I woke to a black night.  The stars looked cold, and the men beside me lay as if dead.  I looked up and watched the roll of the planets.  The mystery of infinity which lies naked at midnight in the wilderness drives some men mad.  Heretofore I had been untouched by it except with delight.  Now I crept cautiously to my feet and went softly to the woman.

I know that I stepped without sound, but as I stood for a moment looking down at the couch of boughs where she lay I heard a guarded whisper.

“Monsieur, monsieur.”

I bent over her.  Her eyes were not only open, but wakeful, and her small face looked white against the dark blanket.

“What is it, monsieur?” she whispered.

I knelt that I might answer softly.  “I woke, and thought you were in danger.  I came to look at you and be sure that all was well.  You do not sleep, madame?”

She shook her head.  “I slept, but I dreamed.  And you, monsieur?”

“I, too, have dreamed.”

I thought that she smiled at me, though her face, when I leaned to see it clearly, blurred into the dark.

“Will you sleep the rest of the night within sound of my voice?” she asked, with a little tremble in her whisper.  “The wilderness tonight is like that storm.  Its greatness terrifies me.  Do you think that all is well, monsieur?”

I was glad that she could not see my face.  “Yes, I think that all is very well,” I answered.  “Blessedly well.  Sleep, now, madame.  I shall stay here, and your whisper would wake me.  Is there terror in the wilderness now?”

Again she shook her head.  “No,” she whispered.

I lay beside her couch and cushioned my head in my arm.  I had answered her truly.  All was very well with me, for at last I saw clearly; I knew myself.  The dream, the night, and something that I could not name, had stripped me naked to my own understanding.  I felt as if, man that I had thought myself, I had played with toys until this moment, and that now, for the first time, I was conscious of my full power for joy or suffering.  I looked up through the star spaces and was grateful for knowledge, for knowledge even if it brought pain.

I had not lain this way long when I heard her stir.

“Monsieur,” came her whisper.

I lifted myself to my knees.  “Yes, madame.”

“You were not asleep?”

“No, madame.”

“Monsieur, I was loath to disturb you, but I cannot sleep.  Tell me.  Suppose that Lord Starling should find us.  Will he have power to take me?”

“Away from your husband?  How could he, madame?”

She stirred, and turned her face from me, even though I could not see it in the dark.

“But he has a warrant,” she whispered.  “The letter said that you must deliver me to my cousin if we were found.  What will be done with you, monsieur, if you refuse to obey?”

Then I bent close and let her hear me laugh softly.