As he spoke, Sheena felt his hand upon the bedclothes but the Comtesse gave a little cry,
“Leave her alone! Don’t dare touch her. She is dedicated. The sacrifice has been made on her. She is for one person and one person only and I know, whatever you may say, the power within her will draw the King like a magnet will draw a piece of steel. Come away! Come away quickly. We must not be found here.”
“I am coming.”
The Marquis’s voice was sulky and Sheena heard them moving away and the door closed behind them.
She lay there in an agony that was beyond words. To know what was happening and to be unable to move. To fight against the paralysis which held her limbs rigid and her lips silent was a torture such as only some monster of cruelty could have devised.
She fought and fought on against
