Sana, realizing his desire, did not move, but whispered beseechingly, “Heinecke, I implore you, stop! I do not love you, so why risk your life for me? Consider, please.”
Her plea was in vain. Heinecke, changing his tone of voice and manner, commanded her to leave. Upon her refusing to do so, he attempted to gently lead her away, when the mocking voice of de Rochelle reached them. He had gotten to his feet.
“Here! Herr Heinecke!” The words came with a sneer. “You shall not hide behind a woman’s skirts. Stand your ground, you coward!”
With this he grasped the pistol his second had reloaded and aimed it at Heinecke.
His sneering laugh chilled Sana’s blood as he continued, “Come back. I will kill you like a dog in this woman’s presence.”
Heinecke, with a shrug of the shoulders, awaited the shot.
De Rochelle had barely time to pull the trigger when the gun was wrested from his hand. Two men had jumped from the brush behind him and were now holding him a prisoner. De Rochelle demanding an explanation of what he termed “an outrage,” was politely informed that he was under arrest and was shown a warrant as their authority.
The sight of this caused Sana to give a sigh of relief. Her plan had worked!
After Heinecke had told her of the proposed duel, Sana finding her pleas of no avail, sought to prevent the combat in another manner. She, of course, had been informed on her return to Paris of the manner in which de Rochelle had run the affairs of the company he represented in New York. She knew, too, just how much of the company’s money he had appropriated for his own uses. So with this knowledge in mind she went to one of those detective agencies, to be found the world over, where “hard cash” is a means to an end and placed her proposition before them. Yes, it could be done! They would do anything for a consideration.
Accordingly two of the firm’s hirelings trailed de Rochelle that morning, armed with a fake warrant calling for his arrest and extradition to France, to answer charges of embezzlement. They had arrived on the scene a little late, but, nevertheless, in time.