"So that this incomplete word 'APO ON' and the number 813 are the formulas which the grand-duke bequeathed to his wife and son to enable them to find the secret papers?"
"Yes."
"What became of the grand-duke's wife?"
"She died soon after her husband, of grief, one might say."
"And was the child looked after by the family?"
"What family? The grand-duke had no brothers or sisters. Moreover, he was only morganatically and secretly married. No, the child was taken away by Hermann's old man-servant, who brought him up under the name of Pierre Leduc. He was a bad type of boy, self-willed, capricious and troublesome. One day, he went off and was never seen again."
"Did he know the secret of his birth?"
"Yes; and he was shown the sheet of paper on which Hermann III. had written the letters and figures."
"And after that this revelation was made to no one but yourself?"
"That's all."