“Yes, those two,” she said, in a loud voice. “I ask? I demand their pardon.”
“But this is madness! Why? Why should you?”
“I must remind you, Prasville, that you gave me your word....”
“Yes . . . yes.... I know.... But the thing is so unexpected....”
“Why?”
“Why? For all sorts of reasons!”
“What reasons?”
“Well . . . well, but . . . think! Gilbert and Vaucheray have been sentenced to death!”
“Send them to penal servitude: that’s all you have to do.”
“Impossible! The case has created an enormous sensation. They are Arsène Lupin’s accomplices. The whole world knows about the verdict.”