"You have a paper purporting to
be a certificate of marriage between you and Armand Dalberg."
She inclined her head.
"On it you will endorse that it is a false certificate; that you are
not and never were his wife; that it was procured for you, in New York,
long subsequent to its apparent date; and that you were paid an
enormous sum of money--fill in the actual amount, please--to go
immediately to Dornlitz, exhibit the certificate, there, and publicly
claim the Grand Duke Armand as your husband. That, madame, is all."
I was observing Lotzen; and, even now, his nerve never failed him. He
watched the King, intently, as he spoke. At the end, his face took on
a smile of cynical indifference--and, dropping from the respectful
position in which he had been standing, he turned and sat on the table,
one leg swinging carelessly over the corner.
Mrs. Spencer shot a quick glance at him--but he gave no answer back.
"Your Majesty has omitted one little matter," she said. "By whom shall
I say the money was paid?"
"Thank you--so I had. Make it--by persons to you unknown."
Mrs. Spencer smiled frankly.
"Your Majesty was quite right," she said. "The play is over.
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