‘I believe quite alone.’
‘Of course suborned by England? Of that there can be no doubt.’
‘The prince never said so.’
‘Well, but it is clear enough, the man must have had means; he travelled by a very circuitous route; he had come from Hamburg probably?’
‘I never heard.’
‘He must have done so. The ports of Holland, as those of France, would have been too dangerous for him. Italy is out of the question.’
I owned that I had not speculated so deeply in the matter.
‘It was strange,’ said he, after a pause, ‘that the duke never mentioned who had introduced the man to him.’
‘He merely called him a valued friend.’
‘In other words, the Count d’Artois,’ said the count; ‘did it not strike you so?’