"The plot is no mystery to us," said Raoul thoughtfully, "but it will be difficult to prove. We have not the slightest doubt that your cousin Henri fired the pistol."
"Is he still in Paris?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, and goes about quite openly with De Retz."
"Why doesn't Condé arrest him?" asked Humphreys, who was not in the habit of beating about the bush.
"Henri de Lalande has played his game far too cleverly," laughed Raoul, "you may depend that his share in the plot was known only to himself and De Retz."
"But," said I, "the instructions for trapping me must have been given by him."
"There you are wrong. The man François has been examined, and he knows nothing of your cousin. He was employed and paid by Peleton, who was wise enough to mention no names."
"Peleton is an arrant coward, and a traitor to boot."
"Just so," said Raoul, "and were he caught the whole secret would be laid bare. But he has vanished."
"And it is my business to find him; I have promised Condé to do so, though without implicating him, and, besides, I want to clear my own name. Is he likely to have left Paris?"