"Permit me; that would not be anything extraordinary. He might have overheard something. Whoever is in love usually imagines that every one is reaching after the object of his love. Understand that Laskowicz did not confide in me, but that is my hypothesis which, if it is erroneous, so much the better for Laskowicz. The party sent you a death sentence in consequence of his reports and this was working in his hand for personal reasons. After all, he may not have participated personally in the attempt--"
"Did you see him after that letter?"
"How could I see him, since he wrote after his departure. But it was lucky that I advised Pani Otocka to burn that lucubration, for if the letter had been found during the search at Jastrzeb, you can readily understand what inferences the acuteness of the police might have drawn."
Anger glittered in Ladislaus' eyes.
"I prefer that Miss Anney be not involved," he said; "nevertheless I would not advise Laskowicz to meet me. That such a baboon, as Dolhanski says, should dare to lift his eyes to our female relative in our home and, in addition thereto, write to her--this I regard plainly as an insult which I cannot forgive."
"In all probability you will never meet him; so you will not move a finger."
"I? Then you do not know me. Why not?"
"Among other reasons, out of consideration for our pleasant situation. Consider; duels they will not accept and in this they are right. What then? Will you cudgel him with a cane or pull his ears?"
"That is quite possible."
"Wait! In the first place there was nothing in the letter resembling an insult and, again, what further? The police would take you both into custody, and there they would discover that they had caught Laskowicz, a revolutionary bird, whom they have been seeking for a long time and would send him to Siberia, or even hang him. Can you take anything like that upon your conscience?"