"Sleep now," she said. "To-morrow will be time enough to know."
And Eldris slept, as lost to the world behind the dead blank wall as Nicanor in his dungeon cell.
It seemed to her, in her sleep, that she lay with body dead but soul alive and conscious. She dreamed confusedly, strange formless dreams, in which women dark and fair, Hito, Nicanor, and herself were involved inextricably. She dreamed of stealthy whisperings behind closed doors, of laughing faces which looked down upon her as she lay with body dead and soul conscious. With awakening came remembrance and a thrill of apprehension. She lifted herself on an elbow and saw the Saxon girl Sada sitting on the floor, regarding her steadfastly.
"Have I slept long?" Eldris asked.
"It is evening again," said Sada.
"Then I must go at once!" Eldris exclaimed. She got out of bed, tottering a little, and shivering in the chilly air of the room. "If thanks be any payment for what you have done for me, you have all of mine. They are all I have to give."
Sada answered nothing. She helped Eldris to dress, combed her hair, and brought her food. Then Eldris, in a fever to be at her journey's end and know what was in store for her, said again:
"Pray you tell me where is the wine-shop of Nicodemus"—and thought the other smiled. But Sada, instead of answering, said only:
"Before you go, our mistress would hold speech with you."
"Your mistress? Are you, then, slaves?" Eldris ventured.