"That depends on you, monsieur."
"Oh!" exclaimed Lupin, laughing, "if it depends on me you can return to England to–night."
"That is a little too soon, but I expect to return in the course of eight or nine days—ten at the outside."
"Are you in such a hurry?"
"I have many cases to attend to; such as the robbery of the Anglo–Chinese Bank, the abduction of Lady Eccleston…. But, don't you think, Monsieur Lupin, that I can finish my business in Paris within a week?"
"Certainly, if you confine your efforts to the case of the blue diamond. It is, moreover, the length of time that I require to make preparations for my safety in case the solution of that affair should give you certain dangerous advantages over me."
"And yet," said the Englishman, "I expect to close the business in eight or te
