d to turn
and face him--shrinking with the terror of a trapped wild thing from
meeting his imperious demand.

Errington, watching her, saw the childish gesture, the quiver of her
mouth, the soft fall of the shadowed lids, and with a swift, impetuous
movement he leaned forward and caught her by the arms, pulling her
towards him. Instinctively she resisted, struggling in his grip, her
eyes, wide and startled, gazing into his.

"_Diana_!"

The word seemed wrung from him, and as though something within her
answered to its note of urgency, she suddenly yielded, stumbling forward
on to her knees. His arms closed round her, holding her as in a vice,
and she lay there, helpless in his grasp, her head thrown back a little,
her young, slight breast fluttering beneath the thin silk of her blouse.

For a moment he held her so, staring down, at her, his breath hard-drawn
between his teeth; then swiftly, with a stifled exclamation he stooped
his head, kissing her savagely, bruising, crushing her lips beneath his
own.

She felt her strength going from her--it seemed as though he were drawing
her soul out from her body--and then, just as sheer consciousness itself
was wavering, he took his mouth from hers, and she could see his face,
white and strained, bent above her.

She leaned away from him, panting a little, her shoulders against the
side of the car.

"God!" she heard him mutter.

For a space the throb of the motor was the only sound that broke the
stillness, but presently, after what seemed an eternity, he raised her
from the floor, where she still knelt inertly, and set her on the seat
again. She submitted passively.

When he had resumed his place, he spoke in dry, level tones.

"I suppose I'm damned beyond forgiveness after this?"

She made no answer. She was listening with a curious fascination to the
throb of her heart and the measured beat of the engine; the two seemed to
meet and mingle into one great pulse, thundering against her tired brain.

"Diana"--he spoke again, still in the same toneless voice--"am I to be
forbidden even the outskirts of your life now?"

She moved her head restlessly.

"I don't know--oh, I don't know," she whispered.

She was utterly spent and exhausted. Unconsciously every nerve in her
had responded to the fierce passion of that suffocating kiss, and now
that the tense moment was over she felt drained of all vitality. Her
head drooped listlessly against the cushions of the