efore her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye,
she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless.

"Nick, dear--" she pleaded.

He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back
across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire
had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan's was the hand that had
robbed him of it.

36

It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because
the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last
moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed
across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great
and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no
more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the
sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from
the first thrill of finding him not devil but man.

Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick
or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever;
for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she
wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the
invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His
love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a
superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly
visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came
to her eyes at the thought.

Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her
room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun's. Let no
one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn
to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt
her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most
lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by
this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring
Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale
under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the
love which he offered her?

She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But
nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that
night.

As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with
Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces o