Has Sobrenski given you anything to do
to-day?"
"I don't know. I can't remember. Oh, yes, I was to go to the Baroni's
at two o'clock."
"I'll see to that. A cipher message?"
"Yes. It's fastened under my hair." She dragged herself into a
sitting position and extracted the little wad of paper with shaking
hands. Emile took it.
"Good! I shall be back at five o'clock. You can get up later and come
round to my rooms. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
When he had gone she cowered down into the big bed shivering. Every
bone in her body ached as if she had been beaten. She had the
sensation of one who has been awakened from a bad dream. Was it all
real or not?
Last night and its doings seemed centuries ago. She still heard
Emile's voice as if from a distance, telling the story of the lovely
siren woman who had been strangled, and then the room rocked, and the
walls closed in upon her.
His words worked in her brain: "_Go in for the Cause seriously.
Remember it's liberty we are fighting for. A life more or less--what's
that? Yours or mine? What does it matter? Do you wonder we don't
make love to women? It's a goddess and not a woman before whom we burn
incense.
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