The princess did not start--she did not even look surprised when I
uttered the strange sentence, but her great round eyes welled up in
tears, and she caught her breath in a half-sob once. Then, without
uttering a word, she extended her hand and placed it in mine, and we
remained thus, for a moment silent. Presently, in a low whisper, I
heard her repeat after me, the words, "Love, honor, and obey;" and she
added: "As long as we both shall live."
With a quick gesture that was purely feminine, she withdrew her hand
from mine and thrust the clustering hair away from her temples. Then
she went to the window and gazed upon the snow clad city, and thus she
remained for several minutes.
Presently she returned and came back to where I was standing.
"It is strange, is it not, Mr. Derrington?" she asked in a low voice.
"I do not think that I am myself to-day. It is hard to realize that
this is Zara de Echeveria who speaks to you now. I am like another
person; it is as though another spirit had entered my body, and I seem
to act without a will of my own. It began last night when you first
entered my presence. It was evident to me when I saw you apparently
asleep in the garden, knowing that you had overheard the conversation
between my brother and myself; it asserted itself when we stood
together under the green light later in the evening, when you told me
that I must keep the engagement made with you to-day, and when you
entered this room a few hours ago, it seemed as though you belonged to
me--as though you had stolen away my will--as though I had no right to
act without your sanction. Can you explain it?"
"No," I replied, "nobody can explain it. It is a secret that is known
only to God, and His ways are immutable. But we have each recognized it
from the first."
We said nothing of love then. The subject seemed out of place at that
moment. We both knew all that the other would have said, or could with
truth say, and there was no need to do what would seem like repeating
it.
"When will you hear from the note that you have sent?" she asked
presently.
"Very soon, now," I replied. "If your servant has delivered the
message, there should be a reply within a few minutes. Let us go to the
window and watch."
So we stood there by the window, silently communing with each other
without speaking. Her left hand was clasped within my right one, and
the minutes came and went until I raised my other hand and pointed
silently toward a large, double britzska that was approaching. I
had recognized the huge proportions of Tom Coyle, holding the reins,
and I knew that underneath the covering were trusty followers of mine
who would make short work of the waiting assassins.