“So this is that Renny, the Incomparable, of whom thou hast so often spoken, my Bhanar! Dare men so address a Princess of the Blood in thine own country and live? Like master, like man!”
Renny leaped to his feet, his face aflame with various emotions, amongst which wounded pride, perhaps was not the least.
“Lady! Since when is it considered a deed ill-done that a man should speak the love and reverence which he bears a maid? The mirror in thy hand should tell thee that few could look upon a face so fair, a form that Hathor’s self must envy, and not be stricken with that malady which not even the King’s physician hath power to cure! That I love thee I cannot help. My heart beats to thoughts of thee; thy image is stamped upon my very eyes!
“As to my master, the Lord Menna, I serve the Prince from gratitude. He found me well nigh starving in the streets of Thinis and gave me food and shelter. All my work he purchased and put me in the place of Beq, a sculptor whose work is excellent, according to your Egyptian standard. His portrait of thee I myself have much admired.
“Yet, Most Beautiful, ’tis not thee! ’Twould answer as well for any Lady of the Court. Were _I_ to model thee, Fragrance of the Gods, thou shouldst see a living, breathing ‘double’ of thyself, thy very _ka_ in stone. This I could prove to thee as could no other.”
During this conversation Bhanar had continued to ply the ostrich-feather fan above her mistress’s head. Anguish for Renny, pity for herself, showed in her beautiful eyes.
Sesen’s heart bled for her. Sesen knew Bhanar’s history well. Bhanar never tired of talking about her beloved village, of her dear Rippa, nestled among the distant Syrian hills.
The little Princess had soon perceived that Bhanar’s girlish love for her childhood’s companion had ripened into something stronger.
She had soon noticed how artfully Bhanar managed to forestall Sesen’s other maids whenever Renny’s name was announced by the usher.
Renny’s joy and relief at finding her in the household of the Princess had been genuine, since for a time, he had felt that he and Yakab had failed her. Thereafter, at each and every visit to the Palace, he had quite naturally sought his beautiful countrywoman. He knew that through her he would the more readily reach the lady of his master’s infatuation.