“I saw you! Staring at him so that he would think you beautiful! Asking him, with a boldness beyond that of any woman I could ever imagine—asking him if he planned you for his harem!”
SHE stood over Jane, staring down with blazing eyes. “Oh, I heard you! And I heard him telling you how noble are his motives! One woman, just for him!”
“But, Tolla—”
“Do not lie to me! I heard him sneering at me—telling you of this one woman just for him! And you are that woman! Hah! He thinks that now, does he? He thinks he will make you love him as I love him. As I love him! And what does he know of that! What woman’s love can mean!”
“Tolla! Don’t be foolish. I didn’t—I never had any desire to—”
“What do your desires concern me? He thinks he will win you with tales of his conquests! A great man, this Tako, because he will devastate New York!”
This was the fury of a woman scorned. She was wholly beside herself, her words tumbling, incoherent, beyond her will, beyond her realization of what she was saying.
“A great conquest to make you love him! With his giant projector he will subdue New York! Hah! What a triumph! But it is the weapon’s power, not his! He and all his army—these great brave and warlike men—why I alone with that weapon could turn—”
She stopped abruptly. The red flush of frenzied anger drained from her cheeks.
Jane leaped to her feet. “What do you mean? With that giant projector—”