“The devil you say!”
“Well, if I am right in my conjectures, a sort of a she-devil, I grant you.”
“But, I mean——”
“I know exactly what you mean; better than you do yourself—but don’t let us get away from the main subject until I have finished what I have to say on that point.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
“Well, then, in plain English, if by any possibility I am mistaken, and the woman in that room is Mercedes Danton, I tell you frankly that I would rather be shot than to enter there without her permission. You see——”
“Wait half a minute, Carter. I want to ask you a question.”
“All right. What is it?”
“This: If it were any other woman on top of the great green earth, not my sister—any other woman in the world except Mercedes Danton, would you feel any hesitation about entering her room, if you considered the act as a necessary part of your duty?”
Nick looked calmly into his companion’s eyes and replied slowly: