And all this while he had resisted his strong desires, and never
even kissed her.

At last human endurance came to an end, and he said to her almost
fiercely:

"Stella, my beloved one, I cannot bear this, I can no longer
answer for myself. I shall settle you comfortably among the furs
where you must try to sleep, and I shall go outside with the
chauffeur. If I were to stay--"

And something in the tone of his voice and in his eyes made her at
last have some dim, incomprehensible fear, and yet exaltation, and
so she did not try to dissuade him, and soon was alone endeavoring
to collect her thoughts and understand the situation.

Thus eventually they reached Viterbo, and drew up at the station
door, when Count Roumovski seemed to have regained his usual calm
as he helped her out with tender solicitude. The passengers, they
learned, were still in the train, half a mile up the line, waiting
until it was cleared to go on to Rome.

At last, after generous greasing of palms, permission was given
for Count Roumovski to walk on and find his sister. And Stella was
put back into the motor to await their coming.

Her heart began to beat violently. What would she be like, this
future sister-in-law? She must be very fond of Sasha to have come
from Paris at a moment's notice like this, to do his bidding. It