“Well, what then?” returned Otto. “I have bought it, if you come to that.”
Gotthold fairly bounded on his seat. “And how that?” he cried.
“How?” repeated Otto, startled.
“Ay, verily, how!” returned the Doctor. “How came you by the money?”
The Prince’s countenance darkened. “That is my affair,” said he.
“You see you are ashamed,” retorted Gotthold. “And so you bought a farm in the hour of your country’s need—doubtless to be ready for the abdication; and I put it that you stole the funds. There are not three ways of getting money: there are but two: to earn and steal. And now, when you have combined Charles the Fifth and Long-fingered Tom, you come to me to fortify your vanity! But I will clear my mind upon this matter: until I know the right and wrong of the transaction, I put my hand behind my back. A man may be the pitifullest prince; he must be a spotless gentleman.”
The Prince had gotten to his feet, as pale as paper. “Gotthold,” he said, “you drive me beyond bounds. Beware, sir, beware!”
“Do you threaten me, friend Otto?” asked the Doctor grimly. “That would be a strange conclusion.”
“When have you ever known me use my power in any private animosity?” cried Otto. “To any private man your words were an unpardonable insult, but at me you shoot in full security, and I must turn aside to compliment you on your plainness. I must do more than pardon, I must admire, because you have faced this—this formidable monarch, like a Nathan before David. You have uprooted an old kindness, sir, with an unsparing hand. You leave me very bare. My last bond is broken; and though I take Heaven to witness that I sought to do the right, I have this reward: to find myself alone. You say I am no gentleman; yet the sneers have been upon your side; and though I can very well perceive where you have lodged your sympathies, I will forbear the taunt.”
“Otto, are you insane?” cried Gotthold, leaping up. “Because I ask you how you came by certain moneys, and because you refuse——”