And presently, as one who muses-- "You!" she said again.

"You, whom I--" She stopped short.

"Oh! The shame of it!" she moaned.
Reason at last came uppermost, and as in my mind I completed her broken sentence, my heart gave a great throb and I was thawed to a gentler purpose.
"Mademoiselle!" I exclaimed.
But even as I spoke, she turned, and sweeping aside her gown that it might not touch me, she moved rapidly towards the steps we had just descended.

Full of remorse, I sprang after her.
"Mademoiselle! Hear me," I cried, and put forth my hand to stay her.
Thereat she wheeled round and faced me, a blaze of fury in her grey eyes.
"Dare not to touch me," she panted.

"You thief, you hound!" I recoiled, and, like one turned to stone, I stood and watched her mount the steps, my feelings swaying violently between anger and sorrow.