He looked at me yet a moment, then turned away and gazed towards the château, twisting his moustaches and muttering to himself.
“If I had proof—if I had proof—there would yet be time to capture the woman too and send this pretty place up in smoke!”
He turned again to me with those snake’s eyes of his agleam.
“Is this true?” he demanded between his teeth. “Tell me again, is this true? Think well before you answer. A lie will cost you such hours of agony as you have never dreamed of.”
“There is M. de Fronsac,” I suggested. “Ask him also.”
He laughed harshly.
“M. de Fronsac prefers to hold his tongue,” he said. “Think you I should otherwise have troubled to bring you back to life? Answer me. Is this true?”
“It is true,” I repeated.
“Very good. I am going to believe you. But if I find you have betrayed me——” A look finished the sentence, which, indeed, needed no other ending.
I did not flinch under his gaze. Could I but keep him there until M. le Comte laid hold of him, I need care little for his threats.