It was my turn to start at this.
"You mean that what you have said has been told to her?"
"Your tone is enough to show me my information is correct. You will be wise to abandon that idea once for all. Neither her title nor her wealth is for a nameless adventurer."
His words stung me deeply, as no doubt he intended they should.
"If you knew——" I began, but then checked myself in the act of blurting out what I myself might afterward repent, and said instead: "If you knew my real plans, you would see the futility of pursuing this any further."
"That is why I asked what your plans are. What are your terms? Most men have a price. Name yours, and I'll see whether we can pay it."
He spoke with cold deliberation.
"My terms are the safety and immediate liberation of the countess."
"They are impossible, at the present juncture. Impossible."
"Very good; then we resume matters precisely where they were when I entered this room," I replied, and rose as if to leave.