“I don’t understand you, Natsu. You always were a mystery to me. But now, come. Where is she?”
“Oh, master, seek her not!”
As he still sought to draw her along with him, she slipped down to his feet and stayed his progress with her head there.
“Why do you seek to deceive me, Natsu? What is the matter with you? Why do you act thus? What has happened to my wife? Speak!”
Still kneeling, with her head at his feet, she answered:
“She has become wife to Matsuda Isami, Oh, Highness.”
As he did not speak or seem to comprehend her words, she repeated them. And then, as still he made no sound, she said:
“Isami is richest man in Sanyo. What is there he cannot buy?”
She was seized by the shoulders in a savage grip. Her very teeth smote together with the shock of his grasp.
“You lie!” he cried. “You lie! Vile thing, you lie, I say!”