ght he made some rapid sign to
Mercer. But the next moment she heard the door close softly, and knew
that he had gone.

She lay quite still thereafter, her heart fluttering too much for
speech. What would he say to her, she wondered; how would he break his
silence? She had no weapon to oppose against his anger. She was as
powerless before it as Beelzebub had been.

Suddenly he moved. He turned her head back upon his arm and looked
straight down into her eyes. She did not shrink. She would not. But her
heart died within her. She felt as if she were gazing into hell,
watching a soul in torment.

"Well?" he said at last. "Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied?" she faltered.

"As to the sort of monster you have married," he explained, with savage
bitterness. "You've been putting out feelers ever since you came here.
Did you think I didn't know? Well, you've found out a little more than
you wanted, this time. Perhaps it will be a lesson to you.
Perhaps"--sheer cruelty shone red in his eyes--"when you see what I've
done to you, you will remember that I am not a man to play with, and
that any one, man or woman, who interferes with me, must pay the price."

"I don't know what you mean," she answered with an effort. "What
happened was an accident."

"Was it?" he said brutally. "Was it?"

Still she did not shrink from him.

"Yes," she said. "It was an accident."

"How do you know?" he asked.

She answered him instantly. She had not realized till then that she was
fighting the flames for his soul. The knowledge came upon her suddenly,
and it gave her strength.

"Because I know that you love me," she said. "Because--because--though
you are cruel, and though you may be wicked--I love you, too."

She said it with absolute sincerity, but it was the hardest thing she
had ever done in her life. To tell this man who was half animal and half
fiend that he had not somehow touched the woman's heart in her seemed
almost a desecration. She saw the flare of passion leap up in his eyes,
and she was conscious for one sick moment of a feeling of downright
repulsion. If she had only succeeded in turning his savagery into
another channel she had spoken in vain; or, worse, she had made a
mistake that could never be remedied.

Abruptly she felt her courage waver. She shrank at last.

"I want you to understand," she faltered; and again, "I want you to
understand."

But she could get no further. She hid her face against him and began to