He nodded.
“My silence,” he answered, “is not to be bought. The King is my friend, and his cause is mine. Apart from that it is my duty as an honest man to upset the scheming of such rogues as that,” he pointed to Domiloff. “In two minutes, Countess, I shall leave this room—dead or alive.”
Domiloff was very pale, but he remained calm. Marie left him and placed her hands in Brand’s. She looked up into his face fondly.
“You are quite right,” she said. “I honour you for your words.”
Then she turned to Domiloff.
“Listen,” she said. “You will permit Mr. Brand to pass uninjured, or I shall go at once to Nicholas, and tell him not only all that I know, but what I suspect. You understand me! I shall tell him—the whole truth. I go also to the King, and I tell him—the whole truth. I go also to the House of Laws, I anticipate your proclamation to them, and I announce—the whole truth. These are not empty threats. I swear to you that I will do these things.”
Domiloff regarded her thoughtfully. His expression was inscrutable.
“You will not risk the success of all our plans,” he said, slowly. “You will even sacrifice your country that this man may go safely. You are serious? It is in your mind that you are the Countess Marie of Reist, and he—the paid writer in an English newspaper. Forgive me that I speak of this. It is incredible.”
“It is nevertheless true,” she answered, firmly. “Your answer.”