"What do I demand?"
"Yes."
"Can I demand anything I like, however difficult and impossible?"
"Everything is easy and everything is possible to the man who is bent on winning you."
Then she said:
"I demand that you shall restore to me a small, antique clasp, made of a cornelian set in a silver mount. It came to me from my mother and everyone knew that it used to bring her happiness and me too. Since the day when it vanished from my jewel-case, I have had nothing but unhappiness. Restore it to me, my good genius."
"When was the clasp stolen?"
She answered gaily:
"Seven years ago ... or eight ... or nine; I don't know exactly ... I don't know where ... I don't know how ... I know nothing about it...."
"I will find it," Rénine declared, "and you shall be happy."