"Bastable!" exclaimed Borsen with a great start of surprise as he held the others in check. "What on earth is the meaning of this?"
I took no notice of him and hurling von Felsen back into the room pushed through to Althea and took her hands.
"All is well with you?" I asked.
"Yes. You came just in time," she cried, pressing my hands and trembling. "But with you? I have been mad with fear."
"Nothing matters now," I replied, with a smile of intense relief.
"I insist on knowing the meaning of your forcing yourself into this house in this disguise, and of your attempt on Herr von Felsen's life, Mr. Bastable," said Borsen angrily, coming up to me.
For the moment I could not answer him. The reaction from the furious rage which had maddened me in my fear that I had arrived too late, and the sense of infinite relief at Althea's assurances, rendered me as weak as a a girl. I leaned against the lintel of the door and met his angry look with a fatuous smile.
Quick to see this, von Felsen made an attempt to get out of the room. "I'll send for the police," he said with an effort at bluster.
This roused me. I pushed him back. "Get me some brandy," I said to Borsen. "I am faint a bit. You shall have all the story you want; but that little beast must stop here."
"This is monstrous," cried Borsen indignantly.