u know why I cannot kill you? Why I let
you stay here in the tower?" A faint, almost wistful smile parted his
thin lips; he did not take his eyes from Elza.

"I am greatly handicapped, Wolfgar. The Lady Elza here would not like to
have me put you to death. She would not even care to have me mistreat
you. She is very tender hearted." He raised a deprecating hand. "Ah,
Lady Elza, does that surprise you? You never told me I must be lenient
with this traitor? Of course not."

"I----" Elza began, but he stopped her.

"You see, Lady Elza, I have already learned to obey you." He was smiling
very gently. "Learned to obey even your unspoken commands."

I wondered how much of this attitude might be sincere, and how much
calculated trickery. Could Elza, indeed, control him?

She must have had much the same thought, for she said with a forced
smile: "You give me a great deal of power. If you--wish to obey me,
you'll set us free--send us all to Washington."

That amused him. "Ah, but I cannot do that."

She gained confidence. "You are willing to be very gracious in things
which do not inconvenience you, Tarrano. It is not very impressive."

He looked hurt. "You misinterpret. I will do for you anything I can. But
you must remember, Lady Elza, that my judgment is better than yours. I
would not let you lead us into disaster. You are a gentle little woman.
Your instincts are toward humane treatment of everyone--toward mercy
rather than justice. In all such things, I shall be guided by you.
Justice--tempered with mercy. A union very, very beautiful, Lady
Elza ... But, you see, beyond that--you are wrong. I am a man, and in
the big things I must dominate. It is I who guide, and you who follow.
You see that, don't you?"

The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable. And my heart sank as I
watched Elza. Her gaze fell, and a flush mantled her cheeks. Tarrano
added quietly: "We shall have no difficulty, you and I, Lady Elza. Each
of us a place, and a duty. A destiny together...."

He broke off and rose quickly to his feet. "Enough. I have been weak to
say so much as this."

He turned to leave us, and I became aware of a woman's figure standing
in the shadows of the archway across the room. She started forward as
Tarrano glanced her way. A Venus woman of the Cold Country. Yet,
obviously, one of good birth and breeding. A woman of perhaps 30 years,
beautiful in the Venus cast; dressed in the conventional bodice
breast-plates and sho