‘Which is the reason I cannot give you a pass for the mountains, as I would have done, fifteen years ago, in the time of her father.’
‘Are her commands, then, so strict?’
‘That she should see neither Moslem nor Christian. She is at war with both, and will be for ever, for the quarrel between them is beyond the power of man to remove.’
‘And what may it be?’
‘That you can learn only in the mountains of the Ansarey,’ said Darkush, with a malignant smile.
Baroni fell into a musing mood. After a few moments’ thought, he looked up, and said: ‘What you have told me, friend Darkush, is very interesting, and throws light on many things. This young prince, whom I serve, is a friend to your race, and knows well why you are at war both with Moslem and Christian, for he is so himself. But he is a man sparing of words, dark in thought, and terrible to deal with. Why he wishes to visit your people I dared not inquire, but now I guess, from what you have let fall, that he is an Ansarey himself. He has come from a far land merely to visit his race, a man who is a prince among the people, to whom piastres are as water. I doubt not he has much to say to your Queen: things might have happened that would have lengthened all our shadows; but never mind, what cannot be, cannot be: let us talk, then, of scammony.’
‘You think he is one?’ said Darkush, in a lower tone, and looking very inquiringly.
‘I do,’ said Baroni.
‘And what do you mean by one?’ said Darkush.
‘That is exactly the secret which I never could penetrate.’