"I say yes. You've stolen him from me. He loves you—and he mocks and laughs at me——"
"Tara, wait. I do not love Tarrano, I tell you. I would not have him——" How my heart leaped to hear her say it so convincingly. She added:
"He loves me, perhaps—but I can't help that. He has me prisoner here. I am forced——"
"You lie! You are playing to win him! What girl would refuse? You say yourself he is the greatest man of the ages. You lie when you tell me you do not want him!"
Elza had taken the woman by the shoulders. "Tara, listen—you must listen! Are you mated with Tarrano?"
"No! But years ago he promised me. I took his name then, as we do in the Cold Country. They still call me Tara! Years I have waited, true to my promise—with even my name of maidenhood relinquished. His name—Tara! And now he tosses me aside—because you, only an Earth woman, have bewitched him."
"I didn't want to bewitch him, Tara." Elza's voice was very gentle; and a whimsical smile was plucking at her lips. "You think I want him because he is a genius—the greatest man of our time?"
"Yes!"
"Is that why you want him?"
"No, I love him."