[Allan Quatermain by by H. Rider Haggard]@TWC D-Link bookAllan Quatermain CHAPTER XIX 3/13
'Dost thou mean that thou wilt marry me, even now ?' 'Nay, I know not; let my lord say,' was her rapid answer; 'but if my lord wills, the priest is there and the altar is there' -- pointing to the entrance to a private chapel -- 'and am I not ready to do the will of my lord? Listen, oh my lord! In eight days or less thou must leave me and go down to war, for thou shalt lead my armies, and in war -- men sometimes fall, and so I would for a little space have had thee all my own, if only for memory's sake;' and the tears overflowed her lovely eyes and rolled down her face like heavy drops of dew down the red heart of a rose. 'Mayhap, too,' she went on, 'I shall lose my crown, and with my crown my life and thine also.
Sorais is very strong and very bitter, and if she prevails she will not spare.
Who can read the future? Happiness is the world's White Bird, that alights seldom, and flies fast and far till one day he is lost in the clouds.
Therefore should we hold him fast if by any chance he rests for a little space upon our hand.
It is not wise to neglect the present for the future, for who knows what the future will be, Incubu? Let us pluck our flowers while the dew is on them, for when the sun is up they wither and on the morrow will others bloom that we shall never see.' And she lifted her sweet face to him and smiled into his eyes, and once more I felt a curious pang of jealousy and turned and went away.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|