“And having held thee in my arms, how am I to let thee go,” he whispered, with his mouth near the scented masses of her hair.  “Nay, I cannot, thou white, wonderful flower in a land of drought.  Behind the purdah will I place thee, hidden from all eyes but mine.  Thy body-woman shall not touch thee, for I will be thy servant, and my hands will draw the lace from about thy bosom, and my hands will perfume thee, and my love shall encompass thee until thou swoon upon the ground even at my feet.  Waiting for thee I have known no woman, and I will have no wife but thee, and many sons shalt thou bear me.  Yea! each year shall see thee bowed beneath the fruit of love, for I will not spare thee.  And thou shalt be honoured before all men; a high estate shall be thine, and a flood of jewels and gold and grain shall flow at thy small feet which I shall kiss.  And thou shalt veil thy face, for I would kill him, torture him who looked upon thee.”

Leonie opened her eyes and stared at the shimmering whiteness of the tomb, and she smiled and did not move, for the witchery of the full moon had fallen upon her.

“Red!” she whispered, pointing to the dull glow of dead bodies burning somewhere near, and laughing till her teeth flashed between her scarlet lips.

The man searched with one hand and found a small flat jewelled case in the folds of his turban, and opening it, with the long, deft fingers took out two pellets.

He watched her as she lay upon his arm, and suddenly forced the pellets between her teeth, and himself laughed, as she grimaced at the bitter taste but swallowed them.

He had not the slightest intention of doing her any harm, but with the whole of his vividly mature brain and virgin body, he delighted in the effect of the drug upon the woman he loved.

There was no doubt about it that she suddenly awoke to the passion of the man looking down upon her, and responded to it.

Wave after wave swept her from head to foot, causing her body, untrammelled by whalebone, to tremble against his, and he loosened the white cloak and let it fall, holding her pressed to him in her thin silk dress, laughing down at her, delighting in her eyes, her mouth, her throat.

Handsome men are an everyday sight in India, but this man was as the gods, and Leonie, beautiful, drugged Leonie, looked at him from the corner of her eyes as looks the wanton, and laughed.

“I will not kiss thee,” he whispered, watching the colour sweep her face at his words, and smiling at the thudding of the heart beneath his hand.  “Nay, I will not bruise thee nor cause thee blemish until the purdah hangs between us and the world.  Look not at me thus-wise, and lift not the glory of thy lips, for I will not seize thee as a beggar seizes upon the pice.  I am thy king and thy slave, and I will carry thee to the gate.  Nay, move not thy body for fear I throw thee upon the ground and set my seal upon thee.  Lie still! and yet—­why not, why not! perchance has the hour struck.”