After a little he answered, sighing.
"Thou dost not love me, Rachel."
"Kenkenes!"
"Aye, I have said. Thou wouldst send me away from thee, back into
Egypt."
"O, seest thou not? I would have thee know thy heart; I would not have thee choose blindly; I do but sacrifice myself," she cried, panic-stricken.
"And yet, thou wouldst deny me that same delight of sacrifice. Can I not surrender for thee as well?"
She drooped her head and did not answer.
"Ah! thou speakest of the benefits of Egypt," he continued. "What were
Egypt without thee, save a great darkness haunted and vacant? Besides,
there is no Egypt beyond this sea. She hath risen and crossed with
Israel—all her beauty and her glory and her beneficence. For thou art
Egypt and shalt be to me all that I loved in Egypt."
He took her hands.
"Why may I not as justly doubt thy knowledge of thy heart?" he asked softly.