“Then you think—”
“Cover him all up with roses until he confesses that he has lied, or else tells where he has concealed his evidence.”
“Impossible! He will yell, and the castle is full of people.”
“But the hunt? You must go to it whether alive or dead; every one will follow you.”
“Somebody always stays, if it be only some one’s servants. And then the old women—they will be whispering about that I am exerting an authority which the state has strictly reserved for itself.”
“Oh, nonsense! Don’t trouble yourself about them. Besides, I will arrange all that; I will say it is a poor devil whose leg has been crushed, and who is being operated upon.”
“And will you receive his information?”
“Certainly. Who else.”
“I should prefer to be there myself.”
“You know you are so soft-hearted that you can’t bear to see any one in pain.”