clandestinely, but in the sight and hearing of the whole world, to pursue the most formidable task that he has yet undertaken, to live publicly under a name which is not his own, but which he has incontestably made his own, to destroy with impunity four persons who stood in his way, to cause the imprisonment of an innocent woman against whom he himself has accumulated false evidence, and at the end of all, despite the protests of common sense and thanks to an unavowed complicity, to receive the hundred millions of the Mornington legacy.
"There is the ignominious truth in a nutshell. It is well that it should be stated. Let us hope, now that it stands revealed, that it will influence the future conduct of events."
"At any rate, it will influence the conduct of the idiot who wrote that article," said Lupin, with a grin.
He dismissed Mlle. Lavasseur and rang up Major d'Astrignac on the telephone.
"Is that you, Major? Perenna speaking."
"Yes, what is it?"
"Have you read the article in the Echo de France?"
"Yes."
"Would it bore you very much to call on that gentleman and ask for satisfaction in my name?"
"Oh! A duel!"
"It's got to be, Major. All these sportsmen are wearying me with their lucubrations. They must be gagged. This fellow will pay for the rest."
"Well, of course, if you're bent on it"
"I am, very much."
The preliminaries were entered upon without delay. The editor of the Echo de France declared that the article had been sent in without a signature, typewritten, and
