One morning, after a night of careful thought and a deep study of the situation, he cried: "It's done. There's nothing to fear now. The old Lupin is dead. Make way for the young one." His man brought him a telegram from Germany. It contained the news for which he had been waiting. The Council of Regency, greatly influenced by the Court of Berlin, had referred the question to the electors; and the electors, greatly influenced by the Council of Regency, had declared their unshaken attachment to the old dynasty of the Veldenz. Count von Waldemar was deputed, together with three delegates selected from the nobility, the army and the law, to go to Bruggen Castle, carefully to establish the identity of the Grand-duke Hermann IV. and to make all the arrangements with His Royal Highness for his triumphal entry into the principality of his fathers, which was to take place in the course of the following month. "This time, I've pulled it off," said Lupin to himself. "Mr. Kesselbach's great scheme is being realized. All that remains for me to do is to make Waldemar swallow Pierre Leduc; and that is child's play. The banns between Geneviève and Pierre shall be published to-morrow. And it shall be the grand-duke's affianced bride that will be presented to Waldemar." Full of glee, he started in his motor for Bruggen Castle. He sang in the car, he whistled, he chatted to his chauffeur: "Octave, do you know whom you have the honor of driving? The master of the world! . . . Yes, old man, that staggers you, eh? Just so, but it's the truth. I am the master of the world." He rubbed his hands and went on soliloquizing: "All the same, it was a long job. It's a year since the fight began. True, it was the most formidable fight I ever stood to win or lose. . . . By Jupiter, what a war of giants!" And he repeated, "But this time, I've pulled it off! The enemies are in the water. There are no obstacles left between the goal and me. The site is free: let us build upon it! I have the materials at hand, I have the workmen: let us build, Lupin! And let the palace be worthy of you!" He stopped the car at a few hundred yards from the castle, so that his arrival might create as little fuss as possible, and said to Octave: "Wait here for twenty minutes, until four o'clock, and then drive in. Take my bags to the little chalet at the end of the park. That's where I shall sleep." At the first turn of the road, the castle appeared in sight, standing at the end of a dark avenue of lime trees. From the distance, he saw Geneviève passing on the terrace. His heart was softly stirred: "Geneviève, Geneviève," he said, fondly. "Geneviève . . . the vow which I made to the dying mother is being fulfilled as well. . . . Geneviève a grand-duchess! . . . And I, in the shade, watching over her happiness . . . and pursuing the great schemes of Arsène Lupin!"