“Certainly. She is the lady whom I hope to make my wife.” It was my turn to surprise him now, and a long pause followed, while he sat smoking and thinking over the new turn.
“Well, M. Denver, I am genuinely sorry for you; sorry that I ever sent you on this business. You cannot save this lady, and it would of course be idle for me to pretend that I do not see how your feeling for her has actuated you. She is a Nihilist; she has had chief part in this plot; she holds these papers; she was present when the attempt was made on your life—and probably instigated it——”
“No, she did not,” I interposed angrily. “At that time she knew quite well I was not the Emperor.”
“So you told them that?” he returned in his quiet suggestive manner.
“I did my utmost to obtain the papers,” I protested.
“We are getting at cross purposes, monsieur,” he answered with dryness. “I will not question you about her. Probably you know who she is and what her motive is in the strange course she is taking. I do not yet; I am speaking frankly—more frankly than you dealt with me—but I have now certain information, and shall soon have more. But already I know enough to warrant me in ordering her arrest.”
“You have seen the Duchess Stephanie this morning?”
“Yes, and shall see her again—and others. You must face the facts, monsieur; and the facts are that this Mademoiselle Helga will not be long at liberty, and that any thought of marriage between you is absolutely out of the question. She will go to the mines.”
“On the contrary, your Highness, she will be my wife,” I said firmly. Now that the mischief was out, and I was no longer clogged by the need to hide things, my embarrassment was at an end, and I recovered my self-possession. There was a prospect of a fight too, and my spirits rose to it.
“We shall see, monsieur. I am, as I say, deeply sorry for you; but, believe me, you will not improve your case if you attempt to espouse this reckless young woman’s cause and fight our Government for her sake.”