No one else was near. He
repeated, in a calm, soft voice:
"Have I not kept my promise?"
He expected a word of thanks, or at least some slight movement that
would betray her interest in the fulfillment of his promise. But
she remained silent.
Her scornful attitude annoyed Arsene Lupin; and he realized the
vast distance that separated him from Miss Nelly, now that she had
learned the truth. He would gladly have justified himself in her
eyes, or at least pleaded extenuating circumstances, but he
perceived the absurdity and futility of such an attempt. Finally,
dominated by a surging flood of memories, he murmured:
"Ah! how long ago that was! You remember the long hours on the
deck of the `Provence.' Then, you carried a rose in your hand, a
white rose like the one you carry to-day. I asked you for it. You
pretended you did not hear me. After you had gone away, I found
the rose--forgotten, no doubt--and I kept it."
She made no reply. She seemed to be far away. He continued:
"In memory of those happy hours, forget what you have learned
since. Separate the past from the present. Do not regard me as
the man you saw last night, but look at me, if only for a moment,
as you did in those far-off days when I was Bernard d'Andrezy, for
a short time.
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