"Are you hungry?... Do you want to eat? ... to drink? Answer. What would you like?... My friends and I will try...."
The old man, with the light full on his face, his mouth open, his lower lip hanging down, preserved a dull and stupid countenance, animated by no expression, no desire.
Without turning away from him, Dorothy called out to the notary:
"Don't you think we ought to offer him the second envelope, Maître Delarue, the codicil? His understanding may perhaps awake at the sight of this paper which formerly belonged to him, and which, according to the instructions in the will, we're to hand over to him."
Maître Delarue agreed with her and passed the envelope to her. She held it out to the old man, saying:
"Here are the directions for finding the diamonds, written by yourself. No one knows these directions. Here they are."
She stretched out her hand. It was clear that the old man tried to respond with a similar movement. She accentuated the gesture. He lowered his eyes towards the envelope; and his fingers opened to receive it.
"You quite understand?" she asked. "You are going to open this envelope. It contains the secret of the diamonds—a fortune."
Once more she stopped abruptly, as if struck by a sudden thought, something she had unexpectedly observed.
Webster said to her: