Durand drove on to the château. He wished to make a survey of the place and to examine the cellars, and Paul found Manon standing in the doorway, a very serious Manon, with eyes that demanded the truth.
“What happened last night?”
“What do you mean?”
Brent’s eyes were tired and red about the lids, the eyes of a man who had had no sleep.
“Someone tried to light a fire in there.”
He nodded.
“So you have seen it! Yes, it was that pleasant neighbour of ours, Bibi. He sneaked in when it was dark, but I happened to be awake.”
She wanted to know everything, and Brent described all that had happened, and how he had frightened Louis Blanc with the revolver she had left him.
“I wish you had killed the beast,” she said with a passion that surprised Brent; “no one would have been any the wiser.”
“I couldn’t shoot the man in cold blood.”