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There was no dismay in his voice, but neither was there exultation. He simply stated the fact with absolute composure. Her heart gave a wild throb of misgiving. Was the man wholly sane?

Again she caught wildly at her failing courage, and drew herself up to her full height. Perhaps she might awe him, even yet.

“Sir,” she said, “I am Sir Roland Brooke’s wife. And I–“

“Egad!” he broke in banteringly, “that was yesterday. You are free to-day. I have brought you out of bondage. We have found paradise together, and, my pretty Lady Una, there is no way back.”

“But there is, there is!” she cried desperately. “And I must find it! I tell you I am Sir Roland Brooke’s wife. I belong to him. No one can keep me from him!”

It was as though she beat upon an iron door.

“There is no way out of the magic circle,” said the jester inexorably.

A white shaft of light illumined the mist above them, revealing the girl’s pale face, making sinister the man’s masked one. He seemed to be smiling. He bent towards her.

“You seem amazingly fond of your chains,” he said softly. “And yet, from what I have heard, Sir Roland is no gentle tyrant. How is it, pretty one? What makes you cling to your bondage so?”

“He is my husband!” she said, through white lips.

“Faith, that is no answer,” he declared. “Own, now, that you hate him, that you loathe his presence and shudder at his touch! I told you I was a magician, Lady Una; but you wouldn’t believe me at all.”

She confronted him with a sudden fury that marvellously reinforced her failing courage.

“You lie, sir!” she cried, stamping passionately upon the soft earth. “I do none of these things. I have never hated him. I have never shrunk from his touch. We have not understood each other, perhaps, but that is a different matter, and no concern of yours.”

“He has not made you happy,” said the jester persistently. “You will never go back to him now that you are free!”

“I will go back to him!” she cried stormily. “How dare you say such a thing to me? How dare you?”

He came nearer to her.

“Listen!” he said. “It is deliverance that I am offering you. I ask nothing at all in return, simply to make you happy, and to teach you the blessed magic which now you scorn. Faith! It’s the greatest game in the world, Lady Una; and it only takes two players, dear, only two players!”

There was a subtle, caressing quality in his voice. His masked face was bending close to hers. She felt trapped and helpless, but she forced herself to stand her ground.

“You insult me!” she said, her voice quivering, but striving to be calm.

“Never a bit!” he declared. “Since I am the truest friend you have!”

She drew away from him with a gesture of repulsion.

“You insult me!” she said again. “I have my husband, and I need no other.”

He laughed sneeringly, the insinuating banter all gone from his manner.

“You know he is nothing to you,” he said. “He neglects you. He bullies you. You married him because you wanted to be a married woman. Be honest, now! You never loved him. You do not know what love is!”

“It is false!” she cried. “I will not listen to you. Let me go!”

He took a sudden step forward.

“You refuse deliverance?” he questioned harshly.

She did not retreat this time, but faced him proudly.

“I do!”

“Listen!” he said again, and his voice was stern. “Sir Roland Brooke has returned home. He knows that you have disobeyed him. He knows that you are here with me. You will not dare to face him. You have gone too far to return.”

She gasped hysterically, and tottered for an instant, but recovered herself.

“I will–I will go back!” she said.

“He will beat you like a labourer’s wife,” warned the jester. “He may do worse.”

She was swaying as she stood.