She gave an impatient gesture. "It is the truth that matters, not how I know it," she retorted.
"On the contrary his motive is everything. But he kept that to himself, of course. Did he tell you that he came here with these lies in order to get you to accuse me so that he should have time to force Baron von Ringheim's daughter to marry him?"
"You lie," she cried fiercely. "You were seen to enter and leave this house shortly before I met you that night. The ring I saw on your finger was his and he had left it with my father that afternoon. And if that is not enough proof, one of your associates has shot himself, leaving behind him a confession that he and you together murdered my father in revenge for his supposed betrayal of you. Do you think I have forgotten your agitation when I recognized the ring?"
Von Felsen had told his story cunningly, and what she had termed my agitation at her recognition of the ring on the night of the murder lent colour to it. My conduct was quite open to such a misconstruction as she had placed upon it; but there was no time to attempt to shake her conviction by argument.
I paused a second in doubt as to the line to adopt, and she read this hesitation for guilt. "You cannot answer me; but you shall pay the price."
"If you persist in this folly, it is you who will pay the price. Von Felsen went to my house to-day in my absence and compelled Fräulein von Ringheim to go with him and consent to become his wife upon certain conditions. In order to be able to appear to be in a position to fulfil these conditions, he came here to you to get me arrested on this ridiculous charge. No one in the whole empire knows better than he that there is not a glint of truth in the story. But you have fallen into the trap, and within an hour of my arrest, Fräulein von Ringheim will be his wife."
"It is false," she exclaimed vehemently. "To-night we are to be married."
I smiled. "Where is he? Set him face to face with me and force him to let her be present; and you will see."
This fired her jealousy. "It is false," she cried again; but her tone was less vehement and her eyes signalled doubt. "You say this to turn my anger against him, that you may escape. You shall not."
"Can you find him? He is not in his house in the Coursenstrasse. He knew I should seek him there. Can you take me to him?"