"Perfectly. Go on."

"It seems that the besieger, the heroine of the story if you may call
her so, had a past."

"Has not everybody had a past?"

"Oh no. This past is known to the American and is unknown to the English
nobleman."

"Ah, I see; and the American is in love with her in spite of her past?"
"Not in Mr. James's story."

"Oh, I beg pardon. Well, go on; I shall not interrupt again."

"It is the English nobleman who is in love with her in spite of his
absence of knowledge about her past. The English nobleman's mother is
very much against the match. She tries to get the American to tell what
the past of this woman is. The American refuses to do so. In fact, in
Paris he has half promised the besieger not to say anything about her
past. She is besieging London, and she wishes the American to remain
neutral. But the nobleman's mother at last gets the American to promise
that he will tell her son what he knows of this woman's past. The
American informs the woman what he has promised the nobleman's mother
to do, and at this moment the nobleman enters the room. The besieger of
London, feeling that her game is up, leaves them together. The American
says to the nobleman, who stands rather stiffly before him, 'If you wish
to ask me any questions regarding the lady who has gone out I shall be
happy to tell you.' Those are not the words of the book, but they are