Part 24 (1/2)
”Desiree!” cried Harry in astonishment; and I was myself a little startled
”Why not?” she demanded ”They are men And besides, it is impossible for us to return With all your cleverness, M Paul, can you find the sunlight? To remain is a necessity; we must make the best of it; and I repeat that I a on her hotly ”Satisfied? You are nothing of the sort I'll tell you one thing--Paul and I are going to find our way out of this, and you are coh that plainly said, ”I am my own mind, and obey no other” It is one of the most familiar cards of the woman of beauty, and the azed at her for a long moment in silence, while his eyes filled with an expression which one man should never show to another man It is the betrayal of the masculine sex and the triumph of the feminine
Suddenly he threw himself on his knees before her and took her hands in his own She attempted to withdraw them; he clasped her about the waist
”Do you not love ht hers
They le
At that moment I heard a sound--the faintest sound--behindwithin the doorway, surveying the lovers with beadlike, sparkling eyes
Chapter XI
A ROYAL VISITOR
If it had not been for the hed aloud at what I read in the eyes of the king Was it not supreht after by the great and the wealthy and the powerful of all Europe, to be regarded with desire by that ugly dwarf? And it was there, un, but it was unnecessary; Desiree had already caught sight of the royal visitor She pushed Harry frory surprise; then, enlightened by the confusion in her face, turned quickly and swore as he, too, saw the intruder
How critical the situation was I did not know, despite Desiree's assertions His eyes were human and easily read; they held jealousy; and when power is jealous there is danger
But Desiree proved herself equal to the occasion She re azed at us apparently with the utmost composure; but I who knew her could see that her brain orking with the rapidity of lightning Then her glance passed to the figure at the doorway, and with a gesture co and truly royal in its si
Like an obedient trained rasped her soft white hand in his ers
That was all, but it spoke volus of action I rehDesiree in Paris The Duke of Bellar entered her splendid apartment on the Rue Jonteur--furnished, of course, by hi one Jules Chavot, a young and beautiful poet
Whereupon he had launched forth into the most bitter reproaches and scornful denunciations
”Monsieur,” Desiree had said, with the look of a queen outraged, when he had finished, ”you are annoying Little Chavot a which I consider necessary to my amusement, and just now I find you very dull”
And the noble duke, conquered by that glance of fire and those terrible words, had retired with huracious per day!
In short, Desiree was irresistible; the subjection of the Inca king was but another of her triumphs, and not the most remarkable
And then I looked at Harry, and are of a new danger He was glaring at the Inca with eyes which told their own story of the fire within, and which aiting only for suspicion to become certainty
I called to hiave a short laugh, and nodded