"I knew it!"
Von Sternburg slapped his knee.
"Stapfer was crazy over her, and she had some reason for your not knowing."
"She! Are you talking about my sister-in-law?"
"Oh, you needn't put on any dignity over her. She isn't worth it, though I suppose you don't know that as well as you will in a few minutes."
Friedrich passed his hand over his face.
"I can't understand it. You say Stapfer was in love with Hilda?"
"And she made use of him, just as she did of Moller and von Hatfeldt and everybody else who came near her. She overreached herself about von Hillern, though."
"It seems treachery to listen to you, von Sternburg."
"Treachery! Why, my dear boy——"