"
"I understand," she replied in her cool, sweet voice.
She went to meet the men in the middle of the room. Duchemin turned
back to the window, where, standing in the recess, with the light
behind him, he could watch and reflect without his interest or
emotions, becoming too apparent. And he was grateful for that moment of
respite in which to compose and prepare himself. Within an hour, he
knew, within a day or so at most, he must be under arrest, charged with
the theft of the Montalais jewels, damned by his yesterday as much as
by every turn of circumstantial evidence....
The men whom Jean ushered in proved to be, outwardly, what Duchemin had
expected: of a class only too well-known to him, plain men of the
people, unassuming, well-trained and informed, sceptical; not
improbably shrewd hands in the game of thief-taking.
Saluting Madame de Montalais with calculated ceremony, one acting as
spokesman offered to present their credentials. Duchemin had a start of
surprise to dissemble when he saw the woman wave these aside.
"It is not necessary, messieurs," she said. "I regret very much to have
inconvenienced you, although of course it will make no difference in
your bill; but I have brought you here to no purpose.
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