Write? laughed Dada. Girls learn other things in my country; but if I couldshall I tell you something? I would not write him a line. Those who want me may seek me!
He is seeking, he is trying to find the pretty mistress, declared the woman; he is full of you, quite full of you, and if I dared....
Well?
I would go and say to my lord Marcus, quite in a secret....
Well, what? Speak out, woman.
First I would tell him where the pretty mistress is hidden; and then say that he might hope oncethis evening perhapshe is not far off, he is quite near this over there; do you see that little white house? It is a tavern and the host is a freedman attached to the lady Damia, and for money he would shut his shop up for a day, for a night, for many days.Well, and then I would sayshall I tell you all? My lord Marcus is there, waiting for his pretty mistress, and has brought her dresses that would make the rose-garment look a rag. You would have gold too, as much gold as heart can wish. I can take you there, and he will meet you with open arms.
What, this evening? cried Dada, and the blue veins swelled on her white forehead. You hateful, brown serpent! Did Gorgo teach you such things as this? It is horrible, disgraceful, sickening!
So base a proposal was the last thing she would ever have expected from Marcusof all men in the world, Marcus, whom she had imagined so good and pure! She could not believe it; and as her glance met the cunning glitter of the Egyptians eyes her own sparkled keenly, and she exclaimed with a vehemence and decision which her attendant had never suspected in her:
It is deceit and falsehood from beginning to end! Go, woman, I will hear no more of it. Why should Marcus have come to you since yesterday if he does not know where I am? You are silentyou will not say? Oh! I understand it all. HeI know he would never have ventured it. But it is your noble lady Damiathat old woman, who has told you what to say. You are her echo, and as for Marcus.... Confess, confess at once, you witch....
Sachepris is only a poor slave, said the woman raising her hands in entreaty. Sachepris can only obey, and if the pretty mistress were to tell my lady Damia
It was she then who sent for me to go to the little tavern?
The woman nodded. And Marcus?
If the pretty mistress had consented
Well?
Thenbut Great Isis! if you tell of me!
I will not tell; go on.
I should have gone to my lord Marcus and invited him, from you
It is shameful! interrupted Dada, and a shudder ran through her slight frame. How cruel, how horrible it is! Youyou will stay here till the others come home and then you will go home to the old woman. I thank the gods, I have two hands and need no maid to wait upon me! But look therewhat is the meaning of that? That pretty litter has stopped and there is an old man signing to you.
It is the widow Marys house steward, whined the woman, while Dada turned pale, wondering what a messenger from Marcus mother could want here.
Herse, who had kept a watchful eye on the landing-plank, on Dadas account, had also seen the approach of the widows messenger and suspected a love-message from Marcus; but she was utterly astounded when the old man politely but imperiously desired herHerse to get into the litter which would convey her to his mistresss house. Was this a trap? Did he merely want to tempt her from the vessel so as to clear the way for his young master? Nofor he handed her a tablet on which there was a written message, and she, an Alexandrian, had been well educated and could read:
Mary, the widow of Apelles, to the wife of Karnis, the singer. And then followed the same urgent request as she had already received by word of mouth. To reassure herself entirely she called the slave-woman aside, and asked her whether Phabis was indeed a trust worthy servant of the widows. Evidently there was no treason to be apprehended and she must obey the invitation, though it disturbed her greatly; but she was a cautious woman, with not only her heart but her brains and tongue in the right place, and she at once made up her mind what must be done under the circumstances. While she gave a few decorative touches to her person she handed the tablet to the waiting-woman, whom she had taken into her own room, and desired her to carry it at once to her husband, and tell him whither she had gone, and to beg him to return without delay to take care of Dada. But what if her husband and son could not come away? The girl would be left quite alone, and then The picture rose before her anxious mind of Marcus appearing on the scene and tempting Dada on shoreof her niece stealing away by herself even, if the young Christian failed to discover her present residenceloitering alone along the Canopic way or the Bruclumn, where, at noon, all that was most disreputable in Alexandria was to be seen at this time of yearshe saw, shuddered, consideredand suddenly thought of an expedient which seemed to promise an issue from the difficulty. It was nothing new and a favorite trick among the Egyptians; she had seen is turned to account by a lame tailor at whose house her father had lodged, when he had to go out to his customers and leave his young negress wife alone at home. Dada was lying barefoot on the deck: Herse would hide her shoes.