Will you, please?"
She raised her eyes and looked at him as he had requested. Then,
without saying a word, she pointed to a ring he was wearing on his
forefinger. Only the ring was visible; but the setting, which was
turned toward the palm of his hand, consisted of a magnificent
ruby. Arsene Lupin blushed. The ring belonged to Georges Devanne.
He smiled bitterly, and said:
"You are right. Nothing can be changed. Arsene Lupin is now and
always will be Arsene Lupin. To you, he cannot be even so much as
a memory. Pardon me....I should have known that any attention I
may now offer you is simply an insult. Forgive me."
He stepped aside, hat in hand. Nelly passed before him. He was
inclined to detain her and beseech her forgiveness. But his
courage failed, and he contented himself by following her with his
eyes, as he had done when she descended the gangway to the pier at
New York. She mounted the steps leading to the door, and
disappeared within the house. He saw her no more.
A cloud obscured the sun. Arsene Lupin stood watching the imprints
of her tiny feet in the sand. Suddenly, he gave a start. Upon the
box which contained the bamboo, beside which Nelly had been
standing, he saw the rose, the white rose which he had desired but
dared not ask for.
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