"But no one came to disturb the measure of our happiness, and the joyful moments, all too fleeting, slipped rapidly away.
"'Harry, now I must bid thee leave me; the hour is getting late, and my absence may be discovered.'
"'Stay, Volinè. On Earth, among my English race, when man makes love unto a woman, he pledges his troth to her with a ring of gold, set with jewels or precious stones, which she, the object of his choice, wears as a token upon the fourth finger of her left hand. So take this ring of mine as our love-pledge; let me place it on your finger—so—and promise me to wear it always there for my sake.'
"'Thy words are strange, Harry, for no such custom is known to us. But what a pretty idea, though! I will take thy ring and wear it as thou sayest. But thou must have one of mine in return'; and as she spoke, Volinè slipped a ring of curious workmanship from her finger, and placed it on my own.
"'Prize it, as thou wouldst prize me; guard it, as thou wouldst guard thy life; for it is a precious talisman, and was given to my mother by Echri, the most sacred of our priests. No man of Gathma dare harm or slay thee, if he knows that ring is on thy hand.'
"'My darling, I will part with it only with my life! Now, one more fond embrace ere you go; and with it I would crave your promise to meet me here again at the same hour——'
"But the sentence was never finished, for a Martial, who by his dress and mien I judged to be someone of high degree, stepped out from the arbour's shadow into the moonlight, saying in a contemptuous voice as he came:
"'So, Volinè, it is thee! Meeting one of thy father's base-born prisoners here, at this hour and alone, to bestow thy favours and to lose thy honour. Edos shall ring with thy shame before another sun hath set, and this evil stranger from the star-world Ramos, and all his foul companions, shall pay with their lives for his insolent temerity this night.'
"With a scream of terror, Volinè tore herself away from my embrace and fled towards the palace, leaving me alone with the stranger.
"'Pray, who are you,' I asked, 'to question Volinè's right to meet whomsoever she may please?'