At the foot of the staircase stood Garth Dalmain. His face was
absolutely colourless, and his eyes shone out from it like burning
stars. He remained motionless until she stepped from the last stair
and stood close to him. Then with a sudden movement he caught her by
the shoulders and turned her round.

"Go back!" he said, and the overmastering need quivering in his
voice drew Jane's eyes to his in mute astonishment. "Go back at once
and sing it all over again, note for note, word for word, just as
before. Ah, don't stand here waiting! Go back now! Go back at once!
Don't you know that you MUST?"

Jane looked into those shining eyes. Something she saw in them
excused the brusque command of his tone. Without a word, she quietly
mounted the steps and walked across the platform to the piano.
People were still applauding, and redoubled their demonstrations of
delight as she appeared; but Jane took her seat at the instrument
without giving them a thought.

She was experiencing a very curious and unusual sensation. Never
before in her whole life had she obeyed a peremptory command. In her
childhood's days, Fraulein and Miss Jebb soon found out that they
could only obtain their desires by means of carefully worded
requests, or pathetic appeals to her good feelings and sense of
right. An unreasonable order, or a reasonable one unexplained,
promptly met with a point-blank refusal. And this characteristic
still obtained, though modified by time; and even the duchess, as a
rule, said "please" to Jane.

But now a young man with a white face and blazing eyes had