Across the Zodiac Page 10

  CHAPTER X - WOMAN AND WEDLOCK.

  We arrived at home in the course of some few minutes, and here my hostrequested us to wait in the hall, where in about half-an-hour herejoined us, accompanied by all the members of his family, the ladiesall closely veiled. Looking among them instinctively for Eveena, Iobserved that she had exchanged her usual light veil for one fullerand denser, and wore, contrary to the wont of maidens indoors, sleevesand gloves. She held her father's hand, and evinced no littleagitation or alarm. The visitor stood by a table on which had beenplaced the usual pencils or styles, and a sort of open portfolio, onone side of which was laid a small strip of the golden tafroo,inscribed with crimson characters of unusual size, leaving severalblanks here and there. Most of these he filled up, and then, leadingforward his daughter, Esmo signed to me also to approach the table.The others stood just behind us, and the official then placed thedocument in Eveena's hand. She looked through it and replaced it onthe table with the gesture of assent usual among her people, incliningher head and raising her left hand to her lips. The document was thenhanded to me, but I, of course, was unable to read it. I said so, andthe official read it aloud:--

  "Between Eveena, daughter of Esmo dent Ecasfen, and ---- [13]_reclamomorta_ (the alleged arch-traveller), covenant: Eveena willlive with ---- in wedlock for two years, foregoing during that periodthe liberty to quit his house, or to receive any one therein save byhis permission. In consideration whereof he will maintain her,clothing her to her satisfaction, at a cost not exceeding five staltauby the year. He will provide for any child or children she may bearwhile living with him, or within twice twelve dozen days thereafter.And if at any time he shall dismiss her or permit her to leave him, orif she shall desire to leave him after the expiration of eight years,he will ensure to her for her life an annual payment of fifteenstaltau. Neither shall appeal to a court of law or public authorityagainst the other on account of anything done during the time theyshall live together, except for attempt to kill or for grave bodilyinjury."

  Such is the form of marriage covenant employed in Mars. The occasionwas unfit for discussion, and I simply intimated my acceptance of thecovenants, oo which Eveena and myself forthwith were instructed towrite our names where they appear in the above translation. Theofficial then inquired whether I recognised the lady standing besideme as Eveena, daughter of Esmo. It then struck me that, though I feltpretty certain of her identity, marriage under such conditions mightoccasionally lead to awkward mistakes. There was no such differencebetween my bride and her companions as, but for her dress and heragitation, would have enabled me positively to distinguish them,veiled and silent as all were. I expressed no doubt, however, and theofficial then proceeded to affix his own stamp to the document; andthen lifting up that on which our names had actually been written,showed that, by some process I hardly understand, the signature hadbeen executed and the agreement filled up in triplicate, the officerpreserving one copy, the others being given to the bride andbridegroom respectively. The ladies then retired, Esmo, his son, andthe official remaining, when two ambau brought in a tray ofrefreshments. The official tasted each article offered to him,evidently more as a matter of form than of pleasure. I took thisopportunity to ask some questions regarding the Martial cuisine, andlearnt that all but the very simplest cookery is performed byprofessional confectioners, who supply twice a day the households intheir vicinity; unmarried men taking their meals at the shop. Thepreparation of fruit, roasted grain, beverages consisting of juicesmixed with a prepared nectar, and the vegetables from the garden,which enter into the composition of every meal, are the only culinarycares of the ladies of the family. Everything can be warmed orfreshened on the stove which forms a part of that electric machineryby which in every household the baths and lights are supplied and thehouse warmed at night. The ladies have therefore very little householdwork, and the greater part of this is performed under theirsuperintendence by the animals, which are almost as useful as anyhuman slaves on earth, with the one unquestionable advantage that theycannot speak, and therefore cannot be impertinent, inquisitive, ortreacherous. No fermented liquors form part of the Martial diet; butsome narcotics resembling haschisch and opium are much relished. Whenthe official had retired, I said to my host--

  "I thought it best to raise no question or objection in signing thecontract put before me with your sanction; but you must be aware, inthe first place, that I have no means here of performing the pecuniarypart of the covenant, no means of providing either maintenance orpin-money."

