She took off her slippers and lay down on the bed.
But it was impossible to sleep and she found herself seeing with closed eyes the Prince’s face and hearing his voice.
She thought over every word he had ever said to her.
Then she felt his lips against hers and wondered wildly why she had been so foolish as to send him away from her bedroom when he had wanted to make love to her.
‘At least I would have had that to remember,’ she thought now.
Then she was ashamed of forgetting her principles, her mother’s teaching and her belief in what was right and wrong.
“It’s over! It’s over!” she could hear the wheels clanking, as if they must keep repeating the words to impress them on her memory.
*
Vida must have dozed for a while, for she was awoken by Margit standing beside the bed saying t
