"But it had to be, sir. It was bound to happen, for I knew too much about him. It had to be he or I. . . . It was he . . . and I can't help it and I'm not sorry. . . . He was the wickedest wretch on earth; and, with people like him, one mustn't hesitate. No, I am not sorry."
Paul asked:
"He was devoted to the Comtesse Hermine, was he not?"
She shuddered and lowered her voice to reply:
"Oh, don't speak of her, please! She is more terrible still; and she is still alive. Ah, if she should ever suspect!"
"Who is the woman?"
"How can I tell? She comes and goes, she is the mistress wherever she may be. . . . People obey her as they do the Emperor. Everybody fears her . . . as they do her brother."
"Her brother?"
"Yes, Major Hermann."
"What's that? Do you mean to say that Major Hermann is her brother?"