“No,” he shouted, in a threatening and angry voice. “No, Prince Charles von Lichtenstein does not allow himself to be insulted with impunity, and he asks satisfaction for every insult offered to him!”
“Ah!” exclaimed the prebendary, turning with a wild, triumphant laugh to Baron Arnstein, “did I not tell you that the prince was concealed in your house?”
“Concealed!” ejaculated the prince, approaching his adversary with eyes sparkling with rage. “Repeat that word if you dare!”
“I shall do so,” said the prebendary, with defiant coolness. “You were concealed in this house, for nobody knew of your presence, neither the steward nor the baron. You had crept into the house like a thief intending to steal valuables, and this, indeed, was your intention, too; however, you did not want to purloin the diamonds of the fair baroness, but—”
“I forbid you to mention the name of the baroness!” exclaimed the prince, proudly.
“And I implore you not to compromise the baroness by connecting her with your quarrel,” whispered Baron Arnstein in the prince’s ear; then turning to the prebendary, whose eyes were fixed on the prince with a threatening and defiant expression, he said:
“You are mistaken, sir; Prince Charles von Lichtenstein did not come here in a stealthy manner. He wished to pay a visit to the baroness, and the latter, as you know, being absent from home, the prince did me the honor to converse with me in that room, when we were interrupted all at once by the noise which you were pleased to make in the reception-room here.”
“And being in that room, you were pleased to enter the reception-room through THIS door,” said the prebendary, sneeringly, pointing to the two opposite doors. “But why did not the prince accompany you? It would have been so natural for one friend of the baroness to greet the other!”
“I did not come because I heard that YOU were there,” said the prince, disdainfully, “and because I am in the habit of avoiding any contact with your person.”
“Ah, you are jealous of me, then?” asked the prebendary. “Why is my person so distasteful to you that you should always escape from me?”