“But your being there at the time of the arrest was an unnecessary risk, a very great risk.”
“It is by taking big risks that you win big prizes! I thought that in the excitement of the moment they might let something drop that would be of great importance.”
“But the danger from the revolutionists. If they had suspected—”
“I played my part so well they couldn’t suspect! I killed three or four gendarmes myself. They’re cheap. Berloff tells me to shoot a few to keep up my reputation.”
He leaned toward her and his eyes glistened. “I tell you, Zenia, the risk was worth while!”
“Then you learned something?”
“Did I? Listen. I learned that Borodin is Borski, and that the young woman arrested with me is the one who shot at Berloff. But that is not the best!”
“No?”
“I won’t tell you what it is now; Prince Berloff may wish it kept an absolute secret for a while. But it is something he’ll be glad to know. And he will pay well for it, too! It will be our fortune, Zenia, or I miss my guess!”
Only the countess’s self-control enabled her to restrain a cry. For the curtains had parted, and Drexel, very white, had stepped noiselessly out.