“That’s almost too much zeal,” he murmured. “Well, what’s done is done. Did you make any inquiries about the Saint Pavin and Jottras matter?”
“I had no time, it was too late. You forget, perhaps, sir, that it is nearly two o’clock.”
Just as he got through, the secretary who had been sent to the Rue de la Pepiniere came in.
“Well?” inquired the commissary, not without evident anxiety.
“I waited for Mme. de Thaller over an hour,” he said. “When she came home, I gave her the letter. She read it; and, in presence of a number of her servants, she handed me these two thousand francs.”
At the sight of the bank notes, the commissary jumped to his feet.
“Now we have it!” he exclaimed. “Here is the proof that we wanted.”
X
It was after four o’clock when M. de Tregars was at last permitted to return home. He had minutely, and at length, arranged every thing with the commissary: he had endeavored to anticipate every eventuality. His line of conduct was perfectly well marked out, and he carried with him the certainty that on the day which was about to dawn the strange game that he was playing must be finally won or lost. When he reached home,
“At last, here you are, sir!” exclaimed his faithful servant.