sound of love. There was something in it that she did not know how to
reply to, though she had the instinct of the great courtesan to make the
full and perfect reply to the desires of the man with whom she had
schemed to ally herself. She owed this reply to him, but she owed it how
much more to something within herself! But there existed within him a
hunger for which she had no food. Why did he show this hunger to her?
Already its demonstration had tried her temper, but to-night, for the
first time, she felt her whole being set on edge by it. Nevertheless,
she was determined he should not see this, and she answered very
quietly:

"I am hearing this song for the first time with you, so I shall always
associate it with you."

He drew a little nearer to her. And she understood and could reply to
the demand which prompted that movement.

"We must drink Nile water together, Ruby, Nile water--in all the
different ways. I'll take you to the tombs of the Kings, and to the
Colossi when the sun is setting. And when the moon comes, we'll go to
Karnak. I believe you'll love it all as I do. One can never tell, of
course, for another. But--but do you think you'll love it all with me?"

Mingled with the ardour and the desire there was a hint in his voice of
anxiety, of the self-doubt which, in certain types of natures, is the
accompaniment of love.

"I know I shall love it all--with you," she said.

She let her hand fall into his, and as his hand closed upon it she was