bagpipes at dinner,--you cannot expect me then to be indifferent
to my own desires. She shall not be Madame Gervase,--oh, no! She
shall not be asked to attend to the pot-au-feu; she shall act the
role for which she has dressed to-night; she shall be another
Charmazel to another Araxes, though the wild days of Egypt are no
more!"

A sudden shiver ran through him as he spoke, and instinctively he
drew the white folds of his picturesque garb closer about him.

"There is a chill wind sweeping in from the desert," he said, "an
evil, sandy breath tasting of mummy-dust blown through the
crevices of the tombs of kings. Let us go in."

Murray looked at him in a kind of dull despair.

"And what is to be done?" he asked. "I cannot answer for myself--
and--from what you say, neither can you."

"My dear friend--or foe--whichever you determine to be, I can
answer for myself in one particular at any rate, namely, that as I
told you, I shall not ask the Princess to marry me. You, on the
contrary, will do so. Bonne chance! I shall do nothing to prevent
Madame from accepting the honorable position you intend to offer
her. And till the fiat has gone forth and the fair one has
decided, we will not fly at each other's throats like wolves
disputing possession of a lamb; we will assume composure, even if
we have it not." He paused, and laid one hand kindly on the
younger man's shoulder, "Is it agreed?"