Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/335

 entourage, the court world in general, and Tûan Bângau's wife in particular, that he had fallen a victim to her charms. To possess him in secret afforded her now only a pale satisfaction, and it never even occurred to her to consider his interests rather than her own whims. She knew, of course, that discovery would spell disaster, more or less complete, for him, and incidentally wouk deprive her of her lover; but for one of her adventuresome spirit, that was a loss which, in a Malay court, could be replaced without much difficulty, and since the intrigue must have an end, sooner or later, it was just as well, from her point of view, that it should conclude with a resounding explosion.

One morning, when the faint yellow of the dawn was beginning to show through the grayness low down in the east, and the thin smokelike clouds were hurrying across the sky from the direction of the sea, like great night birds winging their homeward way, Tûan Bângau awoke from sleep to find Tûngku Ûteh sitting beside him on their sleeping-mat, with his kris and girdle in her hands. She had taken them from his pillow while he slept, and no persuasions on his part could induce her to restore them to him, While he yet sought to coax her to return his property she leaped to her feet, and with a saucy laugh disappeared in the palace. Pursuit was, of course, impossible; and Tûan Bângau and Âwang Îtam made their way homeward with anxious hearts, knowing that now, indeed, their hour had come.

Once inside her own apartments. Tŭngku Ûtek