“You received my letter, though?” asked Paul.
“We know of no letter,” answered the elder one, staring impudently in his face.
“It probably has been lost in the post,” the younger added, hastily.
“Only recollect. It was the 16th of November,” said Paul.
Then they remembered vaguely that a letter had been delivered to them.
“But we could not make it out and threw it into the fire,” said Ulrich.
“Don’t use these evasions,” Paul answered; “you know quite well what is expected of you.”
They shrugged their shoulders, and looked at each other as if he were speaking Spanish to them.
“I have not come to play comedy with you,” Paul continued; “you have taken away my sisters’ honor and you must restore it to them.”
Ulrich scratched his head and said: