ty and crabbed, they say. I
nursed him when he was a child, just as I nurse you now. He has a
temper--Jesus-Maria--the master! But his heart is of gold. His
wife--" she hesitated, "She was a singer, and she ran away and left
him. They say she ran away with the famous tenor, Brondi, who used to
sing Tristan. Since then the master has been soured-like!"

"That is strange," said Kaya dreamily, "to run away from some one you
love, when you can be with him night and day and never leave him!
Sometimes there is a curse, and you are torn by your love, whether to
go or stay. But if you love him enough, you go--and that is the best
love--to save him from the curse and suffer yourself alone. Perhaps
there was a curse."

"What are you saying?" cried the old woman, "When you were delirious,
it was always a curse you raved of, and stains on your hands. Mein
Gott! My blood ran cold just to hear you, and the Kapellmeister used
to come--"

Kaya turned white: "He came?" she said, "and he heard me? What did I
say, Marta, tell me! Tell me quickly!" She caught the old woman's
hands and wrung them between her own.

"Jesus-Maria! My knitting!--What you said, Fraeulein? How do I
remember! Stuff and nonsense mostly! You were crazy with fever, and
your eyes used to shine so, it made me afraid. Then the Kapellmeister
would come and put you to sleep with his eyes.--Let go of my hands,
Fraeulein, you are crushing the wool! Is it the fever come back?-- Oh
Je!"

"No," said Kaya, "No. You don't remember, Marta, whether I said any
name--any particular name? I didn't--did I?"

The nurse pondered for a moment, then she went on knitting: "I can't
remember," she said, "There was something you used to repeat, over and
over, a single word--it might have been a name. Won't you finish your
soup, Fraeulein?"

"No," said Kaya, "I am tired. Will you go down, Marta, and ask the
Kapellmeister if he will come for a moment? I have something to ask
him."

The nurse rose: "They are smoking still," she said, "Yes, I smell
their cigars! If you have finished the soup, I will take the tray.
Jesus-Maria! You are flushed, Fraeulein, and before you were so white!
You are sure it is not the fever come back?"

"Feel my hands," said Kaya, "Is that fever?" Then she shut her eyes.
She heard clumsy footsteps descending the stairs, and then a pause; and
after a moment or two steps coming back, but they were firm and quick,
and her heart kept