And in its stead--
There appeared a fourth person in the room.
XXII
THE ROUSING OF A MIND
It was a girl. Not the Nervina. No; this girl was quite another
person.
Even now I find it curiously hard to describe her. For me to say
that she was the picture of innocence, of purity, and of youth, is
still to leave unsaid the secret of her loveliness.
For this stranger, coming out of the thin air into our midst, held
me with a glorious fascination. From the first I felt no
misgivings, such as Harry confesses he experienced when he fell
under the Nervina's charm. I knew as I watched the stranger's
wondering, puzzled features, that I had never before seen anyone
so lovely, so attractive, and so utterly beyond suspicion.
It was only later that I noted her amazingly delicate complexion,
fair as her hair was golden; her deep blue eyes, round face, and
the girlish supple figure; or her robe-like garments of very soft,
white material. For she commenced almost instantly to talk.
But we understood only with the greatest of difficulty. She spoke
as might one who, after living in perfect solitude for a score of
years, is suddenly called upon to use language. And I remembered
that Rhamda Avec had told Jerome that he had only BEGUN the use of
language.
"Who are you?" was her first remark, in the sweetest voice
conceivable. But there was both fear and anxiety in her manner.
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