against the blonde lady."

  "I swear to you on my honour that I will make no attempt to escape."

  "I believe you. Let us go."

  They left the house together, as he had foretold.

  * * * * *

  The motor-cab had turned round and was waiting in the square. They couldsee the driver's back and his cap, which was almost covered by theupturned collar of his fur. As they approached, Shears heard the hummingof the engine. He opened the door, asked Clotilde to step in and satdown beside her.

  The car started with a jerk and soon reached the outer boulevards, theAvenue Hoche, the Avenue de la Grande-Armee.

  Shears was thinking out his plans:

  "Ganimard is at home.... I shall leave the girl with him.... Shall Itell him who she is? No, he would take her straight to thepolice-station, which would put everything out. As soon as I am alone,I will consult the M. B. list and set out on my chase. And, to-night, orto-morrow morning at latest, I shall go to Ganimard, as arranged, anddeliver Arsene Lupin and his gang to him."

  He rubbed his hands, glad to feel that his object was at last within hisreach and to see that there was no serious obstacle in the way. And,yielding to a need for expansion, which was not in keeping with hisusual nature, he said:

  "Forgive me, mademoiselle, for displaying so much satisfaction. It was adifficult fight and I find my success particularly agreeable."

  "A legitimate success, monsieur, in which you have every right torejoice."

  "Thank you. But what a funny way we are going! Didn't the manunderstand?"

  At that moment, they were leaving Paris by the Porte de Neuilly. What onearth!... After all, the Rue Pergolese was not outside thefortifications!

  Shears let down the glass:

  "I say, driver, you're going wrong.... Rue Pergolese!..."

  The man made no reply. Shears repeated, in a louder voice:

  "I'm telling you to go to the Rue Pergolese."

  The man took no notice.

  "Look here, my man, are you deaf? Or are you doing it on purpose?...This isn't where I told you to go.... Rue Pergolese, do you hear!...Turn round at once and look sharp about it!"

  Still no reply. The Englishman began to be alarmed. He looked atClotilde: a queer smile was playing on the girl's lips.

  "What are you laughing at?" he stormed. "This doesn't affect ... it hasnothing to say to...."

  "Nothing in the very least," she replied.

  Suddenly, he was taken aback by an idea. Half rising from his seat, heattentively scrutinized the man on the box. His shoulders were slimmer,his movements easier.... A cold sweat broke out on Shears's forehead,his hands contracted, while the most hideous conviction forced itselfupon his mind: the man was Arsene Lupin.

  *
* * * *

  "Well, Mr. Shears, what do you think of this little drive?"

  "It's delightful, my dear sir, really delightful," replied Shears.

  Perhaps he had never in his life made a more tremendous effort than itcost him to utter those words without a tremor in his voice, withoutanything that could betray the exasperation that filled his whole being.But, the minute after, he was carried away by a sort of formidablereaction; and a torrent of rage and hatred burst its banks, overcame hiswill, and made him suddenly draw his revolver and point it at Mlle.Destange.

  "Lupin, if you don't stop this minute, this second, I fire atmademoiselle!"

  "I advise you to aim at the cheek if you want to hit the temple," saidLupin, without turning his head.

  Clotilde called out:

  "Don't go too fast, Maxime! The pavement is very slippery, and you knowhow timid I am!"

  She was still smiling, with her eyes fixed on the cobbles with which theroad bristled in front of the car.

  "Stop him, tell him to stop!" shouted Shears beside himself with fury."You can see for yourself that I am capable of anything!"

  The muzzle of the revolver grazed her hair.

  "How reckless Maxime is!" she murmured. "We are sure to skid, at thisrate."

  Shears replaced the revolver in his pocket and seized the handle of thedoor, preparing to jump out, in spite of the absurdity of the act.

  "Take care, Mr. Shears," said Clotilde. "There's a motor-car behind us."

  He leant out. A car was following them, an enormous car, fierce-looking,with its pointed bonnet, blood-red in colour, and the four men in fursinside it.

  "Ah," he said, "I'm well guarded! We must have patience!"

  He crossed his arms on his chest, with the proud submission of those whobow and wait when fate turns against them. And while they crossed theSeine and tore through Suresnes, Rueil and Chatou, motionless andresigned, without anger or bitterness, he thought only of discovering bywhat miracle Arsene Lupin had put himself in the driver's place. Thatthe decent fellow whom he had picked out that morning on the boulevardcould be an accomplice, posted there of set purpose, he refused toadmit. And yet Arsene Lupin must have received a warning and that onlyafter the moment when he, Shears, had threatened Clotilde, for no onesuspected his plan before. Now from that moment Clotilde and he had notleft each other's presence.

