He smiled, master of himself again, and took her hand.
"You are afraid of me—Doris?" he whispered softly.
She trembled at the word. Her white eyelids fluttered, and her colour came and went under his persistent gaze.
"A—a little!" she confessed. It seemed to her that she could almost hear her heart beat. His personality was round about her like a spell.
"Only a little!" the count laughed gaily. "I admit I am very much afraid of you!"
The hand was still closely imprisoned. She disengaged it, and lifted her eyes bravely to him.
"I believe that you are the most truthful man in the world," she said simply. "But I—I fear your truth. It terrifies me."
"Yesterday," he replied, with a whimsical smile, "you hated me. I was all evil. To-day I am the most truthful man in the world. What shall I be to-morrow?"
She held her head down and refused to meet his look.
"I—I cannot tell," she whispered.