as a man to appreciate discretion; he could do much for
this young doctor if he chose; therefore he would keep his mouth shut
till it was time for him to open it. Golitzine saw him to the door and
laid his finger impressively upon his lip.

"Silence for the present, doctor, as to all these strange events you
have witnessed. I charge myself with your future advancement." The
doctor bowed and went his way.

Upstairs, Nada was slowly regaining her senses. She looked round the
big, handsomely-furnished chamber. On a sofa, a little away, was
stretched the form of Katerina, recovering more slowly than her
mistress.

"How did I come here? Where am I?" she murmured.

The Countess Golitzine, a handsome woman, some twenty years younger
than her husband, was sitting by the bedside, holding the Princess's
hand.

She whispered in a kind voice: "Do not speak much, my dear Nada, you
are too tired; but be quite sure you are amongst friends. Do you
recognise me?"

Memory came back in the wake of that long stupor. "The Countess
Golitzine, of course; we met a few days ago. But why am I in your
house and not at the Palace?"

She put her disengaged hand to her head and tried to collect her
scattered thoughts. "Ah, I remember, my brother said he would send me
to Tchernoff, and I did not believe he would dare to carry out his
threat."

She burst into bitter weeping as the subsequent events forced
themselves on her half-numbed brain, her seizure by two burly men, a
handkerchief pressed tightly over her face. Then a blank till she woke
up here.

She was clearer now. "Yes, I can recall certain things. But how did I
come here? How was I rescued on the road to Tchernoff?"

"My dear, I do not know myself. I had gone to bed early; my husband
said he would be working into the morning, as is often his custom. I
was in a deep sleep when he woke me suddenly. He told me that you and
your maid were being brought in, that you were drugged, that he had
sent for a doctor to bring you round. I have been here with the doctor
till you came back to consciousness. Would you like to see the Count?"

"Indeed I would," cried Nada, whose faculties were quickly coming back
to her. "I cannot calm myself until I know what happened between my
leaving the Palace and arriving here. And, as well as thanking you,
dear Countess, for all your kindness to me, I would like to thank your
husband also. It is not a time of night to receive uninvited, or
unexpected g