The Mummy and Miss Nitocris | Page 9

the city has been
hailing him as the betrothed of Nitocris."
Then he smiled too, and their lips met in such a long, silent kiss as only
lovers give and take.
"Thy words are almost as sweet as thy kisses are, O Nitocris!" he said,
"for I would sooner see thee--yes, I would sooner see thee in the hands
of the Paraschites--this lovely body of thine dead--knowing that thy
soul was waiting for mine on the shores of Amenti, than I would know
that those sweet lips had been defiled by the touch of such as he; and
yet surely thou hast spoken with him. Did he not claim the fulfilment of
the promise of the great king?"
"Ah yes," she replied softly, as she slipped out of his arms, "but it is
one thing to claim and another to get. Yes, I have spoken with him. I
have promised all, and given nothing. I have not even yielded my hand
to his lips, for I told him in answer to all the entreaties of his love--and
of a truth I tell thee that he loves me very dearly, for that great, strong
frame of his shook like a bulrush in the wind under the breath of my
lightest words--that, until the last vows had made us man and wife, I

would be his queen and he should be my subject and my slave, even as
he was of the great Rameses; and with this he was fain to be content,
thinking, no doubt, how soon he would be my lord and master, and I
his--his queen and plaything, bound by the law that may not be broken,
to submit to every varying whim and humour of his passion."
"Thy master, Nitocris! Thine! Such shame could never be. Rather
would the High Gods permit Death to be the Master of Life, or Night to
be Lord of Day. Is there no other way?"
"Yes, there is another way, and only one to save me, Nefer--if truly the
soul of my beloved is looking out of thine eyes into mine," she
whispered, coming close to him and laying her hands lightly upon his
shoulders, "there is another way, but it is the way that leads through the
mystery of the things that are into the deeper mystery of the things that
are to be--the way of death and vengeance. Tell me, my beloved, hast
thou the courage to tread it with me?"
The lovely face, the pleading lips, the searching eyes were close to his.
He could feel the soft contact of her body, even her fluttering heartbeats
answering his. It was the moment of the supreme test, the parting of the
ways--to the heights whose pinnacles reach to the heaven of Perfect
Knowledge, or to the abysses whose lowest depths are the roof of hell;
for there is but one heaven and one hell, and their names are
Knowledge and Ignorance.
There lay the fulfilment of his vows, the renunciation of the lower life
with all its potent witcheries of the senses, with all its exquisite delights
and glittering prizes, fame and honours, power and wealth, and, dearest
of all, the love of woman.
Here, clasped in his arms, stood Nitocris, her hands still resting lightly
on his shoulders, her head lying on his breast, her eyes upturned, the
star-beams swimming in their luminous depths.
"Nefer, beloved, answer me!"
The stars grew dim, and the solid floor of the terrace shook under his

feet. He bent his head and laid his lips upon hers.
"Thou art answered, O Nitocris--even unto death and the life beyond!"
Her lips returned his kisses--kisses that were curses--and then for many
minutes they conversed in hurried whispers. At last she slipped out of
his arms and left him, his lips burning from the clinging touch of hers,
and his heart cold with a fear that was greater than the fear of death.
He clasped his hands to his temples and looked up at the coldly shining
Isis Star, and through the silence there came to his soul in the speech
that is never heard by the ears of flesh the fateful words:
"Once only is it given to mortals to look into the eyes of Isis. He who
looks and turns his gaze aside has found and lost."
CHAPTER III
THE DEATH-BRIDAL OF NITOCRIS
The day of the bridal of Nitocris the Queen with Menkau-Ra the
Conqueror had come and gone in a blaze of golden splendour. In all the
Upper and Lower Lands no head was held so proudly as the head of
Menkau-Ra, no heart beat so high as his that day, nor did any cheek
bloom so sweetly, or any eyes shine so brightly as the cheeks and the
eyes of Nitocris--so strange are