She did not shrink nor cower, but
stood there very erect, her chin up, her level gaze freighted with
the loathing and contempt she felt for him. He read her expression
and while it angered him, it but increased his desire for possession.
Here indeed was a queen, perhaps a goddess; fit mate for the high
priest.
"You shall not!" she said as he would have touched her. "One of us
shall die before ever your purpose is accomplished."
He was close beside her now. His laugh grated upon her ears. "Love
does not kill," he replied mockingly.
He reached for her arm and at the same instant something clashed
against the bars of one of the windows, crashing them inward to
the floor, to be followed almost simultaneously by a human figure
which dove headforemost into the room, its head enveloped in the
skin window hangings which it carried with it in its impetuous
entry.
Jane Clayton saw surprise and something of terror too leap to the
countenance of the high priest and then she saw him spring forward
and jerk upon a leather thong that depended from the ceiling of the
apartment. Instantly there dropped from above a cunningly contrived
partition that fell between them and the intruder, effectively
barring him from them and at the same time leaving him to grope
upon its opposite side in darkness, since the only cresset the room
contained was upon their side of the partition.
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