"You know!" he gasped. "You make me mad--I----But won't you teach me
to see? No one wants to be blind! Teach me to see with your eyes,
lady--my lady."
"Yes, I will teach you!" she said. "Teach you a number of
things. Together we will put on the hat of darkness and go down into
Hades. We shall taste the apples of the Hesperides--we will rob
Mercure of his sandals--and Gyges of his ring. And one day, Paul--when
together we have fathomed the meaning of it all--what will happen
then, _enfant?_"
Her last word, "_enfant,_" was a caress, and Paul was too
bewildered with joy to answer her for a moment.
"What will happen?" he said at last. "I shall just love you--that's
all!"
Then he remembered Isabella Waring, and suddenly covered his face with
his hands.
They stopped for tea at the quaint chalet-hotel, and after it they
wandered to pick gentians. The lady was sweet and sympathetic and gay;
she ceased startling him with wild fancies; indeed, she spoke of
simple everyday things, and got him to tell her of his home and
Oxford, and his horses and his dogs. And when they arrived at the
subject of Pike, her sympathy drew Paul nearer to her than ever. Of
course she would love Pike if she only knew him! Who could help loving
a dog like Pike? And his master waxed eloquent.
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