They read it with eyes even more astonished."
"Did you, by any chance, read it also?" inquired the Prince, with a
deceptive calmness.
"No, Your Highness," Tellier replied, simply, quite unconscious of his
danger. "I saw no way of doing that, unfortunately. I thought of
snatching it away, but that would have created a turmoil, which is
always to be avoided if possible. But Your Highness might easily gain
possession of the note--"
The Prince stopped him with a fierce gesture of repugnance.
"Do you know what it is that you have the effrontery to propose to me?"
he demanded.
The Frenchman paused in mid-sentence and swallowed with difficulty, his
face very red.
"I am certain," he said, after a moment, "that those young ladies know
it was Lord Vernon who rescued them. They would no doubt confirm this,
if Your Highness would inquire--"
The Prince strode to the door and flung it open.
"Do not come back till you can speak without insulting me," he said,
sternly.
"One moment, Your Highness!" cried Tellier. "But a moment! I have
another proof. Oh, you are wrong not to believe me! You are wrong to
yield to your anger!"
"The proof!" broke in the Prince, sharply, realising, perhaps, the
justice of the reproach. "The proof! What is it? Speak quickly!"
"It is this, Your Highness," answered the detective, striving
desperately to steady his voice, to speak intelligibly.
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