It seems to me the whirl of the earth has stopped.

Never was there a night so hushed in expectation;" and these words too she spoke without a falter or a lifting note, breathing easily like a child asleep, and not changing her direct gaze from Wogan's face.

"I am afraid," she continued, "of you and me.

I am the more afraid;" and Wogan set the shutter in its place and let the bar fall.

Clementina with a breath of relief came back to her seat at the table.
"How long is it till dawn ?" she said.
"We have half an hour," said Wogan.
"Well, that old man--Count von Ahlen, you said--received you, heaped logs upon his fire, stanched your wounds, and asked no questions.