very soon--she would have to go down to him
and fight the final battle for her freedom. But she would wait till the
very last minute. She would spend the whole of the brief time accorded to
her in mustering all her strength. He had swept her pride utterly out of
her reach. But surely that was not her only weapon.

What of her hatred--that hatred that had driven her to this mad flight
with Jerry? Surely out of that she could fashion a shield that all his
savagery could not pierce. Moreover, he had given her his word to abide
by her decision whatever it might be, so long as she could convince him
of that same hatred that had once blazed so fiercely within her.

But what had happened to it, she wondered? It had wholly ceased to nerve
her for resistance. How was it? Was she too physically exhausted to fan
it into flame, or had he torn this also from her to wither underfoot with
her dead pride? Surely not! With all his boasts of mastery, he had not
mastered her yet. She would never submit to him--never, never! Crush her,
trample her as he would, she would never yield herself voluntarily to
him. It was only when he began to spare her that she found herself
wavering. Why had he spared her? she asked herself. Why had he given her
that single chance of escape?

Or, stay! Had he, after all, been generous? Had he but affected
generosity that he might the more completely subjugate her? He had said
that she must convince him that freedom from her chain would mean
happiness to her. And how could she ever convince him of this? How?
How? Would he ever see himself as she saw him--a monster of violence
whose very presence appalled her? The problem was hopeless, hopeless! She
knew that she could never make him understand.

Swiftly the time passed, and with every minute her resolution grew
weaker, her agitation more uncontrollable. She could not do it. She could
not face him with another challenge. It would kill her to resist him
again as she had resisted him on Jerry's behalf. And yet she must do
something. For, if she did not go to him, he would come to her. The
half-hour he had given her was nearly spent. If she did not make up her
mind soon it would be too late. It might be that already he was repenting
his brief generosity, if generosity it had been. It might be that at any
moment she would hear his tread upon the stairs.

She started up in a panic, fancying that she heard it already. But no
sound followed her wild alarm, and she