“Because, if I desire it, I shall be able to see thee continually from henceforth,” pursued the Queen. “But,” she added, with deep meaning, “I shall not desire it. I would not have thee in my sight.”
Georgia lifted her eyebrows slightly at this enigmatic and apparently uncalled-for remark, an action which seemed to irritate her opponent very much. She leaned forward when she spoke next, and her tone was full of menace.
“Thou art here—in the Palace.”
“I believe so,” returned Georgia, in some surprise.
“But how wilt thou depart hence—and when?”
“In a few minutes, and as I came, I suppose.”
The Queen laughed shrilly, and her women joined their voices with hers.
“Thou wilt never leave the Palace, O doctor lady. Before thou canst return to thy people there is a life to be given for thine, and who is there that will lay down his life for thee? Thou hast neither husband nor father nor brother, and what man is there that will give his life for a woman that is not even of his house?”
Georgia’s heart was in her mouth as the full import of the words dawned upon her; but she turned quietly to Nur Jahan’s mother.
“I never care to prescribe for patients in public,” she said. “Would it be possible for me to see the Queen in a separate room, with, perhaps, one of her attendants?”