"But—how came I here?" she cried. "I must have lain in a swoon, for I remember nothing."
And then her quick mind, leaping to a reasonable conclusion, and assisted perhaps by the memory of the shattered catafalque which she had seen, her eyes dilating with a curious affright as they were turned upon his own, she asked of a sudden:
"Did you believe that I was dead?"
"Yes," he replied with an unnatural calm in his voice. "Every one believed you were dead, Hellayne."
And with this he told her the entire story of what had befallen, saving only his own part therein, nor did he try to explain his own opportune presence in the church. When he spoke of the coming of Tebaldo and his men she shuddered and closed her eyes. Only after he had concluded his tale did she turn them full upon him. Their brightness seemed to increase, and now he saw that she was weeping.
"And you were there to save me, Tristan?" she murmured brokenly. "Oh, Tristan, it seems that you are ever at hand when I have need of you! You are, indeed, my one true friend—the one true friend that never fails me!"
"Are you feeling stronger, Hellayne?" he asked abruptly.
"Yes—I am stronger!"
She rose as if to test her strength.
"Indeed little ails me save the horror of this thing. The thought of it seems to turn me sick and dizzy."