She felt that she must get away from him, away
from his insinuating voice, from the ardour of those whispered words
which seemed to burn into her very soul. The very night seemed to be in
league with him, the darkness and the silence and all those soft sounds
of gently-murmuring river and calls of birds and beasts, and the
fragrance of dying flowers which numbed the senses and obliterated the
thought of God, of duty and of parents.

"No, no, Andor," she murmured feebly, "you have no right to speak like
that. I am tokened to Bela. I have sworn that I would be his wife. My
hand was in his and the Pater blessed us; and it was after Holy
Communion and when Christ Himself was in my heart! And there is mother
too and father, the house which Bela promised them, the oxen and the
pigs, a maid to look after father. Mother would curse me if I cheated
her of all that now."

"When we are settled in Australia," he pleaded earnestly, "we will write
to your parents and send them money to come out and join us."

"Father is paralysed. How could he come? And mother would curse me. And
a mother's curse, Andor, is registered by God."

"Elsa, if you loved me you would leave father and mother and come with
me."

"Then perhaps I do not love you, Andor," she said slowly, "for I could
not bear my mother's curse, I could not break the pledge which I swore
after Holy Communion! I could not commit so great a sin, Andor, not even
for your sake, for if I did remorse would break my heart, and all your
love for me would not compensate me for the sin."

And before he could say another word, before his arms could once more
close round her or his trembling hands clutch at her fluttering
petticoats, she was gone--vanished out of his grasp and into the
darkness, and only the patter of her little feet broke the silence of
the night.

CHAPTER XXV

"In any case Elsa is not for you."

Andor with a sigh of heartbroken disappointment now turned to go into
the inn. He had the key in his hand which my lord the young count had
given him with a careless laugh and a condescending nod of
acknowledgment for the service thus rendered to him and to Klara.

The door of the tap-room was still wide open, a narrow wedge-shaped
light filtrated through on to the beams and floor of the verandah,
making the surrounding blackness seem yet more impenetrable.

Andor entered the tap-room and walked straight up to the centre table,
and he placed the key upon the