“I know very well that you’re all right at heart,” said Victoire. “Of course you only rob the rich, and you’ve always been kind to the poor.... Yes; there’s no doubt about it: you have a good heart.”
“I can’t help it—what about it?” said Lupin, smiling.
“Well, you ought to have different ideas in your head. Why are you a burglar?”
“You ought to try it yourself, my dear Victoire,” said Lupin gently; and he watched her with a humorous eye.
“Goodness, what a thing to say!” cried Victoire.
“I assure you, you ought,” said Lupin, in a tone of thoughtful conviction. “I’ve tried everything. I’ve taken my degree in medicine and in law. I have been an actor, and a professor of Jiu-jitsu. I have even been a member of the detective force, like that wretched Guerchard. Oh, what a dirty world that is! Then I launched out into society. I have been a duke. Well, I give you my word that not one of these professions equals that of burglar—not even the profession of Duke. There is so much of the unexpected in it, Victoire—the splendid unexpected.... And then, it’s full of variety, so terrible, so fascinating.” His voice sank a little, and he added, “And what fun it is!”
“Fun!” cried Victoire.
“Yes ... these rich men, these swells in their luxury—when one relieves them of a bank-note, how they do howl! ... You should have seen that fat old Gournay-Martin when I relieved him of his treasures—what an agony! You almost heard the death-rattle in his throat. And then the coronet! In the derangement of their minds—and it was sheer derangement, mind you—already prepared at Charmerace, in the derangement of Guerchard, I had only to put out my hand and pluck the coronet. And the joy, the ineffable joy of enraging the police! To see Guerchard’s furious eyes when I downed him.... And look round you!” He waved his hand round the luxurious room. “Duke of Charmerace! This trade leads to everything ... to everything on condition that one sticks to it ....I tell you, Victoire, that when one cannot be a great artist or a great soldier, the only thing to be is a great thief!”
“Oh, be quiet!” cried Victoire. “Don’t talk like that. You’re working yourself up; you’re intoxicating yourself! And all that, it is not Catholic. Come, at your age, you ought to have one idea in your head which should drive out all these others, which should make you forget all these thefts.... Love ... that would change you, I’m sure of it. That would make another man of you. You ought to marry.”
“Yes ... perhaps ... that would make another man of me. That’s what I’ve been thinking. I believe you’re right,” said Lupin thoughtfully.