She saw him stretched on the bed, leaning on his elbow, laughing, and playing cards upon the lace coverlet.
She saw women with loose shining hair and bare limbs, and rubies and diamonds glimmering red and white.

She saw men lying about upon the couch, throwing dice and drinking and laughing one with another.
Beyond all she saw against the pillows of his bed a beautiful brown wicked looking thing like some velvet snake, who leaned over him as he threw down the painted cards upon the lace, and who had cast about his throat her curved bare arm with the great coils of dead gold all a-glitter on it.
And above it all there were odors of wines and flowers, clouds of smoke, shouts of laughter, music of shrill gay voices.
She stood like a frozen creature and saw--the rosebuds' in her hand.

Then with a great piercing cry she let the little roses fall, and turned and fled.

At the sound he looked up and saw her, and shook his beautiful brown harlot off him with an oath.
But Bebee flew down through the empty chambers and the long stairway as a hare flies from the hounds; her tired feet never paused, her aching limbs never slackened; she ran on, and on, and on, into the lighted streets, into the fresh night air; on, and on, and on, straight to the river.
From its brink some man's strength caught and held her.

She struggled with it.
"Let me die! let me die!" she shrieked to him, and strained from him to get at the cool gray silent water that waited for her there.
Then she lost all consciousness, and saw the stars no more.
When she came back to any sense of life, the stars were shining still, and the face of Jeannot was bending over her, wet with tears.
He had followed her to Paris when they had missed her first, and had come straight by train to the city, making sure it was thither she had come, and there had sought her many days, watching for her by the house of Flamen.
She shuddered away from him as he held her, and looked at him with blank, tearless eyes.
"Do not touch me--take me home." That was all she ever said to him.