“You will be so good as to pardon me if I am mistaken on certain points of secondary importance. I will guarantee, however, the general accuracy of my statements.”
“Can we not dispense with these preliminaries, monsieur? Or are they necessary?”
Sholmes felt the young woman was on her guard, so he replied:
“Very well; I will come to the point. Five years ago your father made the acquaintance of a certain young man called Maxime Bermond, who was introduced as a contractor or an architect, I am not sure which it was; but it was one or the other. Monsieur Destange took a liking to the young man, and as the state of his health compelled him to retire from active business, he entrusted to Monsieur Bermond the execution of certain orders he had received from some of his old customers and which seemed to come within the scope of Monsieur Bermond’s ability.”
Herlock Sholmes stopped. It seemed to him that the girl’s pallor had increased. Yet there was not the slightest tremor in her voice when she said:
“I know nothing about the circumstances to which you refer, monsieur, and I do not see in what way they can interest me.”
“In this way, mademoiselle: You know, as well as I, that Maxime Bermond is also known by the name of Arsène Lupin.”
She laughed, and said:
“Nonsense! Arsène Lupin? Maxime Bermond is Arsène Lupin? Oh! no! It isn’t possible!”
“I have the honor to inform you of that fact, and since you refuse to understand my meaning, I will add that Arsène Lupin has found in this house a friend—more than a friend—and accomplice, blindly and passionately devoted to him.”