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One arm was thrown above her head, her fingers thrust through her bright curls, and over her feet Hannah had spread a leopard-skin rug. A lamp was still burning on a table, and the glow from it lit up the graceful figure. For some moments Ellerey gazed upon the sleeper, taking in the whole picture. "Shall I wake her?" asked Frina.
In silence the two women kissed each other, and then Frina returned to her room while Maritza threw herself on a couch, Hannah watching beside her. Dumitru stood sentinel outside her door. For Frina there was no sleep, only a restless pacing to and fro, and a longing for to-morrow the end, surely the end would come to-morrow. The dim light in her room grew dimmer, paling before the coming day.
When I had got out, the stranger, who had never before seen a European, seemed wonderfully surprised. He twice put his hand to his mouth, exclaiming, in a low tone of voice, "God preserve me! who is this?" but when he heard me speak the Bambarra tongue, and found that I was going the same way as himself, he promised to assist me in crossing the river, the name of which he said was Frina.
A bird in the garden whistled a long note, and after a silence it was answered from another part of the garden, and then quickly from another. A star gleamed low in the ever-lightening purple of the east, the herald of the dawn, and from her window Frina watched it, wondering. There was mystery in the breaking of a new day; would her eyes behold its setting?
"The gentlemen fighting yonder are in no tender mood; I know them. Besides, the Captain left me in command, and you must obey, Countess. This is war time, and I am only doing my duty. So we'll lock this outer door, and we'll put as many more between us as possible. Is this your cloak?" "Yes," Frina answered.
The old serving woman came quickly, and to her Frina made her first confession. "I have been cross, Hannah, sometimes," she said; "forgive me." "Oh, no, my lady, you have only been troubled. We all have our own way of showing grief." "True, Hannah, and I have had troubles which you cannot know of. Your quick pardon teaches me a lesson." "O my lady "
Frina laughed, such a joy in the laugh that the Princess looked at her in astonishment. "Yes, he came willingly, most willingly, I think." "You hope to win him to my cause?" "He is a man, I am a woman; I shall try." "And then?" "Then, Maritza ah, we run on too fast. Tell me your plan." "It is strange," said the Princess slowly; "but in England, as I told you, I once met Captain Ellerey.
Her heart seemed to throb violently to a sudden standstill, and having taken one hurried step toward the door, she paused as it opened, and Desmond Ellerey stood before her. Looking forward to this meeting it had seemed to Frina Mavrodin that in it her life must reach a crisis; but the reality fitted none of her preconceived notions of what this meeting would be like.
When I had got out, the stranger, who had never before seen a European, seemed wonderfully surprised. He twice put his hand to his mouth, exclaiming in a low tone of voice, "God preserve me! who is this?" But when he heard me speak the Bambarra tongue, and found that I was going the same way as himself, he promised to assist me in crossing the river; the name of which he told me was Frina.
It was not his part to play the tempter to-night. He had arranged otherwise. Presently he saw the King enter the room alone, and look round in search of some one. His eye fell upon Frina Mavrodin, and he went toward her. Perhaps, too, in his veins the blood tingled a little.
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