Page:Idalia, by 'Ouida' volume 3.djvu/217

206 words; for the moment, she dazzled and swayed and staggered him.

"All!" he echoed. "I!" "Yes—all! Every coin, every rood, every bead of gold in that treasure-house of splendíd waste: I will make all yours—all that the Vassalis ever owned. I will not keep a pearl from the jewels, or a date from the palms. All shall be yours—all the things of your desire."

"And you!" "I—I shall be beggared."

Yet while she spoke, over her face swept one swift gleam, líke the glow of an Eastern sun. He gazed at her like one blinded.

"And for all this what will you ask of me?" "Of you I shall purchase—my freedom and his life." His mouth quivered with rage as he laughed aloud once more.

"So-so! Ah, the wildness of woman's passions! You would buy your lover at that cost? Oh, fool! yon who once were subtle and wise as the serpent!" Her teeth set tight, but she kept down her wrath.

"Profit by my folly," she said, briefly. "Take all I have—leave me only him." The first words were stern; over the three last her