I listened coldly, but not without concern, for I saw the strain of probability that underlay her malicious ingenuity.
“You are not imprisoned for any such act as you pretend, but because you would betray the facts your spies have discovered; and, if you want an additional reason, because you have dared to attempt——”
I stopped, and dashed my hand to my head in horror. In a moment I saw her cursed intention.
I had said no word to the Princess about the deadly rose which this woman had sent to her in my name; and this fiend, guessing by her woman’s instinct that the Princess would hurry away after what had been said about our love, had imprisoned me here to delay me, so that even now at the last moment the devilish scheme might succeed. And I, like the fool I was, had been duped by her infernal cunning.
I felt like a madman. She saw by my agitation that I had guessed her scheme, and before I could move she sprang from her chair, and rushed to the door to put her back to it, facing me like a wild beast at bay, to fight for the last few moments that might be so vital to the success of her plot.
“You look agitated, Count. You are not going to leave me?”
“Stand aside, you fiend, or I won’t answer for myself. I know your object now. Stand aside; do you hear?” I cried.
“I will not. Touch me if you dare.” But the life of the Princess was at stake, and I thought of nothing else.
“Zoiloff! Zoiloff!” I shouted at the top of my voice, and, seizing the Countess by the arm, I strove with all my force to drag her from the door. She fought and struggled like a wild cat, and her strength was so great that for a while she resisted all my efforts, clinging with desperate tenacity to the handle of the door, the lever of which gave her a secure hold.
“Did you call, Count?” came Zoiloff’s answer in muffled tones through the heavy door.