And the possible victim murmured: "I wonder how?"
"Then we must not meet again until you return; and then only at the little house in the Rue St. Charles."
"Agreed. Now I must be off."
"Good luck!"
M. Ferraud heard the stir of a single chair and knew that the great-grandson was leaving. The wall might have been transparent, so sure was he of the smile upon Picard's face, a sinister speculating smile. But his imagination did not pursue Breitmann, whose lips also wore a smile, one of irony and bitterness. Neither did he hear Picard murmur "Dupe!" nor Breitmann mutter "Fools!"
When Breitmann saw Hildegarde in the hotel gardens he did not avoid her but stopped by her chair. She rose. She had been waiting all day for this moment. She must speak out or suffocate with anxiety.
"Karl, what are you going to do?"
"Nothing," unsmilingly.
"You will let the admiral find and keep this money which is yours?"
Breitmann shrugged.