"
"You encourage me," Mr. Brott declared, "to ask you a question--to
me a very important question."
"It will give me great pleasure," Mr. Sabin assured him, "if I am
able to answer it."
"You know," Mr. Brott said, "of that portion of her life concerning
which I have asked no questions, but which somehow, whenever I think
of it, fills me with a certain amount of uneasiness. I refer to the
last three years which the Countess has spent in America."
Mr. Sabin looked up, and his lips seemed to move, but he said
nothing. Mr. Brott felt perhaps that he was on difficult ground.
"I recognise the fact," he continued slowly, "that you are the
friend of the Countess, and that you and I are nothing more than
the merest acquaintances. I ask my question therefore with some
diffidence. Can you tell me from your recent, more intimate
knowledge of the Countess and her affairs, whether there exists
any reason outside her own inclinations why she should not accept
my proposals of marriage?"
Mr. Sabin had the air of a man gravely surprised. He shook his
head very slightly.
"You must not ask me such a question as that, Mr. Brott," he said.
"It is not a subject which I could possibly discuss with you. But
I have no objection to going so far as this. My experience of the
Countess is that she is a woman of magnificent and effective will
power.
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