"That is an awkward riddle for you to read, isn't it?" she said. "It is an unpleasant position, as unpleasant as mine when they arrested me in the place of Mademoiselle St. Clair, and my lover took no steps to set the mistake right; as unpleasant as when my escape from the Abbaye forced you to hide from me. That is why you ran away, Lucien. You were afraid of me. Now I have found you, and mademoiselle has really escaped out of your clutches. It is a very awkward position, Lucien. I do not see how you are going to wriggle out of it."
"The way is plain, let us arrange everything before Legrand returns," said Bruslart.
"There is nothing to arrange. This little cockloft does not fill the whole of this upper story. There is another attic on the other side of that partition, with a cupboard in it. Standing in the cupboard, with the ear against the woodwork, one can hear all that is said here, and if you look in that partition you will find a crack, through which nearly the whole of this place can be seen. You may take my word for it, I have lived on the other side since Wednesday night. Your own servant betrayed your hiding-place to me, for a ridiculously small sum. Your worth is not great even in his eyes."
"Be sensible, Pauline. I will—"
"Pay me for secrecy? Will you give me the other half of mademoiselle's money?"
"I said, be sensible. Come with me, join me on the road to the frontier. It is what I have intended all along."
"It's a lie!"
The woman was suddenly alive with passion—dangerous, and Bruslart knew it.
"You are not polite," he said.
"I am better than that; I am honest."