She was helpless, the prisoner of a virulent, overpowering evil. She felt her heart begin to palpitate, but with a tremendous effort she forced herself to think not of what lay ahead but of some means of escape. Should she jump from the window?

She would have to risk a broken leg, if not worse, in the garden below. Then as she thought of it, she looked further along the outside wall of the Villa. There were three windows to the room in which she stood and the last one was almost at the corner of the house.

Mistral looked and saw something beyond it which gave her a sudden hope. Running, because time was so infinitely precious, she rushed from the first window to the one at the far end of the room near the great circular divan.

Opening it quickly, she looked out. As she had thought, this window was perhaps four feet from the corner of the house, and the narrow ledge of white stone which ran in front of the windows ended at the corner. Covering the other wall, which faced north towards the mountain, was a trellis of green lattice built to support the roses and creepers which were growing all along that side of the Villa.

It was difficult to see every detail in the darkness, but there was enough light to distinguish the strips of wood clearly silhouetted against the white walls and to know that they were about an inch in thickness.

It was not a stalwart means of support, but Mistral thought it might hold her, for she weighed very little. If it did not, well, she must just fall and risk being badly injured. The difficulty would be to reach the corner of the house without slipping off the narrow ledge. Looking up above her, Mistral was relieved to see that an elaborate design had been carved in the stones with which the Villa had been built, and it would afford her some finger-hold.

The Villa was very large, and beyond the wall covered with the lattice there was another wing jutting out again and yet again as it followed some grandiose plan of the Architect’s to give an impression of opulence and splendour. There were many windows at an angle which would give those who chanced to look out of them a good view of Mistral should she attempt to escape in this way, but she knew she must risk it. It was either that or she must wait in the golden room until the Rajah returned, and she told herself that even death was preferable to that alternative.