“This looks serious,” he said. “That pane has not been broken at all. If it had been broken, the pieces of glass would be lying on the turf. It has been cut out. We must warn your father to look to his treasures.”
“I told you so,” said Germaine. “I said that Arsène Lupin was in the neighbourhood.”
“Arsène Lupin is a very capable man,” said the Duke, smiling. “But there’s no reason to suppose that he’s the only burglar in France or even in Ile-et-Vilaine.”
“I’m sure that he’s in the neighbourhood. I have a feeling that he is,” said Germaine stubbornly.
The Duke shrugged his shoulders, and said a smile: “Far be it from me to contradict you. A woman’s intuition is always—well, it’s always a woman’s intuition.”
He came back into the hall, and as he did so the door opened and a shock-headed man in the dress of a gamekeeper stood on the threshold.
“There are visitors to see you, Mademoiselle Germaine,” he said, in a very deep bass voice.
“What! Are you answering the door, Firmin?” said Germaine.
“Yes, Mademoiselle Germaine: there’s only me to do it. All the servants have started for the station, and my wife and I are going to see after the family to-night and to-morrow morning. Shall I show these gentlemen in?”
“Who are they?” said Germaine.