Your word is holier than they--O glorious daughter of kings, princess royal!" The great voice was harshly caressing; not obsequious, but as though he gave her as an equal her rightful honor.

Her face softened; she considered him from eyes far less hostile.
A wholesome respect for this gross tyrant's mentality came to me; it did not temper, it heightened, the hatred I felt for him.

But now I recognized the subtlety of his attack; realized that unerringly he had taken the only means by which he could have gained a hearing; have temporized.

Could he win her with his guile?
"Is it not true ?" There was a leonine purring in the question.
"It IS true!" she answered proudly.

"Though why YOU should dwell upon this, Cherkis, whose word is steadfast as the running stream and whose promises are as lasting as its bubbles--why YOU should dwell on this I do not know." "I have changed greatly, Princess, in the years since my great wickedness; I have learned much.