"Then you are out of danger. He will want nothing else of you. But you should have taken it with you." "I had only sufficient presence of mind to slip it back into the drawer. To-morrow I shall simply demand it." "You will do nothing of the kind. It is in his handwriting, and you have no legal proof that it is yours. You must take it away secretly. And he will not dare to reclaim it." "And Jack?" She had quite forgotten Jack. Women are invariably selfish for those they love. "You must warn him," she replied. "He would laugh at me. However, I must speak to Reginald." "It is of no avail to speak to him. At least, you must not do so before you have obtained the manuscript. It would unnecessarily jeopardise our plans." "And after?" "After, perhaps. But you must not expose yourself to any danger." "No, dear," he said, and kissed her; "what danger is there, provided I keep my wits about me? He steals upon men only in their sleep and in the dark." "Be careful, nevertheless." "I shall. In fact, I think he is not at home at this moment. If I go now I may be able to get hold of the manuscript and hide it before he returns." "I cannot but tremble to think of you in that house." "You shall have no more reason to tremble in a day or two." "Shall I see you to-morrow?" "I don't think so. I must go over my papers and things so as to be ready at any moment to leave the house." "And then?" "Then--" He took her in his arms and looked long and deeply into her eyes. "Yes," she replied--"at least, perhaps." Then he turned to go, resolute and happy. How strangely he had matured since the summer! Her heart swelled with the consciousness that it was her love that had effected this transformation. "As I cannot expect you to-morrow, I shall probably go to the opera, but I shall be at home before midnight. Will you call me up then? A word from you will put me at ease for the night, even if it comes over the telephone." "I will call you up. We moderns have an advantage over the ancients in this respect: the twentieth-century Pyramus can speak to Thisbe even if innumerable walls sever his body from hers." "A quaint conceit! But let us hope that our love-story will end less tragically," she said, tenderly caressing his hair. "Oh, we shall be happy, you and I," she added, after a while. "The iron finger of fate that lay so heavily on our lives is now withdrawn. Almost withdrawn. Yes, almost. Only almost." And then a sudden fear overcame her. "No," she cried, "do not go, do not go! Stay with me; stay here. I feel so frightened. I don't know what comes over me. I am afraid--afraid for you." "No, dear," he rejoined, "you need not be afraid. In your heart you don't want me to desert a friend, and, besides, leave the best part of my artistic life in Reginald's clutch." "Why should you expose yourself to God knows what danger for a friend who is ready to betray you?"