It was rather brutal, but she only laughed. "I will try," she agreed; and saying that I would see her again on the following day, I left her to hurry to von Felsen.
I was convinced that she cared no more for the Prince than I did, and that she had merely kept him tied to her apron-strings as a possible means of advancing her interests. To me she stood for a type of calculating, callous selfishness; and yet to the Prince she appeared as a veritable queen among women. But then I was not in love with her, and he was; and he would certainly curse me heartily for the advice I had given her.
When I reached von Felsen’s house a somewhat curious thing occurred. I was asked to wait a while; and as I stood thinking about the coming interview and staring out of the window into the now gloomy street, the electric lights of the room were switched on suddenly. I turned on the instant to find von Felsen in the act of closing the door which the servant must have left open.
He was not quite quick enough; for I caught sight of a man crossing the hall rapidly, and recognized him as a fellow named Dragen, one of the worst characters in Berlin, the bully and worse of a low gambling hell. I had come across him in my old newspaper work in connexion with a very unsavoury case.
"Only my servant. What do you mean? And why do you come to me?" and von Felsen shut the door and stood before it.
Why the lie? Why had he been at such pains to let the man have a good sight of me? And how long had they been in the room before I knew of their presence?
An instant’s reflection convinced me that it would be prudent to accept von Felsen’s statement and not to drop a hint that I had recognized the man who had stolen away so stealthily. If any trick were intended, I had better not let him think that I suspected it.
"I have come to talk to you seriously," I said in reply to his question.
"You do not suppose you are very welcome here?"
"It isn’t intended to be exactly a friendly call."
"You had better come into my other room." He said this very curtly as he opened the door again and led me to a room across the hall. "Now what is it?"
I copied his blunt manner. "You broke the word you gave me yesterday, and I take back the pledge I gave you."