"'Fare thee well, and if for ever, Still for ever, fare thee well!'
But only the stars and the trees and the fountains heard me--she whom I addressed, was gone! Like some fair meteor she had rushed across my path, dazzled and attracted me during her fleeting stay beyond all power of resistance, and then as suddenly vanished from me, and left me in a chaos of misery and sorrow!
"'May God in His mercy to me blot out from my memory the agony of this parting in the garden of Siccoth; for I can never know happiness again so long as its terrors haunt me,' I prayed aloud in my woe, with face turned upwards to the starlit sky.
"How I got back to the archway, and crept along the passage and up the steps to the sliding panel, I know not, for I went my way as one in a walking sleep, with all strength sapped from my trembling frame.
"Kaosp was awaiting my return in great anxiety, for the hour was already gone, and every moment he dreaded to hear the tramp of the guard coming to relieve him and his men.
"'Keep silent, and follow me with haste,' he whispered, 'or too late I shall repent me of lending willing ears to a woman's supplications. By great good fortune the guard is late, or this night's work would be known to my ruin!'
"'I am really sorry, Kaosp, that I have rewarded your good nature by jeopardizing your safety and your honour--but the hour has seemed so short!'
"'Ah! 'tis always so. Lovers heed not time. But the hour with me hath seemed an age.'
"We walked stealthily back again, not meeting a living soul; and I crept to my couch without waking one of my comrades. They all slept on in ignorance, and I resolved to keep my own counsel. The episode was too sacred and too painful to take anyone into my confidence; besides, no purpose would be gained, and I had nought to tell that would be of service in our dire necessity. Kaosp shook me by the hand before he departed, and a few minutes afterwards, as I lay awake in my misery, thinking of all that had taken place within the past hour, I heard the new guard arrive and station themselves in the corridor beside the outer door!"
It is unnecessary, for the purposes of this narrative, to record our doings during the three days of grace that were allowed us. We neither saw or heard anything of the King, Volinè, or Perodii. We were entirely shut off from all outside affairs, and we knew nothing of what was being done either in the palace or among the people of Edos. We were treated precisely the same as before our trial, with the exception of being allowed to walk in the garden of Siccoth. That privilege was denied, and we were kept close prisoners to our rooms.