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 "We can be married quietly . . . any time. No one would know how long I'd been courting you." Then he suddenly became romantic. "The truth is that I've wanted to marry you ever since that day you came to see me. So it's been a long time, you see."

For a moment she was silent and thoughtful. At last she said, "There's one thing we ought to consider, Moses. I don't know about such things, but you'll know, being a lawyer. It's about my first husband. You see they never found his body out there in China. They only know he disappeared and must have been killed by bandits. Now what I mean is this . . . he mightn't be dead at all. He might have lost his mind or his memory. And if he turned up. ."

Moses Slade looked at her sharply. "You do want to marry me, don't you, Em . . . I mean Emma. . . . You're not trying to get out of it?"

"Of course I want to marry you. I only mentioned this because I believe in facing things."

"How long has he been gone?"

"It's twenty-four years this January. I remember it well. It was snowing that night, just after the January thaw. . . ."

He checked what would have been a long story by saying, "Twenty-four years . . . all alone without a husband. You're a brave little woman, Emma." He made a clicking sound with his tongue, and looked at her fondly. "Well, that's a long time . . . long enough for him to be considered dead under law. But we'll have him declared dead by law and then we won't have to worry."

Emma was staring at the floor with a curious fixed