"Perhaps he has found her!" and a gleam of eager hope flashed from his eyes.
I made no comment--where was the profit in more sparring of words?
I munched my bread and drank my wine, thinking, by a whimsical turn of thought, of Gustave de Berensac and his horror at the table laid for three.

Soon I laid down my napkin, and the duke held out his cigarette case toward me: "And now, Mr.Aycon, if I'm not keeping you up--" "I do not feel sleepy," said I.
"It is the same for both of us," he reminded me, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, then, if you are willing--of course you can refuse if you choose--I should like to hear what brought you to Jean's quarters on foot from Avranches in the middle of the night." "You shall hear.

I did not desire to meet you, if I could avoid it, and therefore I sought old Jean, with the intention of making him a messenger to you." "For what purpose ?" "To restore to you something which has been left on my hands and to which you have a better right than I." "Pray, what is that ?" he asked, evidently puzzled.

The truth never crossed his mind.
"This," said I; and I took the red leathern box out of my pocket, and set it down on the table in front of the duke.

And I put my cigarette between my lips and leaned back in my chair..