re gratification of obstinate desire
entered in its composition. He loved Gilda for herself alone, with all
the adoration which a pious man would have given to his God, and while
one moment of his life was occupied in planning a ruthless and dastardly
murder, the other was filled with hopes of a happier future, with Gilda
beside him as his idolized wife. But though his love was in itself pure
and selfless, he remained true to his unscrupulous nature in the means
which he adopted in order to win the object of his love.

Even now, when he entered her presence in the miserable peasant's hut
where he chose to hold her a prisoner, he felt no remorse at the
recollection of what she must have suffered in the past few days; his
one thought was--now that he had her completely under his control--how
he could best plead his cause first, or succeed in coercing her will if
she proved unkind.

She received him quite calmly, and even with a gracious nod of the head,
and he thought that he had never seen her look more beautiful than she
did now, in her straight white gown, with that sweet, sad face of hers
framed by a wealth of golden curls. In this squalid setting of
white-washed walls and rafters blackened with age, she looked indeed--he
thought--like one of those fairy princesses held prisoner by a wicked
ogre--of whom he used to read long ago when he was a child, before sin
and treachery and that insatiable longing for revenge had wholly
darkened his soul.

With bare head and back bent nearly double in the depth of his homage he
approached his divinity.

"It is gracious of you, mejuffrouw, to receive me," he said forcing his
harsh voice to tones of gentleness.

"I had not the power to refuse, my lord," she replied quietly, "seeing
that I am in your hands and entirely at your commands."

"I entreat you do not say that," he rejoined eagerly, "there is no one
here who has the right to command save yourself. 'Tis I am in your hands
and your most humble slave."

"A truce to this farce, my lord," she retorted impatiently. "I were not
here if you happened to be my slave, and took commands from me."

"'Tis true mayhap that you would not be here, now, mejuffrouw," he said
blandly, "but I could only act for the best, and as speedily as I could.
The moment I heard that you were in the hands of brigands I moved heaven
and earth to find out where you were. I only heard this morning that you
were in Rotterdam...."

"You heard that I w