neath the
influence of the stunning news that the shapely youth was a son of the
pharaoh and heir to the throne of Egypt. When Tutmosis bargained with
Gideon to take her to the prince's house, Sarah fell into a state of
bewilderment.

She would not renounce Ramses for any treasure, nor at the cost of
life, but one could not say that she loved him at that time. Love
demands freedom and time to give forth its most beautiful blossoms;
neither freedom nor time had been left to her. She made the
acquaintance of the prince on a certain day; the following day they
took her away almost without consulting her wishes, and bore her to
that villa opposite Memphis. In a couple of days she became the
prince's favorite, astonished, frightened, not understanding what had
taken place with her.

Moreover, before she could make herself used to the new impressions,
the Jewess was disturbed by ill-will from surrounding people; then the
visit of unknown ladies; finally, that attack on the villa.

Then, because Ramses took her part and wished to rush on the rioters,
she was still more terrified. She lost presence of mind at the thought
that she was in the hands of a man of such power and so violent, who,
if it suited him, had the right to shed blood, to slay people.

Sarah fell into despair for the moment: it seemed to her that she would
go mad. She heard the terrible commands of the prince who summoned the
servants to arms. But at that very moment a slight thing took place,
one little word was heard which sobered Sarah, and gave a new turn to
her feelings.

The prince, thinking that she was wounded, drew the bandage from her
head; but when he saw the bruise, he cried,

"That is only a blue spot! How that blue spot changes the face!"

At these words Sarah forgot pain and fear. New alarm seized her: so she
had changed to such a degree that it astonished the prince, but he was
only astonished.

The blue spot disappeared in a couple of days, but feelings unknown up
to that time remained in Sarah's soul and increased there. She began to
be jealous of the prince, and to fear that he would reject her.

And still another anxiety tortured the Jewess. She felt herself a
servant, a slave in respect to Ramses. She was and wished to be his
faithful servant, his devoted slave, as inseparable as his shadow, but
at the same time she desired that he, at least when he fondled her,
should not treat her as though he were lord and master.

She was h