Volume VI Part 48 (1/2)

He rose, and sta of you; wait a little longer, I entreat you Will you promise me this much?”

Shewhat he wanted: ”Yes, I promise you”

Du Roy threw the lump of bread he still held in his hand into the water, and fled as though he had lost his head, without wishi+ng her good-bye

All the fish rushed eagerly at this lu been kneaded in the fingers, and nibbled it with greedy ed it away to the other end of the basin, and for flower, a live flower fallen into the water head doards

Susan, surprised and uneasy, got up and returned slowly to the dining-room The journalist had left

He ca letters, said to her: ”Are you going to dine at the Walters' on Friday? I a”

She hesitated, and replied: ”No I do not feel very well I would rather stay at home”

He remarked: ”Just as you like”

Then he took his hat and went out again at once For so her about, knowing all her th at hand He had not been deceived by the tone in which she had said: ”I would rather stay at ho the next few days He even appeared lively, which was not usual, and she said: ”You are growing quite nice again”

He dressed early on the Friday, in order to overnor's, he said He started just before six, after kissing his wife, and went and took a cab at the Place Notre Dame de Lorette He said to the driver: ”Pull up in front of No 17, Rue Fontaine, and stay there till I tell you to go on again Then drive to the cock Pheasant restaurant in the Rue Lafayette”

The cab started at a slow trot, and Du Roy dren the blinds As soon as he was opposite the door he did not take his eyes off it After waiting ten o in the direction of the outer boulevards As soon as she had got far enough off he put his head through the , and said to the driver: ”Go on” The cab started again, and landed him in front of the cock Pheasant, a well-known -roo at his watch from time to time At half-past seven, when he had finished his coffee, drank two liqueurs of brandy, and slowly soing by empty, and was driven to the Rue La Rochefoucauld He ascended withoutany inquiry of the doorkeeper, to the third story of the house he had told the man to drive to, and when a servant opened the door to him, said: ”Monsieur Guibert de Lorme is at home, is he not?”

”Yes sir”

He was ushered into the drawing-rooentleray-haired though still young, and wearing the ribbon of the Legion of Honor Du Roy bowed, and said: ”As I foresaw, Mr Co with her lover in the furnished rooms they have hired in the Rue des Martyrs”

The co: ”I ae continued: ”You have until nine o'clock, have you not? That lier enter a private dwelling to prove adultery”

”No, sir; seven o'clock in winter, nine o'clock from the 31st March It is the 5th of April, so we have till nine o'clock

”Very well, Mr Commissionary, I have a cab downstairs; we can take the officers ill accompany you, and wait a little before the door The later we arrive the best chance we have of catching them in the act”

”As you like, sir”

The commissary left the roo his tri-colored sash He drew back to let Du Roy pass out first But the journalist, as preoccupied, declined to do so, and kept saying: ”After you, sir, after you”

The coe bowed, and passed out They went first to the police office to pick up three officers in plain clothes ere awaiting the the day that the surprise would take place that evening One of the ot on the box beside the driver The other two entered the cab, which reached the Rue des Martyrs Du Roy said: ”I have a plan of the rooms They are on the second floor We shall first find a little ante-roo-room, then the bedroom The three rooms open into one another There is no way out to facilitate flight There is a locks himself in readiness to be called upon by you”

When they arrived opposite the house it was only a quarter past eight, and they waited in silence for more than twenty minutes But when he saw the three quarters about to strike, George said: ”Let us start now”

They went up the stairs without troubling themselves about the doorkeeper, who, indeed, did not notice them One of the officers remained in the street to keep watch on the front door The four e put his ear to the door and then looked through the keyhole He neither heard nor saw anything He rang the bell

The commissary said to the officers: ”You will remain in readiness till called on”