’Again the undefinable spell that seemed to attach to the fascinating Adele, filled my mind with reveries of wondrous interest.  What was her part in this drama that was enacting so close beside me?  Was she the victim or the enchantress?  During the long vigils of that night, I asked this question of myself many a time and oft, and yet could arrive at no solution of my doubts.  The soft, regular sound, produced by her breathing, in the next room, the door of which remained ajar—­for she had thrown herself upon my bed, without removing her apparel—­fell upon my ear, and proved she slept in all the tranquillity of innocence.  And yet the very tranquillity of that sleep almost excited my displeasure; for it seemed to evince a listless, reckless indifference to danger, a lack of tender, womanly sympathy for suffering and sickness, that might indeed arise from a heart untouched by any love, save that of self.

’I was just rolling up another cigarette, when, as the day dawned, Adele entered.  She was lovely, and radiant with smiles.  The closest and most sagacious observer would have failed to discern the slightest trace of the excitement through which she had passed but a few short hours before.  She thanked me for my kind assistance, with a bewitching grace, almost girlish in its simplicity, and begged me to retire, and take the rest she felt assured I must need.  Before so doing, however, it was agreed that the door leading to my room should in future remain unfastened, in case of a recurrence of the danger that had menaced her the previous night.

’Feeling no drowsiness, but rather a desire for fresh air, I mounted to the cupola that adorned the roof of our house, and for a couple of hours I sat there, enjoying the delicious breeze and the picturesque panorama that lay beneath my feet, and the motley groups that swarmed to early prayers up the Cathedral steps.

’At last, I felt like strengthening the inner man, and determined to step down as far as Veroley’s, the fashionable cafe of the city, and there to take a right good breakfast.  I returned to my room to replenish my purse, and to take my dagger and revolver.  I found the purse and revolver on the shelf where I had left them, untouched, but my search for the dagger proved fruitless.  Yet with it I had wrenched out the staples that fastened the door, and to my knowledge no one had had access to my room since that time, save Adele.

’After taking my breakfast, and calling for my letters, I paid one or two visits, and ere I returned home, it was well nigh three in the afternoon.

’I had not been seated long, ere Mr. Livermore entered.  He appeared to have completely recovered from his attack.

’’Of two evils, the adage advises us to choose the lesser.  I would, therefore, prefer to appear intrusive rather than ungrateful; so excuse me if I trespass on your time or your patience.  After the generous devotion you displayed last night, and after what Adele moreover has told me, I feel I am bound to inform you whom you have thus befriended; for, as you have already learned, Albert Pride is not my real name.’