Germain," Henry responded.
The man behind the curtains gasped, and they were for a moment
violently agitated, as if a hand seized them and let them go
again. But I had reckoned that the unknown, after a pause of
horror, would suppose that he had heard amiss and continue his
usual catechism. And so it proved. In a voice that shook a
little, he asked, "Whom do you bring to me?"
"A sinner," the King answered.
"What has he done?"
"He will tell you."
"I am listening," the unknown said.
The light in the basin flared up a little, casting dark shadows
on the ceiling, and at the same moment the shutter, which I had
failed to fasten securely, fell open with a grinding sound. One
of the curtains swayed a little in the breeze, "I have robbed my
master," I said, slowly.
"Of how much?"
"A hundred and twenty thousand crowns."
The bed shook until the boards creaked under it; but this time no
hand grasped the curtains. Instead, a strained voice--thick and
coarse, yet differing from that muffled tone which we had heard
before--asked, "Who are you?"
"Jules Fauchet.
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