. She had a single glimpse of his face as he turned away, and it
seemed to her that she had looked upon the face of a man in torture. He
went away without a word, and she was left alone.

And so for hours she lay, unmindful of the storm, regardless utterly of
aught that happened, lying with wide eyes and burning cheeks, conscious
only of that ever-growing wonder that was not fear.

At dawn the wind abated and the yacht began to pitch less. When the sun
had been up for a few hours, the gale of the night was a thing of the
past, and only the white-capped waves were left as a laughing reminder
of the storm that had passed over.

The day was brilliant, and Stephanie arose at length with a feeling that
she must go up into the sunshine and face the future. The thought of
meeting Pierre even could not ultimately detain her below, though it
kept her there considerably longer than usual. After all, was she not
bound to meet him? Of what use was it to shirk the inevitable?

But when she finally entered the saloon, he was not there. The table was
laid for breakfast, and a sailor was at hand to serve her. But of Pierre
there was no sign. He evidently had no intention of joining her.

She made no inquiry for him, but as soon as the meal was over she took
her cloak and prepared to go on deck. With nervous haste she passed the
scene of the previous night's encounter. She almost expected to find
Pierre waiting for her at the top of the companion, but she looked for
him in vain. And even when she finally stepped upon the deck and crossed
to the rail that she might search the whole length of the yacht, she
could not discover him.

A vague uneasiness began to trouble her. The suspense was hard to bear.
She longed to meet him and have done with it.

But she longed in vain. All through the sunny hours of the morning she
sat or paced in solitude. No one came near her till her breakfast
attendant appeared with another meal.

By the end of the afternoon she was thoroughly miserable. She longed
intensely to inquire for the yacht's master, yet could not bring herself
to do so. Eventually it began to rain, and she went below and sat in the
saloon, trying, quite ineffectually, to ease her torment of suspense
with a book. But she comprehended nothing of what she read, and when the
young cabin steward appeared again to set the dinner she looked up in
desperation.

She was on the point of questioning him as to his master's whereabouts;
the