"I know, but I want to shield you. Haven't I told you that I forgive
everything? Don't make me unhappy, Phil. It would kill me now if you
were to fall into the hands of the police. They are crazy to catch
my abductors, and don't you remember what the paper said? It said
the people would kill without mercy. Please, Phil, for my sake,
don't go to Brussels. It is so unnecessary and so hazardous."

"Pray, tell me what explanation you could give to your mother, to
the police, to the newspapers, if you suddenly appeared in Brussels,
safe and sound, and yet unable to tell who had been your captors or
where you have been held?" he grimly said.

"I would not offer an explanation," she said, decisively, as if that
settled everything.

"But you would be compelled to make some statement, my dear girl.
You couldn't drop in there as if from the sky and not tell where you
have been and with whom. The truth would be demanded, and you could
not refuse. What would the world, your mother, the prince, think--"

"Don't mention that man's name to me," she cried.

"Well, what would be the natural conclusion if you refused to give
an explanation? Don't you see that the papers would make a sensation
of the matter? There is no telling what they would say about you.
The world would jump at the scandal bait, and you would be the most
notorious of women, to be perfectly plain with you. If you refuse to
expose the people who abducted you, there could be but one
inference. It would simply mean that you were a party to the plot