"Now! Shall I tell him?"
"Oh, no, Lady Hoshi, no! That is a dreadful thing to do," sighed the maid.
"It is not dreadful. It is beautiful."
"But, dear, dear mistress, you must not love a man. That is what your father pays me to prevent!"
"Well, you haven't prevented it. And I shall tell my father, and he, also, will kill you and get me some one who is more useful. That is two killings for you!"
"But I did not know, mistress! Perhaps I do not know love."
"You do not, Isonna. For it has been right under your nose these two weeks. After all, I will not tell my father. For he might give me a maid who would not be as pretty as you," and she hugged Isonna, who was not pretty at all. "And in exchange for my mercy you must not be odious, but recognize that it is too late. Is it a bargain?"
Well, any bargain the lovely Hoshi might propose to the plain Isonna would meet with her approval, though it should mean her death the next instant, and so this one was approved.