For Love of a Woman

"Then you heard and understood everything that passed between the
prince and me?"

"Certainly. I might have pretended that I did not, if I had thought to
do so. Still it would have made no difference, any way."

"Not much, that's a fact. Why did you hide in this room?"

"To hear what you said. To get what information I could. I certainly
did not do it for the fun of the thing."

"Well, my man, I will make a bargain with you. If you will tell me all
that I want to know and answer truthfully every question I ask, I will
engage that you shall neither go to Siberia nor to your death. You will
go to prison, and I will keep you there long enough to find out if your
information is correct. If it is, I will set you free as soon as I can
afford to do so; if it is not, then Siberia, and the worst that there
is in that delightful country, too. What do you say?"

"How long will you keep me in prison?"

"A month--six months--a year--as long as I deem it necessary. I shall
want you near me where I can talk to you frequently, whenever the fancy
takes me."

"I'll see you damned first."

"Very well. I'm sorry for you. A few months in a comfortable prison,
with the best of food, books to read, paper and pens at your disposal,
permission to communicate with your friends as often as you please so
long as I see your letters before they are sent away, ought to be
preferable to ending your life in the mines of frozen Siberia; but the
choice is yours."