That voice, coming from lips so near yet invisible, real and yet mysterious, breathed all warm in my ear and yet so intimate that it seemed to speak to the centre of my soul, more feminine, softer than ever voice was before. I hear it still. I shall hear it forever.
"Go in, go in."
I pushed the door open. We crossed the threshold together, as if dissolved into one single person, noiselessly.
The vestibule was lighted by a high, round window. A swallow flew over our heads, warbling. We raised our eyes in surprise. A nest hung among the grotesques of the ceiling. There was a broken window-pane in the window. The swallow flew out through the opening, still warbling.
"Now, I am entirely yours, entirely," murmured Juliana, without detaching her hold on my neck.
But, by a sinuous movement, she fell on my breast, and met my mouth. We exchanged a long kiss. I said to her, with intoxication:
"Come, let us go up. Shall I carry you?"
In spite of the intoxication, I felt a sufficient strength in my muscles to carry her at one bound to the top of the stairway.
She answered:
"No. I can go up alone."