“We shall be quits this very day,” I asserted hotly.
“Ah!” he laughed defiantly, “that remains to be seen. You are jealous of Edith Austin,” he added with a supercilious sneer.
“She is your victim!” I cried, “and I have resolved to rescue her.”
“Because you think she is pure and honest, and that she loves you? But very soon you will discover your mistake.”
“Do you make an imputation against her honour?” I demanded fiercely.
He shrugged his shoulders meaningly, his face broadening into an evil grin.
“You are a coward in addition to being a spy and a traitor!” I declared. “You would even endeavour to besmirch a woman’s fair name.”
“Fair name!” he laughed insultingly. “Love like yours, amico mio, is always blind. You English are always so amusingly simple.”
“Come,” I said, halting suddenly when we had arrived at the small garden in the centre of which the band-stand is placed. As we were some distance away from the promenaders, we could not be overheard. “Enough has passed between us. I tell you plainly that it is my intention to end all this and to apply for your arrest as a spy.”
“And supposing I do not allow myself to be arrested? Suppose I cross the frontier at once?”