his face.

What if, in the end, this wild passion for her should conquer him and he
should give in, and have to confess that her cruel words did not hinder
him from loving her? It would be too ignominious. He must pull himself
together and firmly suppress every emotion. He determined to see her as
little as possible when they got to Paris, and when the ghastly
honeymoon week, that he had been contemplating with so much excitement
and joy should be over, then they would go back to England, and he would
take up politics in earnest, and try and absorb himself in that.

And Zara, lying in the cabin, was unconscious of any direct current of
thought; she was quite unconscious that already this beautiful young
husband of hers had made some impression upon her, and that, underneath,
for all her absorption in her little brother and her own affairs, she
was growing conscious of his presence and that his comings and goings
were things to remark about.

And, strengthened in his resolve to be true to the Tancred pride,
Tristram came back to her as they got into Calais harbor.

CHAPTER XVIII

The servants at the Ritz, in Paris, so exquisitely drilled, made no
apparent difference, when the bride and bridegroom arrived there about
half-past seven o'clock, than if they had been an elderly brother and
sister; and they were taken to the beautiful Empire suite on the Vendome
side of the first floor. Everything was perfection in the way of
arrangement, and the flowers were so particularly beautiful that Zara's
love for them caused her to cry out,

"Oh! the dear roses! I must just bury my face in them, first."

They had got through the railway journey very well; real, overcoming
fatigue had caused them both to sleep, and in the automobile, coming to
the hotel, they had exchanged a few stiff words.

"To-morrow night we can dine out at a restaurant," Tristram had said,
"but to-night perhaps you are tired and would rather go to bed?"

"Thank you," said Zara. "Yes, I would." For she thought she wanted to
write her letters to Mirko and tell him of her new name and place. So
she put on a tea-gown, and at about half-past eight joined Tristram in
the sitting-room. If they had not both been so strained their sense of
humor would not have permitted them to refrain from a laugh. For here
they sat in state, and, when the waiters were in the room, exchanged a
few remarks. But Zara did notice that her husband never once looked at
her with