been talking wildly; you must forgive me! Don't think about me at
all; I am not worth it! Denzil has taken it into his head to
quarrel with me on account of the Princess Ziska, but I assure you
I will not quarrel with him. He is infatuated, and so am I. The
best thing for all of us to do would be to leave Egypt instantly;
I feel that instinctively, only we cannot do it. Something holds
us here. You will never persuade Denzil to go, and I--I cannot
persuade myself to go. There is a clinging sweetness in the air
for me; and there are vague suggestions, memories, dreams,
histories--wonderful things which hold me spell-bound! I wish I
could analyze them, recognize them, or understand them. But I
cannot, and there, perhaps, is their secret charm. Only one thing
grieves me, and that is, that I have, perhaps, unwittingly, in
some thoughtless way, given you pain; is it so, Helen?"

She rose quickly, and with a quiet dignity held out her hand.

"No, Monsieur Gervase," she said, "it is not so. I am not one of
those women who take every little idle word said by men in jest au
grand serieux! You have always been a kind and courteous friend,
and if you ever fancied you had a warmer feeling for me, as you
say, I am sure you were mistaken. We often delude ourselves in
these matters. I wish, for your sake, I could think the Princess
Ziska worthy of the love she so readily inspires. But,--I cannot!
My brother's infatuation for her is to me terrible. I feel it will
break his heart,--and mine!" A little half sob caught her breath
and interrupted her; she paused, but presently went on with an
effort at calmness: "You talk of our leaving Egypt; how I wish
that were possible! But I spoke to Denzil about it on the night of
the ball, and he was furious with me for the mere suggestion. It