"She will be shot, I suppose." "Probably. But first she shall confess about the postcard from the prison camp. I shall go to Paris immediately, Denzil; there must be no delay." "You will not feel the slightest twinge because she was your mistress, if she is shot, Stepan? I ask because the combination of possible emotions is interesting and unusual." "Not for an instant--" and suddenly Verisschenzko's yellow-green eyes flashed fire and his face grew transfigured with fierce hate. "You do not know the affection I had for Stanislass from my boyhood--he was my leader, my ideal. No paltry aims--a great pioneer of freedom on the sanest lines. He might have altered the history of our two countries--he was the light we need, and this foul, loathsome creature has destroyed not only his soul and his body, but the protector and defender of a conception of freedom which might have been realised. I would strangle her with my own hands." "Stanislass must have been a weakling, Stepan, to have let her destroy him. He could never have ruled. It strikes me that this is the proof of another of your theories. It must be some debt of his previous life that he is paying to this woman. He was given his chance to use strength against her and failed." The hate died out of Verisschenzko's face--and the look of calm reasoning returned. "Yes, you are right, Denzil. You are wiser than I. So I shall not give her up, for punishment of her crimes. I shall only give her up because of justice--she must not be at large. You see, even in my case,--I who pride myself on being balanced, can have my true point of view obsessed by hate. It is an ignoble passion, my son!" "You will catch Ferdinand too?" "Undoubtedly--he is just a rotten little snipe, but he does mischief as Harietta's tool--and through his business in Holland." "He loathes the English--that is his reason, but Madame Boleski has no incentive like that." "Harietta has no country--she would be willing to betray any one of them to gratify any personal desire. If she had been a patriot exclusively working for Germany, one could have respected her, but she has often betrayed their secrets to me--for jewels--and other things she required at the moment. No mercy can be shown at all." "In these days there is no use in having sentiment just because a spy is a woman--but I am glad it is not my duty to deliver her up." Verisschenzko smiled. "I cannot help my nature, Denzil,--or rather the attributes of the nation into which in this life I am born. I shall hand Harietta over to justice without a regret." Then they parted for the night with much of the disturbance and the complex emotions removed from Denzil's heart. CHAPTER XXII