r pride,
appealingly. But still, there was a note of high pride in all this--in
all she said and did, in her attitude and movement, in the tones of her
voice, in the loftiness of her carriage and the steadfast look of her
open, starlit eyes. Altogether, there was something so rarely lofty in
herself and all that clad her that, face to face with it and with her, my
feeble attempt at moral precaution seemed puny, ridiculous, and out of
place. Without a word in the doing, I took from an old chiffonier chest
an armful of blankets, several of which I threw over her as she lay, for
in the meantime, having replaced the coverlet, she had lain down at
length on the bed. I took a chair, and sat down beside her. When she
stretched out her hand from beneath the pile of wraps, I took it in mine,
saying:

"Get warm and rest. Sleep if you can. You need not fear; I shall guard
you with my life."

She looked at me gratefully, her starry eyes taking a new light more full
of illumination than was afforded by the wax candle, which was shaded
from her by my body . . . She was horribly cold, and her teeth chattered
so violently that I feared lest she should have incurred some dangerous
evil from her wetting and the cold that followed it. I felt, however, so
awkward that I could find no words to express my fears; moreover, I
hardly dared say anything at all regarding herself after the haughty way
in which she had received my well-meant protest. Manifestly I was but to
her as a sort of refuge and provider of heat, altogether impersonal, and
not to be regarded in any degree as an individual. In these humiliating
circumstances what could I do but sit quiet--and wait developments?

Little by little the fierce chattering of her teeth began to abate as the
warmth of her surroundings stole through her. I also felt, even in this
strangely awakening position, the influence of the quiet; and sleep began
to steal over me. Several times I tried to fend it off, but, as I could
not make any overt movement without alarming my strange and beautiful
companion, I had to yield myself to drowsiness. I was still in such an
overwhelming stupor of surprise that I could not even think freely.
There was nothing for me but to control myself and wait. Before I could
well fix my thoughts I was asleep.

I was recalled to consciousness by hearing, even through the pall of
sleep that bound me, the crowing of a cock in some of the out-offices of
the castle