n.'

And she smiled to herself as if it were all child's play. Meanwhile her
heart was plunging, she was almost fainting. She could see him, in the
mirror, as he stood there behind her, tall and over-arching--blond and
terribly frightening. She glanced at his reflection with furtive eyes,
willing to give anything to save him from knowing she could see him. He
did not know she could see his reflection. He was looking
unconsciously, glisteningly down at her head, from which the hair fell
loose, as she brushed it with wild, nervous hand. She held her head
aside and brushed and brushed her hair madly. For her life, she could
not turn round and face him. For her life, SHE COULD NOT. And the
knowledge made her almost sink to the ground in a faint, helpless,
spent. She was aware of his frightening, impending figure standing
close behind her, she was aware of his hard, strong, unyielding chest,
close upon her back. And she felt she could not bear it any more, in a
few minutes she would fall down at his feet, grovelling at his feet,
and letting him destroy her.

The thought pricked up all her sharp intelligence and presence of mind.
She dared not turn round to him--and there he stood motionless,
unbroken. Summoning all her strength, she said, in a full, resonant,
nonchalant voice, that was forced out with all her remaining
self-control:

'Oh, would you mind looking in that bag behind there and giving me
my--'

Here her power fell inert. 'My what--my what--?' she screamed in
silence to herself.

But he had started round, surprised and startled that she should ask
him to look in her bag, which she always kept so VERY private to
herself.

She turned now, her face white, her dark eyes blazing with uncanny,
overwrought excitement. She saw him stooping to the bag, undoing the
loosely buckled strap, unattentive.

'Your what?' he asked.

'Oh, a little enamel box--yellow--with a design of a cormorant plucking
her breast--'

She went towards him, stooping her beautiful, bare arm, and deftly
turned some of her things, disclosing the box, which was exquisitely
painted.

'That is it, see,' she said, taking it from under his eyes.

And he was baffled now. He was left to fasten up the bag, whilst she
swiftly did up her hair for the night, and sat down to unfasten her
shoes. She would not turn her back to him any more.

He was baffled, frustrated, but unconscious. She had the whip hand over
him now. She knew he had not realise