This taunt was a home thrust, the more so since I had been completely taken in at the time.
“Well,” said I, with a hint of sarcasm in my voice, in spite of my desire not to rouse him yet. “If Louis knows this I should say that you—”
“What of me?”
“That you are in a bad way.”
“True,” he answered, totally unmoved. “I have been in a bad way for a long time; but I have the Earl on the hip now.”
“He has the deed to your estate.”
“I shall get it back. I gave him that to win his confidence. I never thought he would swallow such an open bait. I took so many men with me because I thought he would order my arrest. If I had known what a gull he would prove I should have got inside the fort with half the number. But the best is yet to come. Be ready to-night to go with me to Webber’s tavern. I expect great news, glorious news; news that will shake Yorke to its foundation. In the meantime I must look for Louis.”
At that moment the door opened without a warning knock and Louis Van Ramm stepped across the threshold. For a moment the master and servant remained where they were without moving. The patroon sat in his great leather chair. In front of him was a table strewn with papers. A decanter of wine with a tray of glasses stood in the center, and lying close at hand, his long, sharp pointed sword. Within a yard of the door, glowering across the intervening table, was the sullen figure of the white-haired dwarf.
“Well,” said the patroon viciously after two minutes of this strained silence.
“Well,” echoed the dwarf.