These words cast such a dazzling gleam of light into my mind, that I could not avoid seeing what it disclosed. I suddenly remembered what I had previously tried in vain to remember: the first occasion on which my eyes had made the acquaintance of that fatal box. At that moment the three times that I had seen it were perfectly clear in my mind and linked themselves together logically to force me to an irresistible conclusion: the first, the night we passed in the mysterious château, when I saw Leoni put the diamonds in the box; the second, the last night at the Swiss chalet, when I saw Leoni mysteriously disinter the treasure he had entrusted to the earth; the third, the second day of our stay in Venice, when I had found the empty box and the diamond pin on the floor with the packing material. The visit of Thaddeus the Jew, and the five hundred thousand francs which, according to the conversation I had overheard between Leoni and his friends, had been advanced by him at the time of our arrival in Venice, coincided perfectly with the memories of that morning. I wrung my hands, then raised them toward heaven and cried, speaking to myself: "So everything is lost, even my mother's esteem; everything is poisoned, even the memory of Switzerland! Those six months of love and happiness were devoted to covering up a theft." "And to eluding the pursuit of the police," added Henryet. "No! no!" I cried wildly, looking at him as if to question him; "he loved me! it is certain that he loved me! I cannot think of that time without being absolutely certain of his love. He was a thief who had stolen a maid and a jewel-chest, and who loved them both." Henryet shrugged his shoulders; I realized that I was wandering; and, struggling to recover my reason, I insisted upon knowing the explanation of the incredible power he possessed over Leoni. "You want to know that?" he said. He reflected a moment, then continued: "I will tell you, I can safely tell you; indeed, it is impossible that you can have lived with him a year without suspecting it. He must have made dupes enough at Venice under your eyes." "Made dupes! he! how so? Oh! be careful what you say, Henryet! he is burdened with accusations enough already." "I believe that you are incapable as yet of being his accomplice, Juliette; but beware that you do not become so; be careful for your family's sake. I do not know to what point the impunity of a swindler's mistress extends." "You are killing me with shame, monsieur; your words are cruel; pray complete your work and break my heart altogether by telling me what gives you the right of life and death, so to speak, over Leoni? Where have you known him? what do you know of his past life? I know nothing of it myself, alas! I have seen so many contradictory things about him that I no longer know whether he is rich or poor, noble or plebeian; I do not even know if the name he bears belongs to him."