You were kidnapped--it is a horrid word, but we must use it--in Ostend.' 'True.' 'Do you know why ?' 'I suppose because that vile old red-hatted woman and her accomplices wanted to get some money out of me.

Fortunately, thanks to you, they didn't.' 'Not at all,' said Aribert.

'They wanted no money from you.

They knew well enough that you had no money.

They knew you were the naughty schoolboy among European Princes, with no sense of responsibility or of duty towards your kingdom.