u were, when he had you, a prisoner?"
she demanded.

And--"No," he was obliged to say again.

"See." She took from her breast a tiny cross. "I had that as a child.
Would I kiss it, and--tell you a lie in the next breath?" He did not
answer. "I have lived up to the letter of my contract with his
excellency. It is at an end. Perhaps I am a little sorry for my own
part"--with a laugh slightly reckless--"or maybe"--with a flash of
seriousness--- "I have become, in the least, afraid. Your laws are very
severe, and--I had not counted on mademoiselle's steadfast resistance
to--_mon Dieu!_--a prince who had been considered irresistible--whose
principality is larger than one of your states--who would have made her,
in truth, a czaritza. I had fancied," in a rush of words, "the mad
episode might end as it did in the prince's favorite _Fire and Sword_
trilogy, with wedding-bells and rejoicing." She paused abruptly. "I had
also not counted on the all-important possibility that mademoiselle
might have bestowed her heart on another--"

"Madam!" It was Betty Dalrymple who spoke quickly.

Sonia Turgeinov laughed maliciously. "Go," she said, "or"--almost
fiercely--"I may change my mind."

They went; Sonia Turgeinov turned and looked out over the open space.
The approaching figures were now much nearer.

CHAPTER XXIII

STARLIGHT

Dusk had begun to fall, but still two figures went on through the
forest--slowly, with obvious effort. One turned often to the other, held
back a branch, or proffered such service as he might over rough places,
for Betty Dalrymple's movements were no longer those of a lithe
wood-nymph; she had never felt so weary before. The first shades of
twilight made it harder to distinguish their way amid intervening
objects, and once an elastic bit of underbrush struck her sharply in the
face. The blow smarted like the touch of a whip but she only smiled
faintly. The momentary sting spurred her on faster, until her foot
caught and she stumbled and would have fallen except that Mr.
Heatherbloom had turned at that moment and put out an arm.

"Forgive me." His voice was full of contrition. "It has been brutal to
make you go on like this, but I had to."

"It doesn't matter." The slender form slid from him over-quickly. "You,
too, must be very tired," she said with breath coming fast.

He glanced swiftly back; listened. "We'll rest here," he commanded.
"We've got to. I should have stopped before, but"--the