"
"And then----"
"And then, Kaku, she was gone, and where her sweet face should have been
I saw the yellow, mummied head of Pharaoh, he who is with Osiris, that
seemed to grin at me. I opened my arms again, and lo! there she sat,
laughing and shaking perfume from her hair, asking me, too, what ailed
me that I turned so white, and if such were the way of husbands?
"Well, that was nigh a month ago, and as it began, so it has gone on. I
seek my wife, and I find the mummied head of Pharaoh, and all the while
she mocks me. Nor may I see the others any more, for she has caused them
to be hunted hence, even those who have dwelt with me for years, saying
that she must rule alone."
"Is that all?" asked Kaku.
"No, indeed, for as she torments me, so she torments every other man who
comes near to her. She nets them with smiles, she bewitches them with
her eyes till they go mad for love of her, and then, still smiling, she
sends them about their business. Already two of them who were leaders in
the great plot have died by their own hands, and another is mad, while
the rest have become my secret but my bitter foes, because they love my
Queen and think that I stand between her and them.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301