Grimm permitted his eyes to linger a moment on the flushed face
of this woman who, in a way, was defending him. "But there is only one
thing to do, Miss Thorne." He was talking to her now. "There is no
middle course. It is a problem that has only one possible answer--the
destruction of that document, and the departure of you, and you, your
Highness, for Italy under my personal care all the way. I imagined this
matter had ended that day on the steamer; it _will_ end here, now,
to-night."
The prince glanced again at his watch, then thoughtfully weighed the
percussion cap in his hand, after which, with a curious laugh, he walked
over to the squat iron globe in an opposite corner of the room. He bent
over it half a minute, then straightened up.
"That cap, Mr. Grimm, has one disadvantage," he remarked casually. "When
it is attached to a mine or torpedo it can not be disconnected without
firing it. It is attached." He turned to the others. "It is needless to
discuss the matter further just now. If you will follow me? We will
leave Mr. Grimm here."
With a strange little cry, neither anger nor anguish, yet oddly
partaking of the quality of each, Isabel went quickly to the prince.
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