"
"Thy words are fair, Unas. How is it with my father?" Masanath asked
with stiff lips.
"The gods are good to the Pharaoh. They permit the wise Har-hat to
continue in health to render service to his sovereign."
Masanath, dreading the news, asked after it at once. Men have killed
themselves for fear of death.
"Thou hast come to conduct me to court?"
"That is the gracious will of my master."
Masanath half rose from her seat. "When?" she asked almost inaudibly.
"In twenty days; no more. I have a mission to perform and shall go
hence immediately. But I shall return in twenty days, never fear, my
Lady."
Masanath saw that he mocked her. Her wrath was an effective
counter-irritant for her trouble. She was calm again.
"Then, if thy message is delivered, go!"
He backed out and descended the stairway.
When she was sure he was gone she flung herself, in a paroxysm of wild
grief and despair, face down on her cushions. At that moment a cold
hand caught her arm. She looked up and saw Rachel. All the blue had
gone from the Israelite's eyes, leaving them black with dreadful
conviction. The color had receded from her cheeks and her figure was
rigid.
"Who was that man?" she demanded in a voice low with concentrated
emotion.
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