THE WILES OF CIRCE After that kiss, the lover believed that all his desires were about to be immediately realized.

The most difficult part of the road was already passed.

But with Freya one always had to expect something absurd and inconceivable.
The midday gun aroused them from a rapture that had lasted but a few seconds as long as years.

The steps of the guard, growing nearer all the time, finally separated the two and unlocked their arms.
Freya was the first to calm herself.

Only a slight haze flitted across her pupils now, like the vapor from a recently extinguished fire.
"Good-by....