"No, not at random, but on the insidious, persistent and very clever advice of your servant Hyacinthe."
The duke gave a start:
"What! Is Hyacinthe an accomplice?"
"No, not of Arsène Lupin, but of the man whom he believes to be d'Emboise and who promised to give him a hundred thousand francs within a week after the marriage."
"Oh, the villain!... He planned everything, foresaw everything...."
"Foresaw everything, uncle, down to shamming an attempt upon his life so as to avert suspicion, down to shamming a wound received in your service."
"But with what object? Why all these dastardly tricks?"
"Angélique has a fortune of eleven million francs. Your solicitor in Paris was to hand the securities next week to the counterfeit d'Emboise, who had only to realize them forthwith and disappear. But, this very morning, you yourself were to hand your son-in-law, as a personal wedding-present, five hundred thousand francs' worth of bearer-stock, which he has arranged to deliver to one of his accomplices at nine o'clock this evening, outside the castle, near the Great Oak, so that they may be negotiated to-morrow morning in Brussels."
The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme had risen from his seat and was stamping furiously up and down the room:
"At nine o'clock this evening?" he said. "We'll see about that.... We'll see about that.... I'll have the gendarmes here before then...."