could give you any information about Louise Duval. Is it so?"

"Monsieur le Vicomte, you say truly."

Again M. Lebeau paused as if in reflection; and Graham, in that state of
mind when a man who may most despise and detest the practice of duelling,
may yet feel a thrill of delight if some homicide would be good enough to
put him out of his misery, flung aside his cap, lifted his broad frank
forehead, and stamped his foot impatiently as if to provoke a quarrel.

M. Lebeau lowered his spectacles, and, with those calm, keen, searching
eyes of his, gazed at the Englishman.

"It strikes me," he said, with a smile, the fascination of which not even
those faded whiskers could disguise--"it strikes me that there are two
ways in which gentlemen such as you and I are can converse: firstly, with
reservation and guard against each other; secondly, with perfect
openness. Perhaps of the two I have more need of reservation and wary
guard against any stranger than you have. Allow me to propose the
alternative--perfect openness. What say you?" and he extended his hand.

"Perfect openness," answered Graham, softened into sudden liking for this
once terrible swordsman, and shaking, as an Englishman shakes, the hand
held out to him in peace by the man from whom he had anticipated quarrel.

"Permit me now, before you address any questions to me, to put one to
you. How did you learn that Victor de Mauleon was identical with Jean
Lebeau?"

"I heard that from an agent of the police."