By the strange contrariety of her nature, she suddenly longed to make this man, whom she had just addressed with scorn, her ardent lover. For the moment she forgot herself and her situation. Pride and dignity left her, and she only desired, with all her force, to subdue this man. She spoke to him as if she loved him, fearless of reproach, unmindful of opinion. “Love me,” she said, “and one look shall make me tremble—one caress stop my pulses. My heart shall be lost in thine, like a drop of water in a burning desert. Nothing but death shall separate us. Wilt thou not leave the weary pursuit of knowledge, to read without effort the open book of my soul? Look through mine eyes—is not the prize worth grasping? Am I not beautiful, and throbbing with the fulness of youthful life? See, my hand trembles in thine, and for one look of love I would kiss thy lips.” She spoke as if in a dream; but suddenly the hardness of Thoth, like the blow of cold steel, dispelled the fascination. She shrank back, her cheeks burned with shame, and she hid her face with her hands. Then Thoth spoke to her words which tore her heart in pieces, and made her helpless with dismay. “I regret,” he said, “that thou hast utterly failed to grasp my purpose and to understand my position. Dost thou think that I will surrender my soul to the madness of love? Shall I keep at my side a passionate creature who will seek to betray and thwart me, and destroy by her animal nature the toil of generations? It is easy for me to imitate my father, and to bring a child from Greece to train according to my will. “Surely I will do this; and as for thee, thou shalt find a chamber in our women’s palace, and thou and thy children shall be the slaves of my will. Henceforth my oath is no more binding than if I had sworn it to a dog or a slave.” With these words he departed. CHAPTER XII. A WEARY INTERVAL. After Thoth had left her, Daphne fell into the most gloomy train of reflection that hitherto had oppressed her since she arrived in this strange city. Before, in her despair some gleams of hope had always appeared, but now there was nothing but black darkness. She had begun to trust Thoth implicitly; after the many trials of his good faith, her trust had grown into perfect confidence, and now it was shattered for ever. She had seen in the man’s eyes a most terrible manifestation of passion, and she had no doubt that she would be treated even more dreadfully than the women she had seen in the abode of horror and lust. Worse than all, she despised herself for the way in which she had in reality led up to such a climax.