"We must go now, we must, we have only just time.... Collect your strength."
She bent forward a little, so that he might lean on her shoulder, and turned toward the door and the staircase.
And Lupin walked as one walks in a dream, one of those queer dreams in which the most inconsequent things occur, a dream that was the happy sequel of the terrible nightmare in which he had lived for the past fortnight.
A thought struck him, however. He began to laugh:
"Poor Ganimard! Upon my word, the fellow has no luck, I would give twopence to see him coming to arrest me."
After descending the staircase with the aid of his companion, who supported him with incredible vigour, he found himself in the street, opposite a motor-car into which she helped him to mount.
"Right away," she said to the driver.
Lupin, dazed by the open air and the speed at which they were travelling, hardly took stock of the drive and of the incidents on the road. He recovered all his consciousness when he found himself at home in one of the flats which he occupied, looked after by his servant, to whom the girl gave a few rapid instructions.
"You can go," he said to the man.
But, when the girl turned to go as well, he held her back by a fold of her dress.