whether Prince Eugen saw Mr Sampson Levi or not. But
my employers were still uneasy. They were uneasy even after little Eugen
had lain ill in Ostend for several weeks. It appears that they feared
that even at that date an interview between Prince Eugen and Mr Sampson
Levi might work harm to them. So they applied to me again. This time
they wanted Prince Eugen to be--em--finished off entirely. They offered
high terms.'

'What terms?'

'I had received fifty thousand pounds for the first job, of which
Rocco had half. Rocco was also to be made a member of a certain famous
European order, if things went right. That was what he coveted far more
than the money--the vain fellow! For the second job I was offered a
hundred thousand. A tolerably large sum. I regret that I have not been
able to earn it.'

'Do you mean to tell me,' asked Racksole, horror-struck by this calm
confession, in spite of his previous knowledge, 'that you were offered a
hundred thousand pounds to poison Prince Eugen?'

'You put it rather crudely,' said Jules in reply. 'I prefer to say
that I was offered a hundred thousand pounds if Prince Eugen should die
within a reasonable time.'

'And who were your damnable employers?'

'That, honestly, I do not know.'

'You know, I suppose, who paid you the first fifty thousand pounds, and
who promised you the hundred thousand.'

'Well,' said Jules, 'I know vaguely. I know that he came via Vienna
from--em--Bosnia. My impression was that the affair had some bearing,
direct or indirect, on the projected marriage of the King of Bosnia.
He is a young monarch, scarcely out of political leading-strings, as it
were, and doubtless his Ministers thought that they had better arrange
his marriage for him. They tried last year, and failed because the
Princess whom they had in mind had cast her sparkling eyes on another
Prince. That Prince happened to be Prince Eugen of Posen. The Ministers
of the King of Bosnia knew exactly the circumstances of Prince Eugen.
They knew that he could not marry without liquidating his debts, and
they knew that he could only liquidate his debts through this Jew,
Sampson Levi. Unfortunately for me, they ultimately wanted to make too
sure of Prince Eugen. They were afraid he might after all arrange his
marriage without the aid of Mr Sampson Levi, and so--well, you know the
rest.... It is a pity that the poor little innocent King of Bosnia can't
have the Princess of his Ministers' choice.'

'