"There is a codicil to the will. It consists of a letter which Mr.
Mornington wrote to Maître Lepertuis some time after and which explains
certain points with greater precision:
"I request Maître Lepertuis to open my will on the day after my death, in
the presence of the Prefect of Police, who will be good enough to keep
the matter an entire secret for a month. One month later, to the day, he
will have the kindness to summon to his office Maître Lepertuis, Don Luis
Perenna, and a prominent member of the United States Embassy. Subsequent
to the reading of the will, a cheque for one million francs shall be
handed to my friend and legatee Don Luis Perenna, after a simple
examination of his papers and a simple verification of his identity. I
should wish this verification to be made as regards the personality by
Major Comte d'Astrignac, who was his commanding officer in Morocco, and
who unfortunately had to retire prematurely from the army; and as regards
birth by a member of the Peruvian Legation, as Don Luis Perenna, though
retaining his Spanish nationality, was born in Peru.
"Furthermore, I desire that my will be not communicated to the Roussel
heirs until two days later, at Maître Lepertuis's office. Finally--and
this is the last expression of my wishes as regards the disposal of my
estate and the method of proceeding with that disposal--the Prefect of
Police will be good enough to summon the persons aforesaid to his office,
for a second time, at a date to be selected by himself, not less than
sixty nor more than ninety days after the first meeting. Then and not
till then will the definite legatee be named and proclaimed according to
his rights, nor shall any be so named and proclaimed unless he be present
at this meeting, at the conclusion of which Don Luis Perenna, who must
also attend it, shall become the definite legatee if, as I have said, no
survivor nor heir of the Roussel sisters or of their cousin Victor have
come forward to claim the bequest."
Replacing both documents in the envelope the Prefect of Police concluded:
"You have now, gentlemen, heard the will of Mr. Cosmo Mornington, which
explains your presence here. A sixth person will join us shortly: one of
my detectives, whom I instructed to make the first inquiries about the
Roussel family and who will give you the result of his investigations.
But, for the moment, we must proceed in accordance with the testator's
directions.
"Don Luis Perenna's papers, which he sent me, at my request, a fortnight
ago, have been examined by myself and are perfectly in order. As regards
his birth, I wrote and begged his Excellency the Peruvian minister to
collect the most precise information."
"The minister entrusted this mission to me," said Señor Caceres, the
Peruvian attaché. "It offered no difficulties. Don Luis Perenna comes of
an old Spanish family which emigrated thirty years ago, but which
retained its estates and property in Europe. I knew Don Luis's father in
America; and he used to speak of his only son with the greatest
affection. It was our legation that informed the son, three years ago, of
his father's death. I produce a copy of the letter sent to Morocco."
"And I have the original letter here, among the documents forwarded by
Don Luis Perenna to the Prefect of Police. Do you, Major, recognize
Private Perenna, who fought under your orders in the Foreign Legion?"
"I recognize him," said Comte d'Astrignac.
"Beyond the possibility of a mistake?"
"Beyond the possibility of a mistake and without the least feeling of
hesitation."
The Prefect of Police, with a laugh, hinted:
"You recognize Private Perenna, whom the men, carried away by a sort of
astounded admiration of his exploits, used to call Arsène Lupin?"
"Yes, Monsieur le Préfet," replied the major sharply, "the one whom the
men called Arsène Lupin, but whom the officers called simply the Hero,
the one who we used to say was as brave as d'Artagnan, as strong as
Porthos...."
"And as mysterious as Monte Cristo," said the Prefect of Police,
laughing. "I have all this in the report which I received from the Fourth
Regiment of the Foreign Legion. It is not necessary to read the whole of
it; but it contains the unprecedented fact that Private Perenna, in the
space of two years' time, received the military medal, received the
Legion of Honour for exceptional services, and was mentioned fourteen
times in dispatches. I will pick out a detail here and there."
"Monsieur le Préfet, I beg of you," protested Don Luis. "These are
trivial matters, of no interest to anybody; and I do not see the
reason...."
"There is every reason, on the contrary," declared M. Desmalions. "You
gentlemen are here not only to hear a will read, but also to authorize
its execution as regards the only one of its clauses that is to be
carried out at once, the payment of a legacy of a million francs. It
is necessary, therefore, that all of you should know what there is to
know of the personality of the legatee. Consequently, I propose to
continue ..."
