“It’s a first-rate hour,” declared Lupin.
“Still, if....”
“If the execution is to take place to-morrow morning: is that what you mean to say?... Don’t be afraid to speak out, for the execution will not take place.”
“The newspapers....”
“You haven’t read the newspapers and you are not to read them. Nothing that they can say matters in the least. One thing alone matters: our interview with Prasville. Besides....”
He took a little bottle from a cupboard and, putting his hand on Clarisse’s shoulder, said:
“Lie down here, on the sofa, and take a few drops of this mixture.”
“What’s it for?”
“It will make you sleep for a few hours . . . and forget. That’s always so much gained.”
“No, no,” protested Clarisse, “I don’t want to. Gilbert is not asleep. He is not forgetting.”