“Very well. You have the means; do so,” he said, with a brutal laugh.
“Ah!” cried the unhappy woman. “You, the chief of the Tzar’s bloodhounds, have tracked me here, and I know that, although I am innocent, it is useless for me to expect or plead for mercy.”
“Yes, madame, the warrant from the Ministry of the Interior enables me to hand you over to the English police. When you are charged before the magistrate to-morrow morning, I shall apply for your extradition. That will be your first stage upon that long, straight road which leads to Siberia. Your dossier at the bureau is complete. Listen; I will relate the details of your crime—”
“No, no! I do not wish to hear,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “I am innocent. I admit that I quarrelled with my husband, but I had no thought of such a horrible deed.”
“You confess to the quarrel? Good! Now we may advance a step further,” said the colonel, stretching out his legs and contemplating the end of his cigarette. “I have also discovered that you know something about the recent attempt at the Winter Palace—in fact, I have indisputable proof that you are a Nihilist.”
“Ah! I understand now the depth of your villainy,” she said, with fierce indignation. “The charge of murder is brought against me in order that I may be extradited to Russia and tried as a Nihilist! It is another of your devilish schemes.”
“You are shrewd,” observed the chief of Secret Police, with a grim smile. “But I ought to indicate that I require to know more of the plans of that highly interesting circle of gentlemen who comprise the Revolutionary Executive Committee; and you are the person to furnish it.”
“How can I, when I am not a member of the organisation?”
“To prevaricate is useless. It is only by consenting to become an agent of the Third Section that you can escape arrest and punishment,” he said slowly.
“A police agent?” she gasped. “It would mean death!”