It is not good to write this down, because some day Mina might read this, and it will cause her pain, but it is the truth. They whispered together, and then all three of them laughed. It was a silvery, musical laugh, but it sounded too hard to have ever come through the softness of human lips. It was like the unbearable, tingling sweetness of waterglasses when a cunning hand plays them. The fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two urged her to go on.

One said, "Go on! You are first, and we shall follow. You are the one who should begin."

The other added, "He is young and strong. There are kisses for us all."

I lay quiet, looking out from under my eyelashes in delightful anticipation. The fair girl came forward and bent over me till I could feel her breath upon me. In one way it was sweet, honey-sweet, and sent the same tingling through my nerves as her voice did. But there was something bitter underneath the sweet, something bitter and disturbing, like the smell of blood.