“What devil of contrariness has put that thought into your head? If my errand were known, it would be I who would be executed. She's in love with you—that's why I sought you. It's the fact that you're my rival in her affections that makes you the one man in Budapest whom I can trust. There'll be bloodshed——”
“Go slower,” Hindwood interrupted. “Put yourself in my place. You know too much—far more than seems healthy. You know that this morning when I was with the Governor, there was an unseen listener behind the tapestry. You assert, that he was a man whom all the world believes to be dead. If you'll think back to our journey from Calais, you'll remember that the reason for his having been murdered formed your chief topic of conversation. Seeing that you know so much, you're probably aware that my interview with the Governor ended in a threat. To make that threat effective, the cooperation of the woman whom you first supposed to be my wife and afterwards discovered to be my secretary is absolutely necessary. On my return from the Palace she had vanished. Here again, you pretend to know more than I do; at close on midnight you come bursting into my room, demanding that I accompany you to her rescue.”
The Captain stared dully. “Every second counts. What is it that you wish me to tell?”
“Why you've hung on my trail from Calais until now.”
“Eh!” His expression became embarrassed; then he raised his head with a fearless gesture. “I see what you're driving at. I acknowledge that my movements are open to misinterpretation. But I didn't follow you; it was she whom I followed. As I told you in our first conversation, I was returning from England where I'd been sent by my Government to intercept Prince Rogovich with important despatches. The moment I clapped my eyes on your traveling companion, I recognized in her a startling resemblance; it was to a woman I had adored. She was far beyond me—the mistress of archdukes and for a brief while of an emperor. The nearest I ever came to touching her was when I was swept by her train at Court functions.” He paused dramatically. “During the war she was shot by the enemies of my country. Infamous things were said of her. If they were true, they would make no difference to my love. No difference, do you understand?” Again he paused. “What else?”
Hindwood narrowed his eyes. “Each time I've met you, you've harped on the same theme—Prince Rogovich. Up to now I've not thought it necessary to tell you: I knew this Prince Rogovich. Besides myself, there was probably only one other person who spoke with him before his end. What makes you so certain that it was a man, presumed to have been drowned in the English Channel, who spied on me this morning from behind the tapestry?”
“I was beside him. I'm his bodyguard—if you like, his secretary. I've just come from him. Can you have stronger proof than that?” Suddenly the Captain's patience broke down. “How many more questions? God knows what's happening.”
Hindwood had risen. “There are several. Why did he disappear?”
“He has not said.”
“What makes you require my help to rescue her?”