— 9 — SEBASTIANHe wore a flame-coloured mantle that hung about him in heavy folds, and under that a tight yellow doublet; his hair drooped smoothly, there was a bright colour in his face, and his eyes sparkled.
“Ye are merry,” he mocked, glancing round him. “Will you that I play or sing?” He looked, in his direct burning way at Jacobea, and she answered hastily:
“Certes, with all my heart — the air is hot — and thick — tonight.”
Dirk laughed, and Theirry stared at him bewildered, so utterly had his demeanour changed; he was gay now, radiant; he leant against the wall in the centre of them and glanced from one silent face to another.
“I can play rarely,” he smiled.
Jacobea took an instrument from among the cushions in the window-seat; it was red, with a heart-shaped body, a long neck a
