Larger Image
"'YOU ARE NOT—YOU CANNOT BE—IN EARNEST?' SAID GABRIELLE."
That was all. None cared to argue the point. He was so quietly certain of his philosophy; so terribly sure.
An hour later Vassilitch was addressed by Gabrielle. "I should like five minutes' talk with you," she said.
He expressed both readiness and pleasure, and he spoke the truth. They passed out into the garden, after he had insisted that she should cover her shoulders with a wrap, for the dews of late autumn were condensing and falling imperceptibly on the still trees and flowers.
"Will you sit down?"
"I should prefer to walk slowly." He saw her bosom rise and fall in agitation, and he wondered what was coming.
"Monsieur, I have a story to tell you. Of all the men I know, you can best appreciate it. It may be that you will care to help me—ah! do not be too ready; my request, if I prefer it, is altogether an unusual one, and such as only you might understand, and I. These Englishmen have cold hearts; passion with them is slow to catch fire and easy to be extinguished."
"You speak of love, mademoiselle?" said Vassilitch, uneasily.