“‘Am I then to be thy queen?’
“For a moment, a vital moment, the prince hesitated, but brief as the pause, scarcely the durance of an eye-flash, Lal Lu saw it, and gazed upon the prince with a disconcerting directness as he added, with the haste we note in the accused who attempt to distract suspicion by the utterance of glib generalities:
“‘My queen! Thou art always that!’
“‘Hold, Prince Otondo!’ exclaimed Lal Lu as the prince seemed about to surrender to an impulse to clasp her in his arms—‘hold! Thy answers suit me not. Reply, then, to this: Thy wife—am I to be thy wedded wife?’
“An expression like that of a peevish child tantalized by obstacles intruded to enhance its appreciation of favor withheld brightened his eyes and sent sullen lines converging in his forehead.
“His hands clenched and opened; a faint suggestion of disdain curled his thin lips; the amiable inclination of his figure was transformed to an erect intolerance—and Lal Lu was answered.
“When the unfortunate girl could no longer doubt the unlovely evidence provided by the prince, and apprehended the humiliating significance of his hesitation, a majesty surer than his own, a presence superb in its elevation, encompassed her, and she gazed upon the perturbed man with an expression from which every trace of tenderness appeared to have vanished.
“With an angry sweep of his arm, as if to banish with a peremptory gesture the kneeling envoys of compunction, manliness and nobility, the prince stepped forward.
“‘What is that?’ At this moment the gong in the passageway responded to three measured strokes.
“‘Confusion!’ muttered the prince. ‘What does this mean?’ and turning abruptly, he hastened to the doorway, swept aside the curtains, and revealed the trembling figure of the wrinkled crone who had quitted the apartment at his entrance.