"I've come to ask you a great favour. In the face of the past I almost hesitate to do so, but there's no one else to whom I can turn—and so——"
"Anything I can do——" he began.
"I only want to ask you a question."
"Only a question!"
"Yet, I hesitate to ask even that—because it concerns a lady in whom you're interested."
"Miss Fitzgerald?"
"Yes."
"You need have no hesitation," he said coldly.
"I'm sure you will not misunderstand me," she continued.
He bowed silently.