  Suddenly, he remembered the girl's telephoning to her dressmaker. And,all at once, he understood. Even before he spoke, at the very momentwhen he asked for an interview as M. Destange's new secretary, she hadscented danger, guessed the visitor's name and object and, coolly,naturally, as though she were really doing what she appeared to do, hadsummoned Lupin to her aid, under the pretense of speaking to one of hertradespeople and by means of a formula known to themselves alone.

  How Arsene Lupin had come, how that motor-cab in waiting, with itsthrobbing engine, had aroused his suspicion, how he had bribed thedriver: all this mattered little. What interested Shears almost to thepoint of calming his rage was the recollection of that moment in which amere woman, a woman in love, it is true, mastering her nerves,suppressing her instinct, controlling the features of her face and theexpression of her eyes, had humbugged old Holmlock Shears.

  What was he to do against a man served by such allies, a man who, by thesheer ascendancy of his authority, inspired a woman with such a stock ofdaring and energy?

  They re-crossed the Seine and climbed the slope of Saint-Germain; but,five hundred yards beyond the town, the cab slowed down. The other carcame up with it and the two stopped alongside. There was no one about.

  "Mr. Shears," said Lupin, "may I trouble you to change cars? Ours isreally so very slow!..."

  "Certainly," said Shears, all the more politely, as he had no choice.

  "Will you also permit me to lend you this fur, for we shall be goingpretty fast, and to offer you a couple of sandwiches?... Yes, yes, takethem: there's no telling when you will get any dinner."

  The four men had alighted. One of them came up and, as he had taken offthe goggles which disguised him, Shears recognized the gentleman in thefrock-coat whom he had seen at the Restaurant Hongrois. Lupin gave himhis instructions:

  "Take the cab back to the driver from whom I hired it. You will find himwaiting in the first wine-shop on the right in the Rue Legendre. Pay himthe second thousand francs I promised him. Oh, I was forgetting: youmight give Mr. Shears your goggles!"

  He spoke a few words to Mlle. Destange, then took his seat at the wheeland drove off, with Shears beside him and one of his men behind.

  Lupin had not exaggerated when saying that they would go "pretty fast."They travelled at a giddy pace from the first. The horizon rushed towardthem, as though attracted by a mysterious force, and disappeared at thesame moment, as though swallowed up by an abyss into which otherthings--trees, houses, plains and forests--plunged with the tumultuousspeed of a torrent rushing down to the pool below.

  Shears and Lupin did not exchange a word. Above their heads, the leavesof the poplars made a great noise as of waves, punctuated by the regularspacing of the trees. And town after town vanished from sight: Mantes,Vernon, Gaillon. From hill to hill, from Bon-Secours to Canteleu, Rouen,with her suburbs, her harbour, her miles upon miles of quays, Rouenseemed no more than the high-street of a market-town. And they rushedthrough Duclair, through Caudebec, through the Pays de Caux, skimmingover its hills and plains in their powerful flight, through Lillebonne,through Quille-beuf. And, suddenly, they were on the bank of the Seine,at the end of a small quay, alongside which lay a steam-yacht, built onsober and powerful lines, with black smoke curling up from her funnel.

  The car stopped. They had covered over a hundred miles in two hours.

  * * * * *

  A man dressed in a blue pea-jacket came forward and touched hisgold-laced cap.

  "Well done, captain!" said Lupin. "Did you get my telegram?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Is the _Hirondelle_ ready?"

  "Quite ready, sir."

  "In that case, Mr. Shears...?"

  The Englishman looked around him, saw a group of people seated outside acafe, another a little nearer, hesitated for a moment and then,realizing that, before any one could interfere, he would be seized,forced on board and packed off at the bottom of the hold, he crossed thefoot-plank and followed Lupin into the captain's cabin.

  It was roomy, specklessly clean and shone brightly with its varnishedwainscoting and gleaming brass.

  Lupin closed the door and, without beating about the bush, said toShears, almost brutally:

  "Tell me exactly how much you know."

  "Everything."

  "Everything? I want details."

