"No one will believe you. . . . Why should I have done that? With what object?"
"Idiot! The object is so self-evident that Weber himself could have perceived it. You lie when you say that you will not accept a part which you do not know. You know your part quite well. It is the part which Pierre Leduc would have played were he not dead."
"But Pierre Leduc, to me, to everybody, was only a name. Who was he? Who am I?"
"What difference can that make to you?"
"I want to know. I want to know what I am doing!"
"And, if you know, will you go straight ahead?"
"Yes, if the object of which you speak is worth it."
"If it were not, do you think I would take all this trouble?"
"Who am I? Whatever my destiny, you may be sure that I shall prove worthy of it. But I want to know. Who am I?"
Arsène Lupin took off his hat, bowed and said: "Hermann IV., Grand-duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, Prince of Berncastel, Elector of Treves and lord of all sorts of places."