  The explanation of the latter phrase, which was immediately demanded,produced not a little amusement, after which Esmo replied gravely--

  "It will be very easy for you, if necessary, to realise a competencein the course of half a year. A book relating your adventures, anddescribing the world you have left, would bring you in a verycomfortable fortune; and you might more than double this by givingaddresses in each of our towns, which, if only from the curiosity ourpeople would entertain to see you with their own eyes, would attractcrowded audiences. You could get a considerable sum for the exclusiveright to take your likeness; and, if you chose to explain it, youmight fix your own price on the novel motive power you haveintroduced. But there is another point in regard to the contract whichyou have overlooked, but which I was bound to bear in mind. What youhave promised is, I believe, what Eveena would have obtained from anysuitor she was likely to accept. But since you left the matterentirely to my discretion, I am bound to make it impossible that youshould be a loser; and this document (and he handed me a small slipvery much like that which contained the marriage covenant) imposes onmy estate the payment of an income for Eveena's life equal to that youhave promised her."

  With much reluctance I found myself obliged to accept a dowry which,however natural and proper on Earth, was, I felt, unusual in Mars. Imay say that such charges do not interfere with the free sale of land.They are registered in the proper office, and the State trusteecollects them from the owner for the time being as quit-rents arecollected in Great Britain or land revenue in India. Turning toanother but kindred question, I said--

  "Your marriage contract, like our own laws, appears to favour theweaker sex more than strict theoretical equality would permit. This isquite right and practically inevitable; but it hardly agrees with thetheory which supposes bride and bridegroom, husband and wife, to enteron and maintain a coequal voluntary partnership."

  "How so?" he inquired.

  "The right of divorce," I said, "at the end of two years belongs tothe wife alone. The husband cannot divorce her except under a heavypenalty."

  "Observe," he answered, "that there is a grave practical inequalitywhich even theory can hardly ignore. The wife parts with something bythe very fact of marriage. At the end of two years, when she has bornetwo, three, or four children, her value in marriage is greatlylessened. Her capacity of maintaining herself, in the days when womendid work, was found practically to be even smaller than beforemarriage. You may say that this really amounts to a recognition bycustom of the natural inequality denied by law; but at any rate, it isan inequality which it was scarcely possible to overlook. Examine thepractical working of the covenants, and you will find that inaffecting to treat unequals as equals they merely make the weaker theslave of the stronger."

  "Surely," I said, "husband and wife are so far equal, where neither istied to the children, that each can make the other heartily glad toassent to a divorce."

  "Perhaps, where law interferes to enforce monogamy, and thereby tocreate an artificial equality of mutual dependence. But our law cannotdictate to equals, whose sex it ignores, the terms or numbers ofpartnership. So, the terms of the contract being voluntary, men ofcourse insist on excluding legal interference in household quarrels;and before the prohibitive clause was generally adopted, legalinterposition did more harm than good. As you will find, equalitybefore the law gives absolute effect to the real inequality, andchiefly through its coarsest element, superior physical force. Theliberty that is a necessar
y logical consequence of equality takes fromthe woman her one natural safeguard--the man's need of her goodwill,if not of her affection."

  "In our world," I replied, "I always held that even slaves, so they behousehold slaves, are secure against gross cruelty. The owner cannotmake life a burden to them without imperilling his own. To reduce thequestion to its lowest terms--malice will always be a match formuscle, and poison an efficient antidote to the _ferula_."

  "So," rejoined Esmo, "our men have perceived, and consequently theyhave excepted attempts to murder, as the women have excepted seriousbodily injury, from the general rule prohibiting appeals to a court oflaw."

  "And," said I, "are there many such appeals?"

  "Not one in two years," he replied; "and for a simple reason. Our law,as matter of course and of common sense, puts murder, attempted oraccomplished, on the same footing, and visits both with its supremepenalty. Consequently, a wife detected in such an attempt is at herhusband's mercy; and if he consent to spare her life, she must submitto any infliction, however it may transgress the covenanted limit. Infact, if he find her out in such an attempt, he may do anything butput her to death on his own authority."

  "Still," I answered, "as long as she remains in the house, she musthave frequent opportunity of repeating her attempt at revenge; and tolive in constant fear of assassination would break down the strongestnerves."

  "Our physicians," he said, "are more skilful in antidotes than ourwomen in poisons, even when the latter have learned chemistry. Nopoisonous plants are grown near our houses; and as wives never go outalone, they have little chance of getting hold of any fatal drug. Ibelieve that very few attempts to poison are successful, and that manywomen have suffered very severely on mere suspicion."

