"Ah! do not heed me," she answered. "Your love for me is dead. Yet I am still yours, and in this matter you must, if you value your safety, trust me." "But Malvano is an excellent fellow," he protested. "I must just wish him good-night. What would he think if he knew I had been here and had this private interview with you?" "No, Nino," she cried, her countenance pale and earnest. "You must not! You hear me? You must not. If it were known that I had given you warning then my position would be one of greater peril than it now is." "But surely I need not fear the Doctor? Every one about here knows him. He's the most popular man for miles around." "And the most dangerous," she whispered. "No, for my sake, fly, Nino. He may enter this room at any moment. I love you, and no harm shall befall you if you will obey me. Leave this place at once, and promise me not to make any attempt to see Malvano." His eyes met hers, and he saw in them a love-light that was unmistakable. By her clear open glance he became almost convinced that she was speaking the truth. Yet he still hesitated. "Ah!" she cried, suddenly flinging her arms again about his neck. "Go, Nino; you are unsafe here. Leave England to-morrow for my sake--for my sake, caro. But kiss me once," she implored in her sweet, lisping Italian. "Give me one single kiss before you part from me." His brow darkened. He held his breath. "No, no," she cried wildly, divining his disinclination, "I am not the Contessa Funaro, now. I am Gemma--the woman who loves you, the woman who is at this moment risking her life for you. Kiss me. Then go. Fly, caro, abroad, and may no harm befall you, Nino, my beloved!" Then she raised her beautiful face to his. His countenance relaxed, he bent swiftly, and their lips met in one long, tender, passionate caress. Then, urged by her, he wished her a whispered farewell, and disappeared through the heavy curtains before the window as silently as he had come, while she stood panting, breathless, but in an ecstasy of contentment. Once again he had pressed her lips and breathed one single word of love. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. THE UNKNOWN.