She could not make out where she was or how he came to be there. She had no recollection of the horde who had broken into the guardroom where she and Cameron had been. She was too full of suffering to give any thought to the problem. Raoul Le Breton was with her, that was enough.
A wan smile of recognition trembled for a moment on her lips.
"Raoul," she said faintly.
It was more a sigh than a word. But his name whispered so feebly brought him kneeling beside her couch, bending over her eagerly.
"My darling, forgive me," he whispered passionately.
He bent his head still lower, with infinite tenderness kissing the white lips that had breathed his name so faintly.
Pansy's eyes closed again. A look of contentment came to mingle with the suffering on her face.
Outside the hyenas still laughed mockingly: derisive echoes from a distance. But Le Breton did not hear them. Despite his treatment of her, Pansy had smiled upon him. For the first time in his wild life he felt humility and gratitude, both new sensations.
When Edouard came again he pronounced the girl sleeping, not unconscious.
"With care and attention she'll pull through," he said.