as no other house in Seville could have boasted.
She had arrayed herself for the interview with an almost wanton cunning
that should enhance her natural endowments. Her high-waisted gown,
low-cut and close-fitting in the bodice, was of cloth of gold, edged
with miniver at skirt and cuffs and neck. On her white bosom hung a
priceless carcanet of limpid diamonds, and through the heavy tresses of
her bronze-coloured hair was coiled a string of lustrous pearls. Never
had Don Rodrigo found her more desirable; never had he felt so secure
and glad in his possession of her. The quickening blood flushing now his
olive face, he gathered her slim shapeliness into his arms, kissing her
cheek, her lips, her neck.

"My pearl, my beautiful, my wife!" he murmured, rapturously. Then added
the impatient question: "The priest? Where is the priest that shall make
us one?"

Deep, unfathomable eyes looked up to meet his burning glance.
Languorously she lay against his breast, and her red lips parted in a
smile that maddened him.

"You love me, Rodrigo--in spite of all?"

"Love you!" It was a throbbing, strangled cry, an almost inarticulate
ejaculation. "Better than life--better than salvation."

She fetched a sigh, as of deep content, and nestled closer. "Oh, I am
glad--so glad--that your love for me is truly strong. I am about to put
it to the test, perhaps."

He held her very close. "What is this test, beloved?"

"It is that I want this marriage knot so tied that it shall be
indissoluble save by death."

"Why, so do I," quoth he, who had so much to gain.

"And, therefore, because after all, though I profess Christianity, there
is Jewish blood in my veins, I would have a marriage that must satisfy
even my father when he regains his freedom, as I believe he will--for,
after all, he is not charged with any sin against the faith."

She paused, and he was conscious of a premonitory chill upon his ardour.

"What do you mean?" he asked her, and his voice was strained.

"I mean--you'll not be angry with me?--I mean that I would have us
married not only by a Christian priest, and in the Christian manner,
but also and first of all by a Rabbi, and in accordance with the Jewish
rites."

Upon the words, she felt his encircling arms turn limp, and relax their
grip upon her, whereupon she clung to him the more tightly.

"Rodrigo! Rodrigo! If you truly love me, if you truly want me, you'll
not deny me this condition, for I swear to you t