"Oh, I trust you!" she said. "If you tell me it is not a terrible sin I will believe you--I do not know--I cannot think--I--" But she could speak no more because she was in his arms. The intense, unutterable joy--the maddening, intoxicating bliss of the next hour! To have her there, unresisting--to caress her lips and eyes and hair--to murmur love words--to call her his very own! Nothing in heaven could equal this, and no hell was a price too great to pay--so it seemed to him. It was the supremest moment of his life; and how much more of hers who knew none other, who had never received the kisses of men or thrilled to any touch but his! After a little she drew herself away and shivered. She knew she was wicked now--very, very wicked--but it was again characteristic of her that having made her decision there was no vacillation about her. The die was cast--for that night they were to be happy, and all the rest of her life should be penitence and atonement. But to-night there was no room for anything but joy. She had never dreamed in her most secret thoughts of moments so gloriously sweet as these--to have a lover--and such a lover! And it was true--it must be true--that they had lived before, and all this passion was not the growth of one short week. It seemed as if it was all her life, all her being--it could mean nothing now but Hector--Hector--Hector! And over and over again he made her whisper in his ear that she loved him--nor could she ever tire of hearing him say he worshipped her. Oh, they were foolish and tender and wonderful, as lovers always are. He had given his orders beforehand and the chauffeur was a man of intelligence. They drove in the most beautiful _allee_ when they came to the Bois--and no incident ruffled the exquisite peace and bliss of their time. Suddenly Hector became aware of the fact it was just upon half-past ten, and they were almost in sight of Madrid, which would end it all. And a pang of hideous pain shot through him, and he did not speak. In the distance the lights blazed into the night, and the sight of them froze Theodora to ice. It was finished then--their hour of joy. "My darling," he exclaimed, passionately, "good-bye, and remember all my life is in your hands, and I will spend it in worship of you and thankfulness for this hour of yourself you have given to me. I am yours to do with as you will until death do us part." "And I," said Theodora, "will never love another man--and if we have sinned we have sinned together--and now, oh, Hector, we must face our fates." Her voice tore his very heartstrings in its unutterable pathos. And in that last passionate kiss it seemed as if they exchanged their very souls. Then they drove into the glare of the restaurant lights, having tasted of the knowledge of good and evil. XIII