A long pause followed, in which I saw him look several times at me with obvious doubt and interest; and I knew by these glances that he was trying hard to place me in his memory and failing.
"Now, sir," he said at length in a quick, sharp tone. "Who are you?"
"At present I am generally known as the Prince von Gramberg—but that is not my real name."
"A needless addition. What is your real name? Who were you before you were known as Heinrich Fischer, the actor at Frankfort? I warn you to speak freely. Your only hope lies in that."
"For the present I prefer not to tell you," I answered very quietly. "It does not concern this matter—in its present stage, that is."
"You refuse to tell me?"
"If you put it so, I refuse to tell you."
"What was your object in usurping the character of the Prince von Gramberg?"
"I was forced by a series of blunders on the part of others to take the position; it was done by the desire of the real heir of the Prince, Hans von Fromberg, who is now known as Henri Frombe; and I kept up the part in order to protect the Countess Minna from a foul conspiracy against her, in which a scoundrel who is now dead was one of the chief agents." And then I told him at considerable length the exact circumstances under which I had first been taken to Gramberg by von Krugen and Steinitz. "You can easily verify what I say," I added.
"You mean by those two men who have since been your tools in the affair?" he sneered.