"Where? Where?"
"Come, prince, do you think I should be fool enough to tell you the secret by which I hold you? You love the little girl . . ."
"Hold your tongue!" shouted Sernine, beside himself. "I forbid you. . . ."
"What next? Is there anything to be ashamed of? I love her myself and I have risked . . ."
He did not complete his sentence, frightened by the terrific anger of Sernine, a restrained, dumb anger that distorted the prince's features.
They looked at each other for a long time, each of them seeking for the adversary's weak point. At last, Sernine stepped forward and, speaking very distinctly, like a man who is threatening rather than proposing a compact:
"Listen to me," he said. "You remember the offer of partnership which you made me? The Kesselbach business for the two of us . . . we were to act together . . . we were to share the profits. . . . I refused. . . . To-day, I accept. . . ."
"Too late."
"Wait! I accept more than that: I give the whole business up. . . . I shall take no further part in it. . . . You shall have it all. . . . If necessary, I'll help you."
"What is the condition?"