"Ah!" said Coquenil. "By the way, how long have you known that I was working here in your stable?"
The baron smiled. "Since the first day."
"And—you knew about the valet?"
"Naturally."
"And about the safe?"
"It was all arranged."
"Then—then you wanted me to read the diary?"
"Yes," answered the other with a strange expression. "I knew that if you read my diary I should be protected."
"I don't understand."
"Of course not, but—" Suddenly his voice grew harsher and M. Paul thought of the meeting on the Champs Elysées. "Do you realize, sir," the baron went on, and his voice was almost menacing, "that not once but half a dozen times since this affair started, I have been on the point of crushing you, of sweeping you out of my path?"