  His voice had lost the tone of politeness, tinged with irony, which headopted toward the Englishman. Instead, it rang with the imperiousaccent of the master who is accustomed to command and accustomed to seeevery one bow before his will, even though it be a Holmlock Shears.

  They eyed each other now from head to foot as enemies, declared andpassionate enemies.

  Lupin resumed, with a touch of nervousness:

  "You have crossed my path, sir, on several occasions. Each occasion hasbeen one too many; and I am tired of wasting my time avoiding the trapsyou lay for me. I warn you, therefore, that my conduct toward you willdepend upon your answer. How much exactly do you know?"

  "Everything, I tell you."

  Arsene Lupin mastered his annoyance and jerked out:

  "I will tell you what you know. You know that, under the name of MaximeBermond, I ... 'touched up' fifteen houses built by M. Destange."

  "Yes."

  "Of those fifteen houses, you know four."

  "Yes."

  "And you have a list of the eleven others."

  "Yes."

  "You made out the list at M. Destange's, last night, no doubt."

  "Yes."

  "And, as you presume that, among those eleven properties, there mustine
vitably be one which I keep for my own needs and those of my friends,you have instructed Ganimard to take the field and discover my retreat."

  "No."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean that I am acting alone and that I intended to take the fieldalone."

  "So I have nothing to fear, seeing that I have you in my hands."

  "You have nothing to fear so long as I _remain_ in your hands."

  "You mean to say that you will not remain?"

  "I do."

  Arsene Lupin went up to Holmlock Shears and placed his hand very gentlyon the Englishman's shoulder:

  "Listen to me, sir. I am not in the mood for argument and you,unfortunately for yourself, are not in a position to check me. Let usput an end to this."

  "Yes, let us."

  "You shall give me your word of honour not to attempt to escape fromthis boat until she reaches English waters."

  "I give you my word of honour that I shall attempt to escape by everymeans in my power," said Shears, nothing daunted.

  "But, dash it all, you know I have only to speak a word to reduce you tohelplessness! All these men obey me blindly. At a sign from me, theywill put a chain round your neck...."

  "Chains can be broken."

  "And throw you overboard at ten miles from the coast."

  "I can swim."

  "Well said," cried Lupin, laughing. "Heaven forgive me, but I lost mytemper! Accept my apology, maitre ... and let us conclude. Will youallow me to seek the necessary measures for my safety and that of myfriends?"

  "Any measures you like. But they are useless."

  "Agreed. Still, you will not mind if I take them?"

  "It's your duty."

  "To work, then."

  Lupin opened the door and called the captain and two of the crew. Thelatter seized the Englishman and, after searching him, bound his legstogether and tied him down in the captain's berth.

  "That will do," ordered Lupin. "Really, sir, nothing short of yourobstinancy and the exceptional gravity of the circumstances would haveallowed me to venture...."

  The sailors withdrew. Lupin said to the captain:

  "Captain, one of the crew must remain in the cabin to wait on Mr. Shearsand you yourself must keep him company as much as you can. Let him betreated with every consideration. He is not a prisoner, but a guest.What is the time by your watch, captain?"

  "Five minutes past two."

  Lupin looked at his own watch and at a clock which hung on thecabin-wall:

  "Five minutes past two?... Our watches agree. How long will it take youto reach Southampton?"

  "Nine hours, without hurrying."

  "Make it eleven. You must not touch land before the departure of thesteamer which leaves Southampton at midnight and is due at the Havre ateight in the morning. You understand, captain, do you not? I repeat: itwould be exceedingly dangerous for us all if this gentleman returned toFrance by the steamer; and you must not arrive at Southampton before oneo'clock in the morning."

  "Very well, sir."

  "Good-bye, maitre," said Lupin, turning to Shears. "We shall meet nextyear, in this world or another."

  "Let's say to-morrow."

  A few minutes later, Shears heard the car drive away and the engines ofthe _Hirondelle_ at once began to throb with increased force. The yachtthrew off her moorings. By three o'clock they had left the estuary ofthe Seine and entered the Channel. At that moment, Holmlock Shears laysound asleep in the berth to which he was fastened down.

  * * * * *

  On the following morning, the tenth and last day of the war between thetwo great rivals, the _Echo de France_ published this deliciousparagraph:

  "A decree of expulsion was pronounced by Arsene Lupin yesterday against Holmlock Shears, the English detective. The decree was published at noon and executed on the same day. Shears was landed at Southampton at one o'clock this morning."