“And your close association with M. Volheno and the Government.”
“Inez!” exclaimed Miralda, under her breath.
I understood then. They had heard part of the Rua Catania business, but not the sequel; and Inez had been using it to poison Miralda against me. I was not unwilling to see the result. “It is well known that M. Volheno is friendly toward me.”
“There has been an exchange of letters between you, I believe.”
“Well, scarcely. He wrote to me and I have written to him.” Miralda started uneasily, looked across quickly, and then dropped her eyes.
“I have seen your letter to him and have been speaking to Miralda about it.”
“You will permit me to doubt that you have seen the letter I wrote?”
“I have a copy of it;” and she handed it to me. “You do not deny that that is what you wrote.”
I glanced over it. It was in her own handwriting. “Word for word, as nearly as I can recollect,” I said.
Inez smiled derisively in triumph. “That is how an Englishman keeps his word,” she sneered.