"The noblest family in the land!" exclaimed the Athenian. "If it be indeed impossible for you to escape with me into Greece—"
"Not impossible, but wrong," said Zarah, softly; "it would be disobeying what I know would have been the will of her whose wishes are more sacred to me now than ever."
"Then be mine in your own land," cried Lycidas, "where I may show that I merit to win you. Will the noble Judas and his brothers deem me unworthy to unite with one of their race if I devote my sword to the cause of which they are the champions—a cause as glorious as that for which my ancestor died at Marathon?"
Still the cloud of doubt did not pass from the fair brow of Zarah. There was a difficulty in her mind which she shrank from disclosing to Lycidas. At last she timidly said, her cheeks glowing crimson as she spoke, "Shall I be candid with you, Lycidas? shall I tell all—as to a brother?"
"All, all," replied the Athenian, with painful misgiving at his heart.
"Beloved Hadassah is at rest, I can hear her dear voice no more, but—but I am not ignorant of what were her views and wishes," said Zarah. "I believe—indeed I know"—Zarah could hardly speak distinctly enough, in her confusion, for the strained ear of Lycidas to catch her words—"she had destined me for another; I am not quite certain whether I be not even betrothed."
Lycidas could not refrain from a passionate outburst. "It was wicked—cruel—infamous," he cried, "to dispose of your hand without your consent!"
"Such words must never be applied to aught that she did," said Zarah. "The revered mother ever consulted the happiness as well as the honour of her child. She would never have urged upon me any marriage from which my heart revolted, but she let me know her wishes. And the very last day that we were together"—tears flowed fast from under Zarah's long drooping lashes as she went on—"on that fatal day, ere I left her to attend the Passover feast, Hadassah charged me, by the love that I bore to her, never to take any important step in life without at least consulting him in whom she felt assured that I should find my best earthly protector."
"And who may this chosen individual be?" asked Lycidas, almost fiercely; a pang of jealousy stirring in his breast as he demanded the name of his rival.
Zarah murmured, "Judas Maccabeus."