“Yes; since just prior to her first marriage, six years ago.�
“Was it after your illness in Switzerland that you encountered her abroad last summer?�
“Yes; some time after that.�
“When you had quite recovered from your illness as a result of the poisoning?�
“While I was recuperating in Scotland. I joined a party there, little supposing that I would meet with old acquaintances.�
“Ah! and she was of the party. It is really quite a romance.�
“It turned out to be so,� was the reply, and Nick thought that he spoke with some grimness that was not entirely called for by the circumstance.
“I suppose the fact that you were so far away from home, coupled with the other one that you had been so ill, and the general romantic qualities of the air around you, brought about an understanding quite speedily, did it not?�
“We became engaged almost at once, if that is what you mean,� was the reply. And for some reason, which the detective could not name, the present aspect of the subject seemed to be distasteful to Lynne.
“But,� said the detective meditatively, as if he were trying to remember, “it seems to me that I saw somewhere a notice of Mrs. Babbington’s return to the city, a long time before your own arrival. Were you together long in Scotland?