Without a word, Lépine arose and followed the man, who crossed the room, opened a door at the farther end of it, stood aside for him to pass, and then gently closed it. Lépine found himself in a little room with a single window opening upon a court. It was furnished with a table and three chairs, and at the table sat Crochard. He motioned Lépine to a seat.
"I was expecting you," he said, with a little smile; "and I am glad you came. In the presence of that good Pigot, one cannot talk freely. Indeed, it was with the greatest difficulty that I maintained a sober countenance. He was so astonished, so overwhelmed, that you and I should be working together—that we should be able to sit in the same room without flying at each other's throats. If he only knew—"
"Is it necessary to go into that?" asked Lépine.
"Why not? You have no reason to be ashamed of it. If you have sought my aid from time to time, it was because you realised that Crochard the Invincible has sources of information which are closed to the police."
"I said as much to M. Delcassé. It was not of myself I was thinking, but of you. What if your friends knew?"
"My friends? I have never betrayed my friends, as you know well. Surely, Lépine, you have understood that, if I assisted you, it was only because it suited me to do so!"
"Yes, I have understood that," assented Lépine, flushing a little at the other's tone. "You always had a bargain to propose. What is the bargain, this time?"
"There is no bargain," retorted Crochard, curtly. "I ask nothing."
Lépine cast at him an astonished glance.
"What!" cried Crochard, his face suddenly red, "you cannot believe the truth, then? It seems incredible to you that I should love my country? Well, I do love her, and I am going to prove it by saving her!"