In the darkness a deed was done,
A wild word spoken!
A joy was tasted,--a passion wasted,--
A heart was broken!
Not a glimpse of the moon shall shine,
Not a star shall mark
The passing of night,--or shed its light
On my Dream of the Dark!

The song died away in a shuddering echo, and before Gervase had
time to raise his eyes from their brooding study of the floor the
singer and her companion had noiselessly disappeared, and he was
left alone with the Princess Ziska. He drew along breath, and
turning fully round in his chair, looked at her steadily. There
was a faint smile on her lips--a smile of mingled mockery and
triumph,--her beautiful witch-like eyes glittered. Leaning towards
her, he grasped her hands suddenly in his own.

"Now," he whispered, "shall I speak or be silent?"

"Whichever you please," she responded composedly, still smiling.
"Speech or silence rest equally with yourself. I compel neither."

"That is false!" he said passionately. "You do compel! Your eyes
drag my very soul out of me--your touch drives me into frenzy! You
temptress! You force me to speak, though you know already what I
have to say! That I love you, love you! And that you love me! That
your whole life leaps to mine as mine to yours! You know all this;
if I were stricken dumb, you could read it in my face, but you
will have it spoken--you will extort from me the whole secret of