'I forgot you,' growled the man, glancing at him, disgusted.
And so saying he dashed the candle in Polycarp's face and knocked him violently against Hugo. Both Hugo and Polycarp fell to the ground. The man made a leap for the door, and in a second had fled, banging it after him. Hugo and Polycarp rose with stiff movements. Hugo picked up his lamp, and the two confronted each other. It was a highly delicate situation.
'Your life is, at any rate, saved,' said Hugo at length.
'You think it was in danger?'
Polycarp's lip curled.
'I think so.'
'Possibly you foresaw the danger I ran,' Polycarp remarked with frigid irony, 'and came into the flat with the intention of protecting me. May I ask how you came in?'
'I came in through the drawing-room window,' said Hugo. 'I did not interfere with your seals, however,' he added.
'You know you are guilty of a criminal offence?'
'I know it.'