The suddenness of this demand overwhelmed him, and he fell back into
the chair, his eyes bulging and his mouth agape.

"Do you hear me?" I cried. "The proofs!" going up to him with clenched
fists. "What have you done with those proofs? If you have destroyed
them I'll kill you."

Then, as a bulldog shakes himself loose, the old fellow got up and
squared his shoulders and faced me, his lips compressed and his jaws
knotted. I could see by his eyes that I must fight for it.

"Herr Winthrop has gone mad," said he. "The Princess Hildegarde never
had a sister."

"You lie!" My hands were at his throat.

"I am an old man," he said.

I let my hands drop and stepped back.

"That is better," he said, with a grim smile. "Who told you this
impossible tale, and what has brought you here?"

"It is not impossible. The sister has been found."

"Found!" I had him this time. "Found!" he repeated. "Oh, this is not
credible!"

"It is true. And to-morrow at noon the woman you profess to love will
become the wife of the man she abhors. Why? Because you, you refuse
to save her!"

"I? How in God's name can I save her?" the perspiration beginning to
stand out on his brow.