--as your prisoner?" she whispered, trying weakly to free herself
from his hold.

"As my guest," he said.

By an immense effort she controlled herself, meeting his stern eyes with
something like composure. But the memory of that single, scorching kiss
was still with her. And in spite of her utmost resolution, she flinched
from his direct gaze.

"If I am your guest," she said, her low voice quivering a very little,
"I am at liberty to come--and to go--as I will."

"Absolutely!" said Pierre, and she fancied for an instant that he
smiled.

"You will take me wherever I desire to go?" she persisted, still
battling with her agitation.

"With one exception," he answered quietly. "I will not take you back to
Maritas."

She shivered. "Then where, monsieur?"

His expression changed slightly. She had a momentary glimpse of the
arrogance she dreaded.

"The world is wide," he said. "And there is plenty of time before us. We
need not decide to-night."

She trembled more at the tone than the words. "I did not think you would
leave Maritas so soon," she murmured.

"Why not, mademoiselle?" His voice suddenly rang hard; it almost held a
threat.

She had withdrawn herself from him, but she was hardly capable of
standing alone. She leaned secretly against the chair from which she had
just risen.

"Because," she made answer, still desperately facing him, "I thought
that Maritas wanted you."

He uttered a brief laugh that sounded savage.

"That was yesterday," he told her grimly. "I have forfeited my
popularity since then."

A slow, painful flush rose in Stephanie's drawn face, but she shrank no
longer from his look. "And you have gained nothing in exchange," she
said, her voice very low.

"Except what I desired to gain," said Pierre Dumaresq.

She made a slight, involuntary movement, and instantly her brows
contracted. She closed her eyes with a shudder. The pain was almost
intolerable.

A moment later she felt his strong arms lift her and a sudden passion of
misery swept over her. Where was the use of feigning strength when he
knew so well her utter weakness; of fighting, when she was already so
hopelessly beaten; of begging his mercy even when he had warned her so
emphatically that she must not expect it?

Despair entered into her. She could resist him no longer by so much as
the lifting of a finger. And as the knowledge swept overwhelmingly upon
her, the last poor shred of her pride crumbled to nothing in a r