He was in prison, watched day and night. Tush! Did Lupin not know by his own experience that there are beings for whom prison does not exist and who throw off their chains at the given moment? And Louis de Malreich was one of those. Yes, there was some one in the Santé prison, in the condemned man's cell. But it might be an accomplice or some victim of Malreich . . . while Malreich himself prowled around Bruggen Castle, slipped in under cover of the darkness, like an invisible spectre, made his way into the chalet in the park and, at night, raised his dagger against Lupin asleep and helpless. And it was Louis de Malreich who terrorized Dolores, who drove her mad with his threats, who held her by some dreadful secret and forced her into silence and submission. And Lupin imagined the enemy's plan: to throw Dolores, scared and trembling, into Pierre Leduc's arms, to make away with him, Lupin, and to reign in his place, over there, with the grand-duke's power and Dolores's millions. It was a likely supposition, a certain supposition, which fitted in with the facts and provided a solution of all the problems. "Of all?" thought Lupin. "Yes. . . . But then, why did he not kill me, last night, in the chalet? He had but to wish . . . _and he did not wish_. One movement and I was dead. He did not make that movement. Why?" Dolores opened her eyes, saw him and smiled, with a pale smile: "Leave me," she said: He rose, with some hesitation. Should he go and see if the enemy was behind the curtain or hidden behind the dresses in a cupboard? She repeated, gently: "Go . . . I am so sleepy. . . ." He went away. But, outside, he stopped behind some trees that formed a dark cluster in front of the castle. He saw a light in Dolores' boudoir. Then the light passed into the bedroom. In a few minutes, all was darkness. He waited. If the enemy was there, perhaps he would come out of the castle. . . . An hour elapsed. . . . Two hours. . . . Not a sound. . . . "There's nothing to be done," thought Lupin. "Either he is burrowing in some corner of the castle . . . or else he has gone out by a door which I cannot see from here. Unless the whole thing is the most ridiculous supposition on my part. . . ." He lit a cigarette and walked back to the chalet. As he approached it, he saw, at some distance from him, a shadow that appeared to be moving away. He did not stir, for fear of giving the alarm. The shadow crossed a path. By the light of the moon, he seemed to recognize the black figure of Malreich. He rushed forward. The shadow fled and vanished from sight. "Come," he said, "it shall be for to-morrow. And, this time. . . ." Lupin went to Octave's, his chauffeur's, room, woke him and said: