The Maltese cat died before six o'clock.

The poor creature suffered horribly, and Elettra carried it off to her room that Veronica might not see its agony.

But Veronica followed her maid.

Elettra had laid the beast upon a folded rug on the floor and knelt beside it.

It seemed half paralyzed already, but when Veronica knelt down, too, and tried to caress it, the cat sprang from them both in sudden terror.