e must be a reason?"

"There is."

"What is it?"

"My name is Arsene Lupin."

He had let go of Daubrecq, but held him for a time under the dominion
of his authoritative glance and will. At last, Daubrecq drew himself up,
gave him a couple of sharp taps on the shoulder and, with the same calm,
the same intense obstinacy, said:

"And my name's Daubrecq. My whole life has been one desperate battle,
one long series of catastrophes and routs in which I spent all my
energies until victory came: complete, decisive, crushing, irrevocable
victory. I have against me the police, the government, France, the
world. What difference do you expect it to make to me if I have M.
Arsene Lupin against me into the bargain? I will go further: the more
numerous and skilful my enemies, the more cautiously I am obliged to
play. And that is why, my dear sir, instead of having you arrested, as
I might have done--yes, as I might have done and very easily--I let you
remain at large and beg charitably to remind you that you must quit in
less than three minutes."

"Then the answer is no?"

"The answer is no."

"You won't do anything for Gilbert?"

"Yes, I shall continue to do what I have been doing since his
arrest--that is to say, to exercise indirect influence with the minister
of justice, so that the trial may be hurried on and end in the way in
which I want to see it end."

"What!" cried Lupin, beside himself with indignation. "It's because of
you, it's for you..."

"Yes, it's for me, Daubrecq; yes, by Jove! I have a trump card, the
son's head, and I am playing it. When I have procured a nice little
death-sentence for Gilbert, when the days go by and Gilbert's petition
for a reprieve is rejected by my good offices, you shall see, M. Lupin,
that his mummy will drop all her objections to calling herself
Mme. Alexis Daubrecq and giving me an unexceptionable pledge of her
good-will. That fortunate issue is inevitable, whether you like it or
not. It is foredoomed. All I can do for you is to invite you to the
wedding and the breakfast. Does that suit you? No? You persist in your
sinister designs? Well, good luck, lay your traps, spread your nets,
rub up your weapons and grind away at the Complete Foreign-post-paper
Burglar's Handbook. You'll need it. And now, good-night. The rules of
open-handed and disinterested hospitality demand that I should turn you
out of doors. Hop it!"

Lupin remained silent for some time. With his eyes fixed o