  "And what," I asked, "is the legal definition of 'grave bodilyinjury'?"

  "Injury," he said, "of which serious traces remain at the end oftwenty-four days; the destruction of a limb, or the deprivation,partial or total, of a sense. I have often thought bitterly," hecontinued, "of that boasted logic and liberality of our laws underwhich my daughters might have to endure almost any maltreatment fromtheir husbands, so long as these have but the sense not to employweapons that leave almost ineffaceable marks. This is one main reasonwhy we so anxiously avoid giving them save to those who are bound bythe ties of our faith to treat them as kindly as children--for whom,at the worst, they remain sisters of the Order. If women generally hadparents, our marriage law could never have carried out the fiction ofequality to its logical perfection and practical monstrosity."

  "Equality, then, has given your women a harder life and a worseposition than that of those women in our world who are, not only bylaw but by fact and custom, the slaves of their husbands?"

  "Yes, indeed," he said; "and our proverbs, though made by men, expressthis truth with a sharpness in which there is little exaggeration. Ourschool textbooks tell us that action and reaction are equal andopposite; and this familiar phrase gives meaning to the saw, _Pelmavedakal dake,_ 'She is equal, the thing struck to the hammer,' meaningthat woman's equality to man is no more effective than the reaction ofthe leather on the mallet. 'Bitterer smiles of twelve than tears often' (referring to the age of marriage). _Thleen delkint treen lalfezevleen_, ''Twixt fogs and clouds she dreams of stars.'"

  "What _does_ that mean?"

  "Would you not render it in the terminology of the hymn you translatedfor us, 'Between Purgatory and Hell, one dream of Heaven?' Stillpuzzled? 'Between the harshness of school and the misery of marriage,the illusions of the bride.' Again, _Zefoo zevleel, zave marneel,clafte cratheneel_, 'A child [cries] for the stars, a maiden for thematron's dress, a woman for her shroud.'"

  "Do you mean to say that that is not exaggerated?"

  "I suppose it is, as women are even less given to suicide than men.That is perhaps the ugliest proverb of its kind. I will only quote onemore, and that is two-edged--

  "'Fool he who heeds a woman's tears, to woman's tongue replies; Fool she who braves man's hand--but when was man or woman wise?'"

  Here Zulve came to the door and made a sign to her husband. Waitingcourteously to ascertain that I had finished speaking, and until hisson had somewhat ceremoniously taken leave of me, he led me to thedoor of a chamber next to that I had hitherto occupied. Pausing herehimself, he motioned me to go on, and the door parting, I found myselfin a room I had not before entered, about the same size as my own andsimilarly furnished, but differently coloured, now communicating withit by a door which I knew had not previously existed. Here wereEveena's mother and sister, dressed as usual.

  Eveena herself had exchanged her maiden white for the light pink of ayoung matron, but was closely veiled in a similar material. Her motherand sister kissed her with much emotion, though without the tears andlamentations, real or affected, with which--alike among the nomads ofAsia and the most cultivated races of Europe--even those relatives whohave striven hardest to marry a daughter or sister think it necessaryto celebrate the fulfilment of their hopes, and the termination oftheir often prolonged and wearisome labours. I was then left alonewith my bride, who remained half-seated, half-crouching on thecushions in a corner of the room. I could not help feeling keenly howmuch a marriage so unceremonious and with so little previousacquaintance, or rather so great a reserve and distance in our formerintercourse, intensified the awkwardness many a man on Earth feelswhen first left alone with the partner of his future life. But asingle glance at the small drooping figure half-hidden in the cushionsbrought the reflection that a situation, embarrassing to thebridegroom, must be in the last degree alarming and distressing to thebride. But for her visit to the Astronaut we should have been almoststrangers; I could hardly have recognised even her voice. I must,however, speak; and naturally my first sentence was a half-articulaterequest that she would remove her veil.

  "No," she whispered, rising, "_you_ must do that."

  Taking off the glove of her left hand, she came up to me shyly andslowly, and placed it in my right--a not unmeaning ceremony. Havingobeyed her instruction, my lips touched for the first time the brow ofmy young wife. That she was more than shy and startled, was evenpainfully agitated and frightened, became instantly apparent now thather countenance was visible. What must be the state of Martial bridesin general, when the signature of the contract immediately places themat the disposal of an utter stranger, it was beyond the power of myimagination to conceive, if their feelings were at all to be measuredby Eveena's under conditions sufficiently trying, but certainly farbetter than theirs. Nothing was so likely to quiet her as perfectcalmness on my side; and, though with a heart beating almost as fastas her own, if with very different emotions, I led her gently back toher place, and resting on a cushion just out of reach, began to talkto her. Choosing as the easiest subject our adventure of yesterday, Iasked what could have induced her to place herself in a situation sodangerous.

