"Mortimer replied that the German and Austrian Governments had
decided to restore the independence of Poland, that probably an
Austrian Archduke would be made king and that it was essential
that the Star of Poland should be restored in order to include it
in the regalia for the Coronation. But I knew what this
Austro-German kingdom of Poland was to be, a serf state with not
a shadow of that liberty for which every Pole is longing. Since I
have been in England, I have kept in touch with the Polish
political organizations in this country. Rass, as he calls
himself, the landlord of this inn, is one of the most prominent
of the Polish leaders in England.
"Mortimer reasoned with me in vain and finally went away
empty-handed. But he did not abandon hope. Four successive
attempts were made to get the jewel away from me. Twice my
apartments at the Nineveh Hotel were rifled; once my
dressing-room at the theatre was entered and searched whilst I
was on the stage. But I wore the jewel day and night in a little
bag suspended by a chain from my neck and they never got it from
me.
"Two days before I came down to your house--it was the day before
the murder--I was hustled by a group of men as I came out of the
theatre. Fortunately the stage-door keeper came up unexpectedly
and the men made off.
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