Page:Thotharomance00nichgoog.djvu/128

Rh Daphne sprang up in the greatest excitement, and quivering with rage and indignation.

"Thou stony image," she cried, "know that I have not yet learned—no, nor ever will learn—to obey thee, unnatural one, inhuman! I would rather wed the lowest slave in Athens than thee. Has thy hideous descent left in thee no trace of manly feeling, and no knowledge of the heart of a woman? I would rather see the whole world desolate than mingle my blood with thine!"

Thoth listened to her with undisguised astonishment, and replied to her quite calmly—

"But what more couldst thou desire? Thou shalt be treated by every one, from myself downwards, with the most obsequious honour, thou shalt be queen of the world, and the founder of the greatest race the earth has ever