"Do you deny it?" Gretchen was not cowed by his anger, which her own evenly matched.
"Yes," proudly, snatching his hat from his head and throwing it violently at her feet; "yes, I deny it. I am not a spy from any country; I have not sold the right to look any man in the eye."
"I have asked you many questions," she replied, "but you are always laughing. It is a pleasant way to avoid answering. I have given you my heart and all its secrets. Have you opened yours as frankly?"
To meet anger with logic and sense is the simplest way to overcome it. The vintner saw himself at bay. He stooped to recover his hat, not so much to regain it but to steal time to conjure up some way out.
"Gretchen, here under the Virgin I swear to you that I love you as a man loves but once in his life. If I were rich, I would gladly fling these riches to the wind for your sake. If I were a king, I'd barter my crown for a smile and a kiss. I have done no wrong; I have committed no crime. But you must have proof; so be it. We will go together to the police-bureau and settle this doubt once and for all."
"When?" Gretchen's heart was growing warm again.
"Now, to-night, while they are hunting for me."
"Forgive me!" brokenly.
"Come!"
"No, Leopold, this test is not necessary."
"I insist. This thing must be righted publicly."
"And I was thinking that the man I loved was a coward!"
"I am braver than you dream, Gretchen." And in truth he was, for he was about to set forth for the lion's den, and only amazing cleverness could extricate him. Man never enters upon the foolhardy unless it be to dazzle a woman. And the vintner's love for Gretchen was no passing thing. "Let us hurry; it is growing late. They will be shutting off the lights before we return."
The police-bureau was far away, but the distance was nothing to these healthy young people.
They progressed at a smart pace and in less than twenty minutes they arrived. It was Gretchen who drew back fearfully.
"After all, will it not be foolish?" she suggested.
"They will be searching for me," he answered.
"It will be easier if I present myself. It will bear testimony that I am innocent of any wrong."
"I will go in with you," determinedly.
The police officer, or, to be more particular, the sub-chief of the bureau, received them with ill-concealed surprise.
"I have learned that you are seeking me," said the vintner, taking off his cap. His yellow curls waved about his forehead in moist profusion.