“What do you consider the reason of this precaution on the part of M. de Trémont?”
“The fact that he would see me trying to fathom the plots of this lady and her acolyte.”
“Then, in your opinion, it is a feminine intrigue which is at the root of the matter?”
“And in reality?”
“It was their object to steal from the General his formulæ for the manufacture of his new powders.”
“Then the woman was only an intermediary?”
“An intermediary, no. They well knew the General would never consent to a bargain. A bait, yes. I did not see the woman, but every time she came she left the General’s study impregnated with a peculiar perfume of a very captivating odour. Oh! I should recognize it amongst a hundred! The woman’s voice, too, was caressing and seductive. Ah! my poor master! She knew what power she had over him. That woman was capable of anything—of driving mad a brave warm-hearted man like my master, of pouring over him the poison of her looks and smiles, and having him cruelly killed for some cause I know nothing of. As for the man Hans, he was only an agent—a well-informed man, for the General respected his opinions, and could speak with him of his discoveries, but not of the same social position as his accomplice. He was an ordinary, even a rough individual. The woman’s prestige must have been demanded to have had him received by M. de Trémont, who was so aristocratic.”
“And you could never find out, by means of the cook, who remained in the house, what took place when you had left the house?”
“No, she was of a very dull intellect. Outside of her work, there was very little to be obtained from her. That is the reason M. de Trémont had no cause to mistrust her. All the same, she saw the woman on several occasions, and told me that she was a miracle of beauty—young, light-complexioned, with eyes that would have damned a saint. She spoke with the General in a foreign language. Now the General could only speak English and Italian.”