Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/237

 turquoise silk canopy, amidst a bower of cushions, overlooking the lake.

"I hope thou dost bring me good news of my kinsman, oh, wise counsellor," she said, turning to me with an anxious look in her eyes; "he hath seemed somewhat more cheerful of late."

"My news concerning the holy Pharaoh is no worse, Princess," I replied. "Thou knowest how serious is his illness, and 'no worse' with him hath become good news. It is not about him that I have sad tidings to-day."

I watched her very closely as I said this, but she seemed not the least moved, and she said indifferently:

"Hast had sad tidings? Of whom?"

"I am a lonely man, Princess; there is but one being in this world who is infinitely dear to me. It is of him that I have sad tidings."

"Dost speak of the son of Ra?"

"Even of him, Princess."

"How can aught that is sad come to him who is of the gods beloved? " she asked in astonishment.

"He is but mortal, and there are so many sorrows, even in this fair land. Suffering has overtaken him, I fear, and I have sought this audience of thee, Neit-akrit, to crave of thy goodness that thou wouldst allow me to depart and go to my friend, lest he have need of me and the comfort I alone can give him."

"Art so devoted, then, to thy friend that, if he call, thou must needs leave everything and go to him?"

"I have known and loved him ever since a tiny lad; we shared childish joys and sorrows together."

"Was that at the foot of the throne of Ra?" she asked with a touch of satire.

"In the land where first Ra whispered to his beloved