"I'll do it," he said. "What I want to know is: First—do you intend to try to displace me in the Line of Succession? And, second—are you a suitor for the hand of the Princess Royal?"
It would have been impossible to hide my surprise, so I made no effort. Surely, this man's methods were almost beyond comprehension!
"My dear Duke," I replied, "your questions are plain, and a plain answer will do for both—it is none of your business."
He laughed. "By which I infer you decline to answer."
"Precisely!"
He tossed away his cigar and slowly lit another.
"Of course, Armand, that is your privilege; but, then, you must pardon the further inference that to decline to answer is, really, to answer in the affirmative."
"You are responsible for your inferences, not I," I replied curtly.
He leaned a bit forward. "Let us take up my first question," he said. "Have you ever considered what you were likely to encounter if you undertook to filch the Crown?"
"Filch?" I interrupted.