  "Do not be angry with me now," she pleaded. "I am exceedingly fond offlowers; they have been my only amusement except the training of mypets. You can see how little women have to do, how little occupationor interest is permitted us. The rearing of rare flowers, or thecreation of new ones, is almost the only employment in which we canfind exercise for such intelligence as we possess. I had never seenbefore the flower that grew on that shelf. I believe, indeed, that itonly grows on a few of our higher mountains below the snow-line, and Iwas anxious to bring it home and see what could be made of it in thegarden. I thought it might be developed into something almost asbeautiful as that bright _leenoo_ you admired so greatly in myflower-bed."

  "But," said I, "the two flowers are not of the same shape or colour;and, though I am not learned in botany, I should say hardly belong tothe same family."

  "No," she said. "But with care, and with proper management of ourelectric apparatus, I accomplished this year a change almost as great.I can show you in my flower-bed one little white flower, of no greatbeauty and conical in shape, from which I have produced in two yearsanother, saucer-shaped, pink, and of
thrice the size, almost exactlyrealising an imaginary flower, drawn by my sister-in-law to representone of which she had dreamed. We can often produce the very shape,size, and colour we wish from something that at first seems to have nolikeness to it whatever; and I have been told that a skilful farmerwill often obtain a fruit, or, what is more difficult, an animal, toanswer exactly the ideal he has formed."

  "Some of our breeders," I said, "profess to develop a sort of ideal ofany given species; but it takes many generations, by picking andchoosing those that vary in the right direction, to accomplishanything of the kind; and, after all, the difference between theoriginal and the improved form is mere development, not essentialchange."

  She hardly seemed to understand this, but answered--

  "The seedling or rootlet would be just like the original plant, if wedid not from the first control its growth by means of our electricframes. But if you will allow me, I will show you to-morrow what Ihave done in my own flower-bed, and you will have opportunities ofseeing afterwards how very much more is done by agriculturists withmuch more time and much more potent electricities."

  "At any rate," I said, "if I had known your object, you certainlyshould have had the flowers for which you risked so much: and if Iremain here three days longer, I promise you plenty of specimens foryour experiment."

  "You do not mean to go back to the Astronaut?" she asked, with an airof absolute consternation.

  "I had not intended to do so," I replied, "for it seems to beperfectly safe under your father's seal and your stringent laws ofproperty. But now, if time permit, I must get these flowers to whichyou tell me I am so deeply indebted."

  "You are very kind," returned Eveena earnestly, "but I entreat you notto venture there again. I should be utterly miserable while you wererunning such a risk again, and for such a trifle."

  "It is no such terrible risk to me, and to please you is not quite atrifle. Besides, I ought to deserve my prize better than I have yetdone. But you seem to have some especial spite against the unluckyvessel that brought me here; and that," I added, smiling, "seemshardly gracious in a bride of an hour."

  "No, no!" she murmured, evidently much distressed; "but the vesselthat brought you here may take you away."

  "I will not pain you yet by saying that I hope it may. At all events,it shall not do so till you are content that it should."

  She made no answer, and seemed for some time to hesitate, as if afraidor unwilling to say something which rose irrepressibly to her lips. Afew persuasive words, however, encouraged her, and she found hervoice, though with a faltering accent, which greatly surprised me whenI learned at last the purport of her request.

  "I do not understand," she said, "your ideas or customs, but I knowthey are different from ours. I have found at least that they make youmuch more indulgent and tender to women than our own; and I hope,therefore, you will forgive me if I ask more than I have any right todo."

  "I could scarcely refuse my bride's first request, whatever it mightbe. But your hesitation and your apologies might make me fear that youare about to ask something which one or both of us may wish hereafterhad neither been asked nor granted."

  She still hesitated and faltered, till I began to fancy that her wishmust have a much graver import than I at first supposed. Perhaps totreat the matter lightly and sportively would be the course mostlikely to encourage her to explain it.

