"Come, tell me, how did they make a
fool of you, or why did you make a fool of me, cousin?"
While Rischenheim related how he had been trapped and tricked at
the Castle of Zenda, Rupert of Hentzau made a very good
breakfast. He offered no interruption and no comments, but when
Rudolf Rassendyll came into the story he looked up for an instant
with a quick jerk of his head and a sudden light in his eyes. The
end of Rischenheim's narrative found him tolerant and smiling
again.
"Ah, well, the snare was cleverly set," he said. "I don't wonder
you fell into it."
"And now you? What happened to you?" asked Rischenheim eagerly.
"I? Why, having your message which was not your message, I obeyed
your directions which were not your directions."
"You went to the lodge "
"Certainly."
"And you found Sapt there?--Anybody else?"
"Why, not Sapt at all."
"Not Sapt? But surely they laid a trap for you?"
"Very possibly, but the jaws didn't bite." Rupert crossed his
legs and lit a cigarette.
"But what did you find?"
"I? I found the king's forester, and the king's boar-hound,
and--well, I found the king himself, too."
"The king at the lodge?"
"You weren't so wrong as you thought, were you?"
"But surely Sapt, or Bernenstein, or some one was with him?"
"As I tell you, his forester and his boar-hound.
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