“If you refuse, I shall post this letter to the Procureur of the Republic; in which letter Mademoiselle de Sinclèves denounces you as the assassin.”

Danègre poured out two glasses of wine which he drank in rapid succession, then, rising, said:

“Pay the bill, and let us go. I have had enough of the cursed affair.”

Night had fallen. The two men walked down the rue Lepic and followed the exterior boulevards in the direction of the Place de l’Etoile. They pursued their way in silence; Victor had a stooping carriage and a dejected face. When they reached the Parc Monceau, he said:

“We are near the house.”

“ Parbleu! You only left the house once, before your arrest, and that was to go to the tobacco-shop.”

“Here it is,” said Danègre, in a dull voice.