"Monsieur Saint-Germain."
"He ain't in; he went away this morning, and won't be back to-day."
"Monsieur Bouqueton must be here, then, and what we have to say to his friend Saint-Germain, we can say to him just as well."
The woman looked at us distrustfully, then said:
"Yes, Monsieur Bouqueton's here—since this morning. Wait, while I go and call him. Go into that room; I'll tell him some friends of Monsieur Saint-Germain want to see him."
We entered a room on the ground floor, taking care not to go near the window, so that we might not be seen from outside.
After a few minutes, we heard heavy steps coming downstairs; they stopped at the door of the room in which we were, and Monsieur Dauberny appeared.
He gazed at us for several seconds in amazement; but, on scrutinizing me more closely, he seemed disturbed. However, he tried to recover himself, and said:
"What can I do for you, messieurs?"
"We have come in search of Mignonne Landernoy, a young woman whom you caused to be kidnapped yesterday morning as she was coming away from Père-Lachaise."