Finkelstein glanced at me with the suspicion which such a declaration was certain to provoke.
‘I am here, this time, in the interests of Russia.’
The Director met my eye with a look of polite incredulity.
“‘V——!’ he exclaimed, drawing back as if he had been stung.”
‘Distrust has been awakened in the Russian Council of State by this Venezuelan affair, in which Germany has been much too friendly with England. It is necessary to ascertain exactly what the Kaiser’s views and intentions really are. He is either deceiving the Tsar, or deceiving the English, and I have to find out which. For this purpose I must pass a night in the Emperor’s private cabinet.’
‘But surely that is not a difficult thing for you to manage,’ observed Finkelstein, with evident distrust. ‘His Majesty trusts you implicitly, does he not?’
‘He may trust me as a spy on you, and yet not confide to me his political designs,’ I answered. ‘The truth is that the Kaiser is on his guard. He knows that he is being watched, and just now he distrusts everybody—his own police most of all,’ I added pointedly.
The Director put his hand to his head, with a gesture of despair.
‘It comes to this,’ he cried pathetically, ‘that unless I betray him you will report to him that I am a traitor!’