My Government has instructed me to arrest him, and to use
every means, not stopping short of armed force, to prevent the
_Aphrodite_ from undertaking what is little else than a piratical
expedition. You see, therefore, that it is not in my power, if I were
so minded, to set Baron von Kerber at liberty. Compromise in any other
direction would appeal to me. Where Baron von Kerber is concerned, I am
helpless."
His Excellency was firmly planted on the gubernatorial dais once more.
Mrs. Haxton evidently demanded plain speaking. Being a blunt man, he
gave it to her. But she smiled again, quite pleasantly.
"That is what I may describe as the correct official attitude," she
said. "If it were founded on fact, it would be unassailable. But Signor
Alfieri can tell you that the Baron most certainly did not steal
anything from him. If a culprit must be found, it was I, not Franz von
Kerber, who should be charged with theft."
"Ah, _Dio mio_, you hear? She admits!"
Alfieri almost screeched the words. He was in a frenzy of passion.
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