"I will ring, Colonel," I said, touching a small silver bell upon my desk, "if you will remain within hearing."
He cast an anxious glance at me; and the next moment I was alone with the man to whom my coming must have been a terrible blow.
"There is a chair behind you, Prince," I said.
With extreme sullenness he took the seat indicated.
My impression of the man did not improve with further acquaintance.
For some little time we looked at each other in silence, he with looks full of hatred and malicious curiosity, while I was quite frankly interested in him. I wondered how anyone could, by vice, so debase himself, until his very being radiated nauseating vibrations; more especially as he had thought one day to be a king, a person set on a pinnacle for all to see, a leader and chief among men.
I found that, whenever his eyes met mine they turned aside, cold and crafty.
"Prince," I said, "to you, no doubt, I am a very pernicious being, most probably you loathe me with all your heart. You think that I have cheated you out of a throne, yet consider a moment, and you must see that it is not so. Ivan was never King, since I was alive; you were never the heir. I presume you will not deny that?"
"I do deny it. You are an impostor, I know it."
"I am the King."