excited. He was swaying a little himself from the intoxication of the dance. 

 "Take me away somewhere, some quiet place," she whispered back.  "Let me rest—I am faint." 

 He drew her after him and the two figures, the scarlet and the white, passed under the archway into a salon beyond. The Prince raised a curtain: "This is the Duke's own room," he said in her ear, "Go under—be quick!" 

 The curtain fell heavily behind them and the two stood alone in the Grand-Duke's room. There was a desk in the corner littered with papers, a lamp stood beside, heavily shaded, and back in the shadowy recesses was a couch. 

 "Help me there," whispered the Countess, "And then go—go, Prince, leave me. My head is on fire! See, my cheeks, my hands, how they burn? Help me to the couch." 

 She staggered and almost fell as they approached it, burying her face in her hands. 

 "I can't leave you," said the Prince. He was on his knees beside her, kissing her hands, trying to draw them down from her face.  "Kaya, what is the matter? Don't hide your eyes—look at me. Shall I call some one? Are you ill?" 

 The Countess drew back against the cushions, shuddering, pushing him from her: "Don't call any one," she said, "Give me that water on the table there."  Her eyes were wide open now and dilated; the hair fell disordered in golden rings and waves about the oval of her face. She drew her breath heavily; her bosom rising and falling like waves after a storm. One hand pressed her lace as if to clutch the pulsing and steady it; the other held the glass to her trembling lips. 

 The Prince hovered over the couch. He was pale and the crossing of his eyes was more pronounced than ever.  "Drink now," he whispered soothingly as if to a child in trouble, "Drink it slowly. It is wine, not water, and will bring back your strength. It was the dance; ah, it was so fast, so mad. You were wonderful! The blood beats in my veins still; I can feel the rhythm throbbing, can you? Speak to me, Countess—are you better?" 

 "Is any one here," said the girl faintly, "Are we alone?" 

 "Yes, yes, we are alone." 

 "Will the Duke come in?" 

 "Not yet. Put your head back against the cushions and rest. The colour is gone from your cheeks and you are pale like 

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