"'What is the price?' I asked fearfully. He looked like a martyr.
"'My life,' he replied. 'I can give you up, but I can not live without you. You are free, but I must die.'"
"Damned actor!" burst out Lionel, in the depths of despair, for he foresaw the end. "I beg your pardon—I beg your pardon—but——"
"He really meant it," said the lady with some petulance. "Please control yourself while I finish. Of course I could not think of allowing him to kill himself, so I reasoned with him. It was useless, for he was resolved. I even offered, at last, to resign my freedom and remain with him on the old terms: again he refused. 'No,' he said; 'it can not be, Dispenser of Delight. I have suffered too much. You must marry me or bid good-by to Turkey.'"
"So you married him?" said Lionel gloomily. He had forgotten all his earlier doubts.
"Yes. I could not bear to think of his suicide, for I liked him very well. Besides, I had grown less sentimental during my two years of 'life,' and believed I should find more happiness in such a union than in many that are supposed to be made for 'love.' But I must admit that romance found, and still finds, a corner in my heart. The primitive idea of marriage by capture is even now immensely popular. You see, the figure of Lukos, passionate, brave, reckless, fiery, ready to kill himself——"
"Oh, say he was a demigod," interrupted Lionel with bitterness, "and let us pass on."
"All these Byronic attributes," said the lady calmly, "combined to whip my reluctant liking into a passable resemblance to love.... Well, I let him go—as far as the door. As he was opening it I made my decision and whispered 'Lukos!' He turned, looking like a magnificent tiger, crouching for a spring. A light gleamed from his eyes, rivaling the flash of his jeweled sword-hilt. With a bound——"
"Quite so—quite so!" said Lionel uncomfortably: the idea of being audience to such a love-scene was most repugnant. "I see—I see ... of course he would be immensely pleased—in fact, quite another man. Well, you married him——?"
"The next day," said the lady. "The Patriarch of Jerusalem, who happened to be visiting the city at the time, made us one. And then I settled down to what I imagined would be a peaceful and happy life.