He came often, and she saw him at other
houses. Everywhere she was going, he would find out, and go too. That
pleased her--for he was an important man somehow, and of good birth.
Besides, he was desperately in love--even a child could see that. He
never took his eyes off Saidee's face when she was with him. It was as
if he could eat her up; and if she flirted a little with the real French
officers, to amuse herself or tease him, it drove him half mad. She
liked that--it was exciting, she used to say. And I forgot to tell you,
he wore European dress, except for a fez--no turban, like this man's on
the boat, or I'm sure she couldn't have cared for him in the way she
did--he wouldn't have seemed _possible_, for a Christian girl. A man in
a turban! You understand, don't you?"
"Yes, I understand," Stephen said. He understood, too, how violently
such beauty as the girl described must have appealed to the dark man of
the East. "The same colouring that I have," Victoria Ray had said. If
he, an Englishman, accustomed to the fair loveliness of his
countrywomen, were a little dazzled by the radiance of this girl, what
compelling influence must not the more beautiful sister have exercised
upon the Arab?
"He made love to Saidee in a fierce sort of way that carried her off her
feet," went on Victoria. "She used to tell me things he said, and Mrs.
Ray did all she could to throw them together, because he was rich, and
lived a long way off--so she wouldn't have to do anything for Say if
they were married, or even see her again.
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