"You quite forget, my dear young man, that you are not Pierre Leduc, but Gérard Baupré. That you bear the beautiful name of Pierre Leduc is due to the fact that you, Gérard Baupré, killed Pierre Leduc and robbed him of his individuality." The young man bounded with indignation: "You are mad! You know as well as I do that you conceived the whole plot. . . ." "Yes, I know that, of course; but the law doesn't know it; and what will the law say when I come forward with proof that the real Pierre Leduc died a violent death and that you have taken his place?" The young man, overwhelmed with consternation, stammered: "No one will believe you. . . . Why should I have done that? With what object?" "Idiot! The object is so self-evident that Weber himself could have perceived it. You lie when you say that you will not accept a part which you do not know. You know your part quite well. It is the part which Pierre Leduc would have played were he not dead." "But Pierre Leduc, to me, to everybody, was only a name. Who was he? Who am I?" "What difference can that make to you?" "I want to know. I want to know what I am doing!" "And, if you know, will you go straight ahead?" "Yes, if the object of which you speak is worth it." "If it were not, do you think I would take all this trouble?" "Who am I? Whatever my destiny, you may be sure that I shall prove worthy of it. But I want to know. Who am I?" Arsène Lupin took off his hat, bowed and said: "Hermann IV., Grand-duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, Prince of Berncastel, Elector of Treves and lord of all sorts of places." * * * * * Three days later, Arsène Lupin took Mrs. Kesselbach away in a motor-car in the direction of the frontier. The journey was accomplished in silence, Lupin remembered with emotion Dolores's terrified conduct and the words which she spoke in the house in the Rue des Vignes, when he was about to defend her against Altenheim's accomplices. And she must have remembered also, for she remained embarrassed and evidently perturbed in his presence. In the evening they reached a small castle, all covered with creepers and flowers, roofed with an enormous slate cap and standing in a large garden full of ancestral trees. Here Mrs. Kesselbach found Geneviève already installed, after a visit to the neighboring town, where she had engaged a staff of servants from among the country-people. "This will be your residence, madame," said Lupin. "You are at Bruggen Castle. You will be quite safe here, while waiting the outcome of these events. I have written to Pierre Leduc and he will be your guest from to-morrow." He started off again at once, drove to Veldenz and handed over to Count von Waldemar the famous letters which he had recaptured: "You know my conditions, my dear Waldemar," said Lupin. "The first and most important thing is to restore the House of Zweibrucken-Veldenz and to reinstate the Grand-duke Hermann IV., in the grand-duchy."