The innkeeper gazed at the King for a space. The Prince was watching
him with a mocking smile.
"Hermann Breunner, Your Excellency."
The King stood still. He had forgotten the man, but not the name.
"Hermann Breunner," he mused.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said the innkeeper.
"The keeper of the feudal inn," supplemented the Prince.
The glance the innkeeper shot him was swift. The Prince suddenly
busied himself with the papers.
"Are you aware," went on the Chancellor, who had not touched the
undercurrent, "that you are guilty of a grave crime?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Which is punishable by long imprisonment?"
The innkeeper bent his head.
"What have you to say in your defense?"
"Nothing," tranquilly meeting the frowning eyes of the King.
"What was your object in defrauding the Princess--" the Chancellor
opened one of the documents which lay before him--"the Princess
Elizabeth of her rights?"
"I desired the Princess Hildegarde to possess all," was the answer. It
was also a challenge to the Prince to refute the answer if he dared.
"I acknowledge that I have committed a crime.
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