The banker looked the emperor full in the face, and bore the scrutiny of his searching eyes without wincing.
"I see that you can look me in the face," said Joseph. "You will speak the truth."
"The Jew is forbidden by his religious code to lie," was the reply.
Joseph crossed the room quickly, and taking a letter from his escritoire, gave it to the banker.
"Is this your writing?"
Eskeles lifted his eyes slowly to the paper, and seemed surprised.
"Yes, that is my writing. I posted this letter yesterday. How, then, do
I find it here? Its detention is a serious inconvenience to me."
He said this with the demeanor of a merchant whose mind is upon his business, and who has no idea that it can concern any other person.
"The letter was sent to me by the secret police," said the emperor. The banker looked up in astonishment. "Ah!" exclaimed he. "then the tales which are told of the opening of all our letters by detectives, are not fables!"
"No—they are not fables, and I am justified in the scrutiny. Men are so corrupt that our only defence against treachery is espionage. It is a pity that it should be so; but as long as the people are base, their sovereigns must stop short of no means to foil them."