"I fear I must," I replied, in a voice which must have revealed something of what I felt. "Tiel told me you absolutely refused to listen to him when he wished you to remain." "Oh no!" I cried. "That is putting it far too strongly. I offered to put the case to Commander Wiedermann, and then Tiel at once assumed I was going to leave him, and told me to say no more about it." "Really! That is somewhat extraordinary!" she exclaimed in rather a low voice, as though she were much struck with this. She had been standing, and she sat as she spoke. I felt that she wished to go further into this matter, and I sat down again too. "What is extraordinary about it?" I asked. "Do you mean to say that Tiel didn't press you?" "No," I said. "Mr Belke," she said earnestly, "I know enough of the orders under which we are acting and the plans that Tiel has got to further, to be quite certain that you were intended to stay and assist him. It is _most_ important." "You are quite sure of this?" "Absolutely." "Then why did Tiel give up trying to persuade me so readily? Why didn't he try to use more authority?" "I wonder," she said in a musing tone, and yet I could see from her eye that she had an idea. "You know!" I exclaimed. "Tell me what is in your mind!" Already I guessed, but I dared not put it into words. "It is difficult to guess Tiel's motives--exactly," she said rather slowly. I felt I had to say it outright. "Are you his motive?" I demanded. She looked at me quickly, but quite candidly. "I scarcely like to say--or even think such a thing, but----" She broke off, and I finished her sentence for her. "But you know he admires you, and is not the man to stick at anything in order to get what he wants." "Ah! Don't be unjust to him," she answered; and then in a different voice added, "But to think of his letting you go like that!" "So it was to get rid of me, and have you alone here with him?" "He must have had some motive," she admitted, "for you _ought_ to stay." "I shall stay!" I said. She gave me her brightest smile. "Really? Oh, how good of you! Or rather--how brave of you, for it is certainly running a risk." If I had been decided before, I was doubly decided now. "It is not the German navy's way to fear risks," I said. "It is my duty to stay--for two reasons--and I am going to stay!" "And Commander Wiedermann?" "I shall simply tell him I am under higher orders, given me by Herr Tiel." "If you added that there is a second plan directed against the British navy, and that you are needed to advise on the details, it might help to convince Commander Wiedermann how essential your presence here is," she suggested. "Yes," I agreed, "it would be well to mention that." "Also," she said, "you would require to have all the details of this first plan so fully written out that he would not need to keep you to explain anything."