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But over and above the tired feeling and the unreality came gratitude to her deliverer. The thought of this made her suddenly raise her eyes and look across at him.

Certainly his face was very proud, and the shadows lurking underneath his eyes and at the corners of his mouth gave it a dark, forbidding expression. It was not altogether pleasant.

“The feature I like best is his nose,” thought Rosalie. “The one that frightens me most is his mouth; the one that most interests me is his eyes.”

“You have been very kind to me,” she said. “Is there any way in which I can pay you back?”

But he shook his head.

“I do not think you could give me anything tangible, but perhaps you yourself will be able to suggest something.”

Rosalie flushed to the roots of her hair. “I haven’t anything,” she answered.

“Not even a soul?”

“What is that?”

“That part of you which under certain conditions becomes immortal.”

“That part of me belongs to the Serpent.”

“The Serpent passed you on body and soul to me.”

“The Serpent did nothing of the sort,” she answered vehemently, if slowly. “I—I—I—”