"What do you wish me to do?" he murmured in a tremulous, hoarse voice.
"I want you to pay the debt you owe me," replied Aurora. "The time has come and you cannot complain, for you have brought it on yourself."
"Give your orders," he said. "I will obey."
"Go downstairs and begin by sending your men away. Find some pretext which won't be awkward for you later on.
"Now go to the garage," she said, when he came back. "There are still some chauffeurs about. Make them get out the big grey with a full supply of petrol. Don't light the lamps. Bring it down below yourself. It is now twenty minutes to nine. Be there at ten to."
Aurora laid a map out on the table and studied it. "It's obviously shorter by Aix-la-Chapelle and Belgium," she murmured, "but I know the Wiesbaden-Thionville route better."
"Are you ready?" she said.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Take you back to France, of course."
She added: