"So you think that it was through the revelations in the diary . . . ?"
"Why, yes, Sire! He had time to read them. And, lurking I don't know where, kept informed of all our movements by I don't know whom, he put me to sleep last night, in order to get rid of me."
"But the palace was guarded."
"Guarded by your soldiers, Sire. Does that count with a man like him? Besides, I have no doubt that Waldemar concentrated his search upon the out-buildings, thus thinning the posts in the palace."
"But the sound of the clock! Those twelve strokes in the night!"
"It was mere child's play, Sire, mere child's play, to him, to prevent the clock from striking!"
"All this seems very impossible to my mind."
"It all seems monstrous clear to mine, Sire! If it were possible to feel in every one of your soldiers' pockets here and now, or to know how much money they will each of them spend during the next twelve months, we should be sure to find two or three who are, at this moment, in possession of a few bank-notes: French bank-notes, of course."
"Oh!" protested Waldemar.
"But yes, my dear count, it is a question of price; and that makes no difference to 'him.' If 'he' wished, I am sure that you yourself . . ."