ss that it left behind it a sense of unreality. Mr. Brott
decided that after all it must have been fancy.

"May I ask," Mr. Sabin said quietly, "whether the Countess appears to
receive your suit with favour?"

Mr. Brott hesitated.

"I am afraid I cannot go so far as to say that she does," he said
regretfully. "I do not know why I find myself talking on this matter to
you. I feel that I should apologise for giving such a personal turn to
the conversation."

"I beg that you will do nothing of the sort," Mr. Sabin protested. "I
am, as a matter of fact, most deeply interested."

"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. I think if she
has any desire to marry you there are or could be no obstacles existing
which she would not easily dispose of."

"There are obstacles, then?"

"You must not ask me that," Mr. Sabin said, with a certain amount of
stiffness. "The Countess is a very dear friend of mine, and you must
forgive me now if I say that I prefer not to discuss her any longer."

A hall servant entered the room, bearing a note for Mr. Brott. He
received it at first carelessly, but his expression changed the moment
he saw the sup