"Yet you would have done as Claridge Pasha did. That it was your brother
was an accident, and--"

"It was an accident that the penalty must fall on Claridge Pasha, and on
you, madame. I did not choose the objects of penalty. Destiny chose
them, as Destiny chose Claridge Pasha as the man who should supplant me,
who should attempt to do these mad things for Egypt against the judgment
of the world--against the judgment of your husband. Shall I have better
judgment than the chancellories of Europe and England--and Lord
Eglington?"

"Excellency, you know what moves other nations; but it is for Egypt to
act for herself. You ask me why I did not go to the Effendina. I come
to you because I know that you could circumvent the Effendina, even
if he sent ten thousand men. It is the way in Egypt."

"Madame, you have insight--will you not look farther still, and see that,
however good Claridge Pasha's work might be some day in the far future,
it is not good to-day. It is too soon. At the beginning of the
twentieth century, perhaps. Men pay the penalty of their mistakes.
A man's life"--he watched her closely with his wide, benevolent eyes--"is
neither here nor there, nor a few thousands, in the destiny of a nation.
A man who ventures into a lion's den must not be surprised if he goes as
Harrik went--ah, perhaps you do not know how Harrik went! A man who
tears at the foundations of a house must not be surprised if the timbers
fall on him and on his workmen. It is Destiny that Claridge Pasha should
be the slayer of my brother, and a danger to Egypt, and one whose life is
so dear to you, madame. You would have it otherwise, and so would I, but
we must take things as they are--and you see that letter. It is seven