ant
with the loves of the past, neither could she support the divine pain
alone, and picking up a rose and a sprig of bay from the marble, tucked
them into the V of her bodice and walked out.

But she did speak, to remonstrate, in the sweetest, most imperfect
Hindustani in the world, when the man followed her at a quite
respectful distance.

"It is not safe for the mem-sahib to go alone," he answered. "A wild
animal, a man, a snake, might be in hiding. The mem-sahib should have
been accompanied by her guide."

Thus spoke Madhu Krishnaghar, who had not one evil thought about, nor
intent towards her, and who, having pushed the mandates of his religion
into the background for this one night, was living in the intoxication
of the actual moment.

Leonie walked round the outside of the marble dream bathed in
moonlight, occasionally stopping to ask a question of the man who
followed.

"Is it the tomb of an ancestor of the present prince?" she inquired
haltingly.

"No! mem-sahib! look at the lettering in black marble inset in the
white; right round the tomb run those verses from the Koran. A
Mohammedan emperor built it--_I_ am a Hindu," the pause was scarcely
noticeable as he added quietly, "as is everyone upon the prince's
estates."

She stopped in front of one of the four towers which stand at each
corner of the marble terrace, and looked upwards.

"I am going up," she said.

"Nay! mem-sahib. These towers are climbed only with a guide and a
lamp. They are not clean, they are not safe. A snake, a pariah dog, a
man might be on the stairs which wind round and round, and are as black
as a night of storm."

Leonie had climbed the few outer steps and was standing inside the
door. Not once had the untowardness of the whole proceeding struck
her, nor had she given a thought to the fact that the man with her was
a low-caste elephant driver, not fit to touch her shoe-string.

She made no reply, and disappeared into the darkness. You can see
fairly well up to one half of the tower, then pitch blackness surrounds
you, and you begin to feel cautiously with hands and feet for that
reason; also because just about here your head begins to whirl owing to
the stifling atmosphere, and the architect's corkscrew design.

She had no idea that the man, alarmed for her safety, was following
her, and she stopped and gasped near the top, wondering how much
farther she had to go, and almost wishing that she had not started; and