"You need not blush. Vilma is pretty and——"
"My lady!"
But Lady Rety continued in the same tone.
"Vilma, I say, is a pretty woman; and as for you, young man, it would be too hard upon you if we would quarrel with you for taking what is freely offered. If the young woman does not care for her honour, why should you?"
"My lady!" said Akosh; "I entreat you, do not speak in this tone! Vilma——"
"Is a pretty woman," said the lady, with a sneer; "she is less correct than I thought she was, but that's her mother's affair, not mine. They over-educate these girls, and put strange fancies into their heads. Tengelyi ought to have known that such an education is not fit for a notary's daughter."
"Vilma is my betrothed," replied Akosh, who struggled manfully to keep his temper.
"Indeed?" said his step-mother, with a forced smile. "Pray how many fiancées has your sultanship got?"
"She is the first," said Akosh, calmly, "and, I swear it, she shall be my last."
Lady Rety cast her eyes down, and was silent.