h in pain. I laughed outright, glad that I had
made him feel.

"Adrea!" he said slowly. "I was never a hypocrite to you. In your
presence I have never breathed a word of my religion. Think for a
moment of those days at Cruta. Did I not refuse to confess you? Why?
You know! Because of those long, dreamy days we spent together, not as
priest and penitent, but as man and woman. Do you remember them--the
cliffs, with their giant shadows standing out across the blue waters
of the harbour; the hollows, where we sat amongst the perfumed wild
flowers, gazing across the sea, and watching the white sails in the
distance; the nights, with their white moonlight and silent grandeur!
Ay, Adrea! look me in the face, if you can, and tell me that you have
forgotten them! You cannot! You dare not! It was you who brought me
those books of wild, passionate poetry whose music entered into my
very soul! It was you who tempted me with soft words, with your music,
with your beauty, into that world of sense which holds me prisoner for
ever. What I once was, I can never be again! It is you who worked the
change--you who awoke my man's heart, and set it beating for ever
at your touch, at your movements, at the sight of you. It is you who
taught me how to love--who opened to me the rose-covered gates of
hell! There is no drawing back! You, who have dragged me down, shall
share my fall with me, for better or for worse! You shall not escape!
No other man shall have you! I have paid the price, and I will have
you!"

I wrenched myself free from the arms which were closing around me, and
stood trembling before him.

"Fool!" I cried. "You have dared to think of me like that because I
chose to make use of you at Cruta! Make use of you! Yes, that is what
I did! I wanted to escape! You and she were the only ones who could
help me! Save for that, I had never wasted a moment upon you. I never
thought of you as a man; you were only a priest. I never wished to see
you again! You are in my way now; you stand between me and the man I
love! I hate you!"

His dark eyes were lit up with a sudden fire and a deep flush stained
his cheeks. For the first time I seemed to see the man in him as well
as the priest, and I saw that he was handsome. It did not interest me;
I noticed it only as an incident.

"I do not believe it!" he exclaimed. "You are not so false as you
would have me believe, Adrea!"

His hand was on my wrist, and his dark eyes, strangely softened,