"I understand that, too," she said.
"I put the Great Pearl Star in my breast, sacred to you. I said to myself: 'If we ever live through this, and I feel worthy to give this gem to her, I'll ask her to complete it.'"
"To complete it?"
"Yes. You see, one pearl was missing. The most wonderful of all. Now, as I clasp this necklace round your throat, the Great Pearl Star is completed."
"I—don't understand—"
"Ah, but I do! The missing pearl of great price-you are that pearl.
In giving the Great Pearl Star to you, I make it whole."
"And I give it back to you, completed!"
Her head lay on his heart. His lips were on her hair.
"Completion," he whispered. "Peace, to the troubled heart. Peace, after the night that life has been to me. Peace, till the dawn!"
"'Peace,'" she said, in the line of the ancient Arabic poem. "'Peace, until the coming of the stars.'"