By Right of Sword

"I was told, Sire," I resumed, when the Emperor had complied with my request. "That there was one, or at most two persons beside your Majesty who knew the real order of matters for yesterday; and that it was from that one, or from one of those two persons, that the information was given to the Nihilists which formed the basis of this plot. I did not believe it possible, Sire, and I did not think therefore that any attempt could be made. But yesterday morning to my intense astonishment, I found myself appointed to command exactly the section of the line of which I had been told by the Nihilists, many hours, indeed days in advance." The consternation of both my hearers as I dwelt on this was so great that I emphasized it; and I saw then that I could safely slur over the only point that I really feared in the whole story—the episode of the five men whom I had posted in accordance with the Nihilist orders.