Her audacity amused me, and though I knew I ought to hold my tongue, I could not resist saying:--
"I have asked no questions, Fräulein."
Yolanda cast a surprised glance toward me and then broke into a merry laugh.
"That is to say I have asked too many questions. Good for you, Sir Karl! I have had the worst of this encounter. I will ask no more questions nor give you further cause to wander from the truth. Your memory, Sir Karl, is poor. 'To be a good liar, one must have a good memory,' as King Louis of France has said."
"Ask all the questions you wish, Fräulein," I responded penitently, "I will answer with the truth."
"There is no need to ask questions," she said, giving me a side glance full of sauciness. "I already know all that I wish to know."
I could not resist saying:--
"Perhaps, Fräulein, I know quite as much about you as you know about us."
"There is little to know about me that is really worth while, but what little there is I sincerely hope you do not know," she replied half angrily. "If you do know anything which I have left untold, or if, in your vanity, you think you have discovered some great mystery concerning me, I advise you to keep your supposed knowledge to yourself. The day that I am made sure you know too much, our friendship ceases, and that, Sir Karl, would give me pain. I hope it would pain you."
I at once began an orderly though hasty retreat.