now? Was he aware of the danger he was running? Was he ignorant of the
presence of Ganimard and his men?

And Lupin continued:

"Yes, thanks to you, my dear friend. Certainly, Raymonde and I loved
each other from the first. Just so, my boy--Raymonde's abduction, her
imprisonment, were mere humbug: we loved each other. But neither she
nor I, when we were free to love, would allow a casual bond at the
mercy of chance, to be formed between us. The position, therefore, was
hopeless for Lupin. Fortunately, it ceased to be so if I resumed my
identity as the Louis Valmeras that I had been from a child. It was
then that I conceived the idea, as you refused to relinquish your quest
and had found the Chateau de l'Aiguille, of profiting by your
obstinacy."

"And my silliness."

"Pooh! Any one would have been caught as you were!"

"So you were really able to succeed because I screened you and assisted
you?"

"Of course! How could any one suspect Valmeras of being Lupin, when
Valmeras was Beautrelet's friend and after Valmeras had snatched from
Lupin's clutches the girl whom Lupin loved? And how charming it was!
Such delightful memories! The expedition to Crozant! The bouquets we
found! My pretended love letter to Raymonde! And, later, the
precautions which I, Valmeras, had to take against myself, Lupin,
before my marriage! And the night of your great banquet, Beautrelet,
when you fainted in my arms! Oh, what memories!"

There was a pause. Beautrelet watched Raymonde. She had listened to
Lupin without saying a word and looked at him with eyes in which he
read love, passion and something else besides, something which the lad
could not define, a sort of anxious embarrassment and a vague sadness.
But Lupin turned his eyes upon her and she gave him an affectionate
smile. Their hands met over the table.

"What do you say to the way I have arranged my little home,
Beautrelet?" cried Lupin. "There's a style about it, isn't there? I
don't pretend that it's as comfortable as it might be. And yet, some
have been quite satisfied with it; and not the least of mankind,
either!--Look at the list of distinguished people who have owned the
Needle in their time and who thought it an honor to leave a mark of
their sojourn."

On the walls, one below the other, were carved the following names:

JULIUS CAESAR
CHARLEMAGNE ROLLO
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
RICHARD COEUR-DE-LEON
LOUIS XI.
FRANCIS I.
HENRY IV.
LOUIS XIV.
ARSE