"Oh dear, I've forgotten something," he exclaimed, rising. "I'll be back in a moment," and he went out of the room.
What a temptation that was! To have all I needed actually in my hands; to be left alone with them and yet not to be able to use them! I'd have given every shilling I had in the world to have stuffed them into my pocket and walked off. Did he mean me to take them? Or was it intended as a test? Did he guess what a temptation it was? Could I get away with them? He stopped out of the room long enough, and as the minutes passed, it was all I could do to resist it.
But I stuck it; put the papers down on his desk and tried not to look at them. It was a touch of sheer purgatory. His first glance, when at length he returned, was at them, and the way he looked at me made me pretty certain that he could guess something of my feeling. It looked uncommonly as if he were disappointed to find me still in the room and the papers on his table.
"I'm sorry to have kept you, my boy, but it couldn't be helped," he said as he sat down and put the temptation out of sight. "I told you in my letter that I had something important to tell you. I have, and unpleasant into the bargain. Was Count von Erstein with you last night?"
"Yes, about ten o'clock."
"Did you offer him some drink?"
"Yes, and a cigar, but he refused both."
"What was he doing there? Wait, I'll tell you first that he has made a charge against you that you attempted to poison him."
I laughed. "Of course I didn't. It was a joke."
"It may not be altogether a laughing matter; he's a dangerous man to joke with. Would you care to tell me about it all?"