With a fierce sweep of his arm, he threw the woman away from him. Then motioned to the others, as though he were pushing them back. It was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the wolves. His voice was low, almost in a whisper, but it seemed to cut through the air and then echo around the room. He said,

"How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware what you do with him, or you'll have to deal with me."

The fair girl, with a laugh of rude coquetry, turned to answer him. "You yourself never loved. You never love!" On this the other women joined in, and their mirthless, hard, soulless laughter echoed through the room so that it almost made me faint to hear it. It seemed like the pleasure of devils.

Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper, "Yes, I too can love. You yourselves know it from the past. Is it not so? Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you can kiss him as much as you want. Now go! Go! I must wake him up, because there is work to be done."