“You are going for the Countess’s coffee?” I said.
“If you will excuse me a few moments.”
“Is there no one else to do it?”
She looked at me with the softest serenity. “I keep no servants.”
“Can she not wait upon herself?”
“She is not used to that.”
“I see,” said I, as gently as possible. “But before you go, tell me this: who is this lady?”
“I told you about her before—that day. She is the wife of my cousin, whom you saw.”
“The lady who was disowned by her family in consequence of her marriage?”
“Yes; they have never seen her again. They have cast her off.”