Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/47

 sight of your beauty. Never have I seen such charm, such loveliness!"

I turned back, but I refused to sit down again.

"Ah, Sir," I said, "you have me at a cruel disadvantage. I admit, yes, I admit I like you. Think what it costs me to say no to you! But what can I do? A woman's sole treasure is her virtue. Shall I buy one day's joy with life-long sorrow and shame? Let me go."

"Let me swear," he cried, "that you shall be my heart's mistress all my life long. Why talk of one day's pleasure?"

I laughed, and said I put no faith in such vows. I was going away again and had reached the door, when, no longer able to restrain himself, he fell at my feet and held me back.

I was filled with pain to see his evil plight. "Let us go to your lodgings," I said, tempting him. "If we stay here, you will go away presently and leave me."

Of course he was only too ready to consent.