“Only that thou shouldst bring the maid and her mother,” she answered, “with any others she may not care to leave behind. If she will but come, for she is free to choose, as thou knowest! Thou takest a present in thine hand. Bring the maid safely, but in haste, for she is dear unto me.”
The messenger bowed his understanding of his orders, but the lady was not through with the conference. She continued, musingly: “Two years since she left us, Isaac, and one since we had confidently planned for her return. It hath been a long, long year, full of alarm and anxiety for us and of waiting for her. If she hath waited! Miriam is now at an age when maidens dream romantic, vagrant dreams of mating. Oft in the night seasons have I lain awake wondering if, in despair of a Syrian messenger, she hath betrothed herself or possibly married”—the speaker shuddered—“some Israelitish youth who would not be at home in Damascus or the House of Naaman. As thou knowest, Syrian ways are more gentle and their speech less rough than those of Israel.” She paused, evidently expecting some comforting assurance that her fears were not, could not, be true.
“But the tones of love are as soft in one tongue as in another, and when interpreted to a maiden’s willing heart they are softer still,” he said, gently.
She was exasperated at his answer, not knowing what it had cost him.
“Miriam gave promise of beauty,” she continued, “and Syrian lovers will she have in plenty, especially when it is known that the favor of the House of Naaman goeth with her. Already one, hoping to be the first, hath asked her of me in marriage.”
The start which Isaac gave was not lost upon Adah, but she affected blindness.
“Thou knowest him well. It is thy friend, Lemuel.”
The young soldier was visibly agitated. He prostrated himself before Adah, entreating her attention: “And if thy servant hath found favor in thy sight grant that this sacrifice shall not be. Always hath the maid feared and hated the man and with good cause, as we who know him can testify.”
He hesitated before making a second request: “No man liveth who is good enough for her, but almost am I persuaded that she would rather be given into my care.”
Adah repressed a smile. “I shall give Miriam to someone more to my liking and to hers than is Lemuel, but I had not supposed thou wouldst have taken advantage of the maid’s childish expressions of fondness for thee to weave into them meanings she could not then understand.”