“Only once.”
“How about the bomb at the Ambassadeurs’?”
“It was not a real bomb—it was harmless.”
“Harmless? And do you mean to say it was dropped before me for a joke? Is that what you would have me believe?”
“No, no—there was no joke about it. It was the second warning. You received the first in front of the Café de la Paix.”
“Then that was meant for me?”
“Yes.”
“But why? I do not understand it at all. What have I done that you should warn me? And why did you warn me?”
“So you would leave Paris without delay. To save your life. If you remain in this city forty-eight hours longer nothing can save you.”
“Well, that is very interesting! I had begun to think I should see Paris without any adventure in particular, but I have changed my mind. Things are coming with a rush. You claim to be very friendly toward me—to have a desire to save my life; and yet you would have finished me just now if I had not caught your hand. I do not think I quite understand you. If you are so much my friend, pray remove that mask for a moment. I always wish to know my friends, so I can salute them when we meet.”