form being concealed by the shade of the tall
evergreens which he skirted.

He watched Nisida and her companion until they disappeared by a small
private door at the back of the mansion; and this door was by them
incautiously left unlocked, though shut close. It opened rapidly to
Wagner's hand, and he found himself at the foot of a dark staircase, the
sound of ascending steps on which met his ears. Up that narrow flight he
sped, noiselessly but hastily; and in a few moments he was stopped by
another door which had just closed behind those whom he was following.
Here he was compelled to pause, in the hope that the partition might not
be so thick as completely to intercept the sounds of the voices in the
chamber; but after listening with breathless attention for a few
minutes, he could not catch even the murmuring of a whisper. It now
struck him that Nisida and her companion might have passed on into a
room more remote than the one to which that door had admitted them; and
he resolved to follow on. Accordingly, he opened the door with such
successful precaution that not a sound--not even the creaking of the
hinge was the result; and he immediately perceived that there was a
thick curtain within; for it will be recollected that this door was
behind the drapery of Nisida's bed. At the same time, a light, somewhat
subdued by the thick curtain, appeared; and the sound of voices met
Fernand's ears.

"Signor," said the melodious voice of Nisida, in its sweetest, softest
tones, "it is due to myself to tender fitting excuse for introducing you
thus into my private chamber; but the necessity of discoursing together
without fear of interruption, and in some place that is secure from the
impertinence of eavesdroppers, must serve as an apology."

"Lady," replied Demetrius, "it needed no explanation of your motive in
bringing me hither to command on my part that respect which is due to
you."

A weight was removed from Wagner's mind: it was assuredly no tender
sentiment that had brought Nisida and the Greek together this night; and
the curiosity of Fernand was therefore excited all the more strongly.

"We will not waste time in unnecessary parlance," resumed Nisida, after
a short pause; "nor must you seek to learn the causes--the powerful
causes, which have urged me to impose upon myself the awful sacrifice
involved in the simulation of loss of speech and hearing. Suffice it for
you to know that, when on board the kapitan-pasha's