"You will some day?"
"Yes, I promise you."
"Thank you. I have been thinking of it a great deal, and I felt that you did not ask the question out of idle curiosity."
"I did not. And now, if you will deal more generously to me than it may appear I am dealing to you, I should like to ask another question or two concerning her--if," I added, "the subject is not too painful to you."
He turned to his uncle, who said, "Yes, answer the questions, Ronald."
"I will do so freely," he said.
"I assure you," I commenced, "that I am impelled by a strong and earnest motive, and that before long you shall know all that is passing in my mind. When you met her on the Continent, did she give you the impression that she was of a morbid or melancholy temperament?"
"Not at all. She was always cheerful and animated."
"Was she averse to society? Did she show that it was distasteful to her?"
"Oh, no. With modesty and discretion she seemed glad to converse with people whose manners were agreeable and becoming."