"So it was to avenge your father's death that you carried off Prince Conrad?"
"No, sir, that is a question between the Comtesse Hermine and me; but with Prince Conrad I have another matter to settle. When Prince Conrad was staying at the Château d'Ornequin, he pestered with his attentions a lady living in the house. Finding himself rebuffed by her, he brought her here, to his villa, as a prisoner. The lady bears my name; and I came to fetch her."
It was evident from the Emperor's attitude that he knew nothing of the story and that his son's pranks were a great source of worry to him.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Is the lady here?"
"She was here last night, sir. But the Comtesse Hermine resolved to do away with her and gave her into the charge of Karl the spy, with instructions to take her out of Prince Conrad's reach and poison her."
"That's a lie!" cried the Emperor. "A damnable lie!"
"There is the bottle which the Comtesse Hermine handed to Karl the spy."
"And then? And then?" said the Kaiser, in an angry voice.
"Then, sir, as Karl the spy was dead and as I did not know the place to which my wife had been taken, I came back here. Prince Conrad was asleep. With the aid of one of my friends, I brought him down from his room and sent him into France through the tunnel."
"And I suppose, in return for his liberty, you want the liberty of your wife?"