'M. Selpdorf will assure you that it is necessary in the case of discipline,' urged Sagan with a lowering look.
'And I will assure M. Selpdorf that I am accustomed to make up my own mind! You know it already, Selpdorf!'
'I have always known it, sire,' said the supple Chancellor.
'You will hear my reasons?' asked Sagan angrily.
The Duke nodded.
'Captain Rallywood was guilty of gross disobedience of orders. His case has been laid before a court-martial of his brother officers, and he has been condemned to be shot. The trial has been conducted with justice.'
'What were Captain Rallywood's orders, then?'
'He was ordered to carry certain dispatches to the Chancellor, but he carried them elsewhere for his own purposes.'
The Duke nodded slowly and half closed his eyes. He remembered a certain damp morning by the river, when Rallywood had ridden to take orders from Selpdorf.
'So you are in this also, Selpdorf?' he said. 'What despatches were these? Pray tell me frankly. I believe I know something already.'