"Ah, ma mie," said Pierre, alias Sylvestre Adam, "I trust you are well, and that fortune smiles upon you. Diable! what were you so interested about when I came in?"
"A terrible murder has been committed in Paris. Haven't you seen it? The papers are full of it. General Duval has been brutally murdered by his son. See, here is the photograph of the assassin," and she showed it to Sylvestre.
A cold shudder went through him as he saw his own likeness in the newspaper. He turned very pale, and seizing a decanter on the table, he poured himself out a glass of wine and tossed it off.
"What's the matter?" she asked, noticing the change which went over him. "Don't you feel well?"
"My dear one," he answered, "no wonder I feel pale, seeing that General Duval is my god-father, and one of my dearest friends. He always placed his house at my disposal. Ah! many a time he has given me a thousand franc note to meet some small debt of honour. Just think of it? To lose one's greatest benefactor in this dreadful way," and he pulled out his handkerchief and wiped away a tear.
"Good God," he said to himself, "however could the police have found it out? I suppose that scoundrel Deschamps, must have given the show away."
"I am really very sorry for you, mon cher," she answered, putting her hands on his shoulders and giving him a kiss on the forehead. As she did so she observed that he was wearing a wig, and looking closer she noticed that his beard was false likewise. Now Pierre's left ear had a very peculiar shape, and on glancing at the photograph in the newspaper which showed the left side of his face, she recognised the same shaped ear at once. Madame gave a little start and dropped the newspaper.
"What is the matter?" said Pierre, carefully scrutinizing her face to see if she had observed anything in the photograph which she could recognise in his features.
"Nothing, mon cher Sylvestre, but you looked so pale that I got frightened. Take another glass of wine, it will do you good."
Pierre seized the decanter, and with a shaking hand poured himself out another glass.