It would be necessary, he
added, to reflect long before selecting the one desire of the soul
which was to be put above all others. But Nevill had no hesitation. He
wished instantly, and tucked the tiny parcel away in the pocket nearest
his heart.
"And you, Monsieur?" asked Madame de Vaux, smiling at Stephen. "It does
not appear easy to choose. Ah, now you have decided! Will you tell me
what you wished?"
"I think I mustn't do that. Saints favour those who can keep secrets,"
said Stephen, teasingly. Yet he made his wish in earnest, after turning
over several in his mind. To ask for his own future happiness, in spite
of obstacles which would prove the marabout's power, was the most
intelligent thing to do; but somehow the desire clamouring loudest at
the moment was for Victoria, and the rest might go ungranted.
"I wish that I may find her safe and happy," he said over the pinch of
earth before putting it into what Josette named his "poche du coeur."
"As for me," remarked Madame de Vaux, "I will not derange any of their
Moslem saints, thank you. I have more influential ones of my own, who
might be annoyed. And it is stuffy in this tomb. I am sure it is full of
microbes. Let us go and see the ruined palace of the Black Sultan who,
Josette says, founded everything here that was worth founding. That
there should be a Black Sultan sounds like a fairy tale. And I like
fairy tales next to bon-bons and new hats.
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