, since neither silence nor rebuff would stir him. Always
he sat near, talking in his false, hateful voice, and devouring
her with the greedy eyes which she could feel fixed upon her
face. With him often was his jackal, the false palmer Nicholas,
who crawled about her like a snake and strove to flatter her,
but to this man she would never speak a word.

At last she could bear it no longer, and when her health had
returned to her, summoned Hassan to her cabin.

"Tell me, prince," she said, "who rules upon this vessel?"

"Three people," he answered, bowing. "The knight, Sir Hugh
Lozelle, who, as a skilled navigator, is the captain and rules
the sailors; I, who rule the fighting men; and you, Princess, who
rule us all."

"Then I command that the rogue named Nicholas shall not be
allowed to approach me. Is it to be borne that I must associate
with my father's murderer?"

"I fear that in that business we all had a hand, nevertheless
your order shall be obeyed. To tell you the truth, lady, I hate
the fellow, who is but a common spy."

"I desire also," went on Rosamund, "to speak no more with Sir
Hugh Lozelle."

"That is more difficult," said Hassan, "since he is the captain
whom my master ordered me to obey in all things that have to do
with the ship."

"I have nothing to do with the ship," answered Rosamund; "and
surely the princess of Baalbec, if so I am, may choose her own
companions. I wish to see more of you and less of Sir Hugh
Lozelle."

"I am honoured," replied Hassan, "and will do my best."

For some days after this, although he was always watching her,
Lozelle approached Rosamund but seldom, and whenever he did so he
found Hassan at her side, or rather standing behind her like a
guard.

At length, as it chanced, the prince was taken with a sickness
from drinking bad water which held him to his bed for some days,
and then Lozelle found his opportunity. Rosamund strove to keep
her cabin to avoid him, but the heat of the summer sun in the
Mediterranean drove her out of it to a place beneath an awning on
the poop, where she sat with the woman Marie. Here Lozelle
approached her, pretending to bring her food or to inquire after
her comfort, but she would answer him nothing. At length, since
Marie could understand what he said in French, he addressed her
in Arabic, which he spoke well, but she feigned not to understand
him. Then he used the English tongue as it was talked among the
common people in Essex,