x.x.xII
"Dost thou wish me to hate thee, Si Maeddine?" she asked.
"I do not fear thy hate. When thou belongest to me, I will know how to turn it into love."
"Perhaps if I were a girl of thine own people thou wouldst know, but I see now that thy soul and my soul are far apart. If thou art so wicked, so treacherous, they will never be nearer together."
"The Koran does not teach us to believe that the souls of women are as ours."
"I have read. And if there were no other reason than that, it would be enough to put a high wall between me and a man of thy race."
For the first time Maeddine felt anger against the girl. But it did not make him love or want her the less.
"Thy sister did not feel that," he said, almost menacingly.
"Then the more do I feel it. Is it wise to use her as an argument?"
"I need no argument," he answered, sullenly. "I have told thee what is in my mind. Give me thy love, and thou canst bend me as thou wilt.
Refuse it, and I will break thee. No! do not try to run from me. In an instant I should have thee in my arms. Even if thou couldst reach M"Barka, of what use to grasp her dress and cry to her for help against me? She would not give it. My will is law to her, as it must be to thee if thou wilt not learn wisdom, and how to hold me by a thread of silk, a thread of thy silky hair. No one would listen to thee. Not Fafann, not the men of the Soudan. It is as if we two were alone in the desert.
Dost thou understand?"
"Thou hast made me understand. I will not try to run. Thou hast the power to take me, since thou hast forgotten thy bond of honour, and thou art stronger than I. Yet will I not live to be thy wife, Si Maeddine.
Wouldst thou hold a dead girl in thine arms?"
"I would hold thee dead or living. Thou wouldst be living at first; and a moment with thine heart beating against mine would be worth a lifetime--perhaps worth eternity."
"Wouldst thou take me if--if I love another man?"
He caught her by the shoulders, and his hands were hard as steel.
"Darest thou to tell me that thou lovest a man?"
"Yes, I dare," she said. "Kill me if thou wilt. Since I have no earthly help against thee, kill my body, and let G.o.d take my spirit where thou canst never come. I love another man."
"Tell me his name, that I may find him."
"I will not. Nothing thou canst do will make me tell thee."
"It is that man who was with thee on the boat."
"I said I would not tell thee."
He shook her between his hands, so that the looped-up braids of her hair fell down, as they had fallen when she danced, and the ends loosened into curls. She looked like a pale child, and suddenly a great tenderness for her melted his heart. He had never known that feeling before, and it was very strange to him; for when he had loved, it had been with pa.s.sion, not with tenderness.
"Little white star," he said, "thou art but a babe, and I will not believe that any man has ever touched thy mouth with his lips. Am I right?"
"Yes, because he does not love me. It is I who love him, that is all,"
she answered navely. "I only knew how I really felt when thou saidst thou wouldst make me love thee, for I was so sure that never, never couldst thou do that. And I shall love the other man all my life, even though I do not see him again."
"Thou shalt never see him again. For a moment, oh Rose, I hated thee, and I saw thy face through a mist red as thy blood and his, which I wished to shed. But thou art so young--so white--so beautiful. Thou hast come so far with me, and thou hast been so sweet. There is a strange pity for thee in my breast, such as I have never known for any living thing. I think it must be that thou hast magic in thine eyes. It is as if thy soul looked out at me through two blue windows, and I could fall down and worship, Allah forgive me! I knew no man had kissed thee. And the man thou sayest thou lovest is but a man in a dream. This is my hour. I must not let my chance slip by, M"Barka told me. Yet promise me but one thing and I will hold thee sacred--I swear on the head of my father."
"What is the one thing?"
"That if thy sister Lella Sada puts thine hand in mine, thou wilt be my wife."
The girl"s face brightened, and the great golden dunes, silvering now in moonlight, looked no longer like terrible waves ready to overwhelm her.
She was sure of Saidee, as she was sure of herself.
"That I will promise thee," she said.
He looked at her thoughtfully. "Thou hast great confidence in thy sister."
"Perfect confidence."
"And I----" he did not finish his sentence. "I am glad I did not wait longer," he went on instead. "Thou knowest now that I love thee, that thou hast by thy side a man and not a statue. And I have not let my chance slip by, because I have gained thy promise."
"If Saidee puts my hand in thine."
"It is the same thing."
"Thou dost not know my sister."
"But I know----" Again he broke off abruptly. There were things it were better not to say, even in the presence of one who would never be able to tell of an indiscretion. "It is a truce between us?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Forget, then, that I frightened thee."
"Thou didst not frighten me. I did not know what to do, and I thought I might have to die without seeing Saidee. Yet I was not afraid, I think--I hope--I was not afraid."
"Thou wilt not have to die without seeing thy sister. Now, more than before, I shall be in haste to put thee in her charge. But thou wilt die without seeing again the face of that man whose name, which thou wouldst not speak, shall be as smoke blown before the wind. Never shalt thou see him on earth, and if he and I meet I will kill him."
Victoria shut her eyes, and pressed her hands over them. She felt very desolate, alone with Maeddine among the dunes. She would not dare to call Stephen now, lest he should hear and come. Nevertheless she could not be wholly unhappy, for it was wonderful to have learned what love was. She loved Stephen Knight.
"Thou wilt let me go back to M"Barka?" she said to Maeddine.
"I will take thee back," he amended. "Because I have thy promise."
x.x.xIII
On a flat white roof, which bubbled up here and there in rounded domes, a woman stood looking out over interminable waves of yellow sand, a vast golden silence which had no end on her side of the horizon, east, west, north, or south.