“I wish you would tell me what you mean,” she said. “You have no right to talk to me in this fashion. What have you to do with my affairs?”
“I have as much to do with them as the Count von Hem,” Peter insisted, boldly.
“I have known the Count von Hern,” she answered, “for very many years. You have been a shipboard acquaintance of mine for a few hours.”
“If you have known the Count von Hern for many years,” Peter asserted, “you have found out by this time that he is an absolutely untrustworthy person.”
“Supposing he is,” she said, “will you tell me what concern it is of yours? Do you suppose for one moment that I am likely to discuss my private affairs with a perfect stranger?”
“You have no private affairs,” Peter declared, sternly. “They are the affairs of a nation.”
She glanced at him with a little shiver.
From that moment he felt that he was gaining ground. She looked around the room. It was still filled, but in their corner they were almost unobserved.
“How much do you know?” she asked in a low tone which shook with passion.
Peter smiled enigmatically.