I may be unwelcome to you, you to me,
either of us to any man; yet, having done no treason, so long as we
pay our debts and observe the law, no man may raise hand or voice
against us."
"Quite right!" broke in the leader again. "But let us look simply
at the gravity of it. They say it is treason not only against our
own country but against a foreign power which this woman is
fomenting. The Austrian attache, Mr. Hulsemann, is altogether
rabid over the matter. He said to me privately--"
"Then most improperly!" broke in the tall dark man.
"Improperly, but none the less, insistently, he said that his
government will not tolerate her reception here. He charges her
with machinations in Europe, under cover of President Taylor's
embassy of investigation into Hungarian affairs. He declares that
Russia and Austria are one in their plans. That, I fear, means
also England, as matters now stand in Europe."
"But, sir," broke in the vibrant voice of a gentleman who sat at
the left of the speaker, concealed in the shadow cast by the heavy
window drapings, "what is our concern over that? It is our boast
that this is a free country.
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