Zina�da had hardly uttered those words when I flew down, just as though some one had given me a violent push from behind. The wall was about fourteen feet high. I reached the ground on my feet, but the shock was so great that I could not keep my footing; I fell down, and for an instant fainted away. When I came to myself again, without opening my eyes, I felt Zina�da beside me. ‘My dear boy,’ she was saying, bending over me, and there was a note of alarmed tenderness in her voice, ‘how could you do it, dear; how could you obey?� You know I love you� . Get up.’

Her bosom was heaving close to me, her hands were caressing my head, and suddenly – what were my emotions at that moment – her soft, fresh lips began covering my face with kisses � they touched my lips� . But then Zina�da probably