"This time, I've pulled it off," said Lupin to himself. "Mr. Kesselbach's great scheme is being realized. All that remains for me to do is to make Waldemar swallow Pierre Leduc; and that is child's play. The banns between Geneviève and Pierre shall be published to-morrow. And it shall be the grand-duke's affianced bride that will be presented to Waldemar."
Full of glee, he started in his motor for Bruggen Castle.
He sang in the car, he whistled, he chatted to his chauffeur:
"Octave, do you know whom you have the honor of driving? The master of the world! . . . Yes, old man, that staggers you, eh? Just so, but it's the truth. I am the master of the world."
He rubbed his hands and went on soliloquizing:
"All the same, it was a long job. It's a year since the fight began. True, it was the most formidable fight I ever stood to win or lose. . . . By Jupiter, what a war of giants!" And he repeated, "But this time, I've pulled it off! The enemies are in the water. There are no obstacles left between the goal and me. The site is free: let us build upon it! I have the materials at hand, I have the workmen: let us build, Lupin! And let the palace be worthy of you!"
He stopped the car at a few hundred yards from the castle, so that his arrival might create as little fuss as possible, and said to Octave:
"Wait here for twenty minutes, until four o'clock, and then drive in. Take my bags to the little chalet at the end of the park. That's where I shall sleep."
At the first turn of the road, the castle appeared in sight, standing at the end of a dark avenue of lime trees. From the distance, he saw Geneviève passing on the terrace.
His heart was softly stirred: