"In the circumstances—you see—I felt sorry for him—I did not like to refuse him; it was only a trifling thing. He asked for a lock of my hair!"
"A lock of your hair! And you—"
"I told you that I did not like to refuse—and I let him snip off a tiny piece, with a pair of pocket scissors which he had. Are you angry?"
"Of course not! You—were almost brought up together. You—?"
"Then—" she paused—"he seemed to change. Suddenly, I found myself afraid—dreadfully afraid—"
"Of Ferrara?"
"Not of Antony, exactly. But what is the good of my trying to explain! A most awful dread seized me. His face was no longer the face that I have always known; something—"
Her voice trembled, and she seemed disposed to leave the sentence unfinished; then:
"Something evil—sinister, had come into it."
"And since then," said Cairn, "you have not seen him?"