"In that case, Monsieur le Préfet," said Perenna, rising and making for
the door, "you will allow me ..."
"Right about turn! Halt! ... Eyes front!" commanded Major d'Astrignac in
a jesting tone.
He dragged Don Luis back to the middle of the room and forced him
into a chair.
"Monsieur le Préfet," he said, "I plead for mercy for my old
comrade-in-arms, whose modesty would really be put to too severe a test
if the story of his prowess were read out in front of him. Besides, the
report is here; and we can all of us consult it for ourselves. Without
having seen it, I second every word of praise that it contains; and I
declare that, in the course of my whole military career, I have never met
a soldier who could compare with Private Perenna. And yet I saw plenty of
fine fellows over there, the sort of demons whom you only find in the
Legion and who will get themselves cut to bits for the sheer pleasure of
the thing, for the lark of it, as they say, just to astonish one another.
"But not one of them came anywhere near Perenna. The chap whom we
nicknamed d'Artagnan, Porthos, and de Bussy deserved to be classed with
the most amazing heroes of legend and history. I have seen him perform
feats which I should not care to relate, for fear of being treated as an
impostor; feats so improbable that to-day, in my calmer moments, I wonder
if I am quite sure that I did see them. One day, at Settat, as we were
being pursued--"
"Another word, Major," cried Don Luis, gayly, "and this time I really
will go out! I must say you have a nice way of sparing my modesty!"
"My dear Perenna," replied Comte d'Astrignac, "I always told you that you
had every good quality and only one fault, which was that you were not a
Frenchman."
"And I always answered, Major, that I was French on my mother's side and
a Frenchman in heart and temperament. There are things which only a
Frenchman can do."
The two men again gripped each other's hands affectionately.
"Come," said the Prefect, "we'll say no more of your feats of prowess,
Monsieur, nor of this report. I will mention one thing, however, which is
that, after two years, you fell into an ambush of forty Berbers, that you
were captured, and that you did not rejoin the Legion until last month."
"Just so, Monsieur le Préfet, in time to receive my discharge, as my five
years' service was up."
"But how did Mr. Cosmo Mornington come to mention you in his will, when,
at the time when he was making it, you had disappeared from view for
eighteen months?"
"Cosmo and I used to correspond."
"What!"
"Yes; and I had informed him of my approaching escape and my return
to Paris."
"But how did you manage it? Where were you? And how did you find the
means? ..."
Don Luis smiled without answering.
"Monte Cristo, this time," said M. Desmalions. "The mysterious
Monte Cristo."
"Monte Cristo, if you like, Monsieur le Préfet. In point of fact, the
mystery of my captivity and escape is a rather strange one. It may be
interesting to throw some light upon it one of these days. Meanwhile, I
must ask for a little credit."
A silence ensued. M. Desmalions once more inspected this curious
individual; and he could not refrain from saying, as though in obedience
to an association of ideas for which he himself was unable to account:
"One word more, and one only. What were your comrades' reasons for giving
you that rather odd nickname of Arsène Lupin? Was it just an allusion to
your pluck, to your physical strength?"
"There was something besides, Monsieur le Préfet: the discovery of a very
curious theft, of which certain details, apparently incapable of
explanation, had enabled me to name the perpetrator."
"So you have a gift for that sort of thing?"
"Yes, Monsieur le Préfet, a certain knack which I had the opportunity of
employing in Africa on more than one occasion. Hence my nickname of
Arsène Lupin. It was soon after the death of the man himself, you know,
and he was much spoken of at the time."
"Was it a serious theft?"
"It was rather; and it happened to be committed upon Cosmo Mornington,
who was then living in the Province of Oran. That was really what started
our relations."
There was a fresh silence; and Don Luis added:
"Poor Cosmo! That incident gave him an unshakable confidence in my little
detective talents. He was always saying, 'Perenna, if I die murdered'--he
had a fixed notion in his head that he would meet with a violent
death--'if I die murdered, swear that you will pursue the culprit.'"
"His presentiment was not justified," said the Prefect of Police. "Cosmo
Mornington was not murdered."
"That's where you make a mistake, Monsieur le Préfet," said Don Luis.