He murmured, faintly:
"When must I give it to you?"
"To-night---within an hour."
"If I refuse?"
"If you refuse, I shall post this letter to the Procureur of the
Republic; in which letter Mademoiselle de Sincleves denounces you
as the assassin."
Danegre poured out two glasses of wine which he drank in rapid
succession, then, rising, said:
"Pay the bill, and let us go. I have had enough of the cursed
affair."
Night had fallen. The two men walked down the rue Lepic and
followed the exterior boulevards in the direction of the Place de
l'Etoile. They pursued their way in silence; Victor had a stooping
carriage and a dejected face. When they reached the Parc Monceau,
he said:
"We are near the house."
"Parbleu! You only left the house once, before your arrest, and
that was to go to the tobacco-shop."
"Here it is," said Danegre, in a dull voice.
They passed along the garden wall of the countess' house, and
crossed a street on a corner of which stood the tobacco-shop. A
few steps further on, Danegre stopped; his limbs shook beneath him,
and he sank to a bench.
"Well! what now?" demanded his companion.
"It is there.
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