"She is dead!" he cried. "You have come to tell me she is dead!"
M. Perissard smiled cunningly. He could appreciate good acting.
"Oh, no, I haven't!" he replied.
"She is alive?"
"Undoubtedly!"
"Most certainly!" thundered M. Merivel.
"And where is she? In Paris! In France! Where?" cried Floriot, almost too excited for coherency.
M. Perissard was beginning to be really puzzled. Was it possible that this man did not know who the woman of the Three Crowns was? Was it possible that he had not arranged the whole defense?
"Do you really mean that you don't know where your wife is now?" he demanded.
"No! No! But you've come to tell me, haven't you?" He was feverishly eager. He walked up and down before them with quick nervous strides? and looked from one to the other with burning eyes.