in," she observed.

"He did," said Nap.

"And you?"

He leaned back with his face to the sky. "Not yet," he said.

Anne was silent. He turned after a moment and looked at her. "And what
have you been doing, 0 Queen?" he said.

Her hands were clasped in her lap. They suddenly gripped each other
very fast.

"Won't you tell me?" said Nap.

He spoke very softly, but he made no movement towards her. He sat aloof
and still. Yet he plainly desired an answer.

It came at last, spoken almost in a whisper. "I have been--waiting."

"Waiting--" he said.

She parted her hands suddenly, with a gesture that was passionate, and
rose. "Yes, waiting," she said, "waiting, Nap, waiting! And oh, I'm so
tired of it. I'm not like you. I have never wanted--many things; only
one--only one!" Her voice broke. She turned sharply from him.

Nap had sprung to his feet. He stood close to her. But he held himself
in check. He kept all emotion out of his face and voice.

"Do you think I don't know?" he said. "My dear Anne, I have always known.
That's the damnable part of it. You've wanted truth instead of
treachery, honour instead of shame, love instead of--"

She put out a quick hand. "Don't say it, Nap!"

He took her hand, drew it to his heart, and held it there. "And you say
you don't want many things," he went on, in a tone half sad, half
whimsical. "My dear, if I could give you one tenth of what you want--and
ought to have--you'd be a lucky woman and I a thrice lucky man.
But--we've got to face it--I can't. I thought I could train myself,
fashion myself, into something worthy of your acceptance. I can't. I
thought I could win back your trust, your friendship, last of all your
love. But I can't even begin. You can send me away from you if you will,
and I'll go for good and all. On the other hand, you can keep me, you can
marry me--" He paused; and she fancied she felt his heart quicken. "You
can marry me," he said again, "but you can't tame me. You'll find me an
infernal trial to live with. I'm not a devil any longer. No, and I'm not
a brute. But I am still a savage at heart, and there are some parts of me
that won't tame. My love for you is a seething furnace, an intolerable
craving. I can't contemplate you sanely. I want you unspeakably."

His hold had tightened. She could feel his heart throbbing now like a
fierce thing caged. His eyes had begun to glow. The furnace door was
opening. She could feel the heat rushing out, envelop