Beard nodded: he was of the same opinion.
But who then could have had the audacity to plan such an attempt and carry it out, too? Who could have had the same idea as he and his comrades, and to realise it successfully? Whoever it was had proved himself the better man. In spite of himself the bandit, in thought, formulated one word:
Fantômas!
VIII
END OF THE BALL
When Sonia Danidoff entered Thomery's ball-room she made a sensation. It was not far off midnight when she appeared in all her brilliant beauty and dazzling array, leaning on the arm of her host and fiancé, who bore his honours proudly. Dancers paused to admire this handsome couple; then the Hungarian band redoubled their efforts, and the whirling, eddying waltz started afresh, more gay, more inspiriting than before.
In a corner opposite the musicians a group of persons were in animated talk: among them Sonia Danidoff, Thomery, and Jérôme Fandor. Music was their theme, some admired Wagner and the classics, others voted for the moderns, for the sugariest of waltzes, for the romantic, the bizarre.
"For the profane like myself," declared Thomery, laughing, "gipsy music has its charms!"
"Oh," cried Sonia Danidoff, "you are not going to tell me that such hackneyed things as The Smile of Spring and The Blush Rose Waltz are to your taste!"