  "What is it, child," I asked, "which you think the stranger of anotherworld more likely to grant than one of your own race, and which is soextravagant, nevertheless, that you tremble to ask it even from me? Isit too much to be bound not to appeal against me to the law, whichcannot yet determine whether I am a reality or a fiction? Or have Iproved my arm a little too substantial? Must the giant promise not toexercise the masculine prerogative of physical force safely concededto the dwarf? Fie, Eveena! I am almost afraid to touch you, lest Ishould hurt you unawares; lest tenderness itself should transgress thelimit of legal cruelty, and do grave bodily harm to a creature so muchmore like a fairy than a woman!"

  "No, no!" she expostulated, not at all reciprocating the jesting tonein which I spoke. "If you would consent to give such a promise, it isjust one of those we should wish unmade. How could I ask you topromise that I may behave as ill as I please? I dare say I shall befrightened to tears when you are angry; but I shall never wish you toretain your anger rather than vent it and forgive. The proverb says,'Who punishes pardons; who hates awaits.' No, pray do not play withme; I am so much in earnest. I know that I don't understand where andwhy your thoughts and ways are so unlike ours. But--but--I thought--Ifancied--you seemed to hold the tie between man and wife somethingmore--faster--more lasting--than--our contract has made it."

  "Certainly! With us it lasts for life at least; and even here, whereit may be broken at pleasure, I should not have thought that, on thevery bridal eve, the coldest heart could willingly look forward to itsdissolution."

  She was too innocent of such a thought--perhaps too much absorbed byher own purpose--to catch the hint of unjust reproach.

  "Well, then," she said, with a desperate effort, in a voice thattrembled between the fear of offending by presumption or exaction, andthe desire to give utterance to her wish--"I want ... will you saythat--if by that time you do not think that I have been too faulty,too undeserving--that I shall go with you when you quit this world?"And, her eagerness at last overpowering her shyness, she looked upanxiously into my face.

  We wholly misconceived each other. She drooped in bitterdisappointment, mistaking my blank surprise for displeasure; her wordsbrought over my mind a rush of that horror with which I ever recallthe scenes I witnessed but too often at Indian funerals.

  "That, of course, will rest with yourself. But even should I hereafterdeserve and win such love as would prompt the wish, I trust you willnever dream of cutting short your life because--in the ordinary courseof nature--mine should end long before the term of yours."

  Her face again brightened, and she looked up more shyly but not lessearnestly.

  "I did not make my meaning clear," she replied. "I spoke not, as myfather sometimes speaks, of leaving this world, when he means toremind us that death is only a departure to another; though that was,not so long ago, the only meaning the words could bear. I was thinkingof your journey, and I want you to take me with you when you go."

  "You have quite settled in your own mind that I shall go! And in truthyou have now removed, as you yesterday created, the only obstacle. Ifyou would not go with me, I might, rather than give you up, have givenup the whole purpose of my enterprise, and have left my friends, andthe world from which I came, ignorant whether it had ever beenaccomplished. But if you accompany me, I shall certainly try to regainmy own planet."

  "Then," she said hopefully, but half confidently, "when you go, if Ihave not given you cause of lasting displeasure, you _will_ take mewith you? Most men do not think much of promises, especially ofpromises made to women; but I have heard you speak as if to break aplighted word were a thing impossible."

  "I promise," I returned earnestly, very much moved by a proof of realaffection such as I had no right to expect, and certainly had notanticipated. "I give you the word of one who has never lied, that if,when the time comes, you wish to go with me, you shall. But by thattime, you will probably have a better idea what are the dangers youare asking to share."

  "What can that matter?" she answered. "I suppose in almost any case weshould escape or die together? To leave me here is to inflictcertainly, and at once, the worst that can possibly befall me; to takeme gives me the hope of living or dying with you; and even if I werekilled, I should be with you, and feel that you were kind to me, tothe last."

  "I little thought," said I, hesitating long for some expression oftenderness, which the language of Mars refuses to furnish,--"I littlethought to find in a world of which selfishness seems to be theparamount principle, and the absence of real love even between man andwoman the most prevalent characteristic, a wife so true to the bestand
deepest meaning of wedlock. Still less could I have hoped to findsuch a wife in one who had scarcely spoken to me twenty-four hoursbefore our marriage. If my unexampled adventure had had no otherreward--if I had cared nothing for the triumph of discovering a newworld with all its wonders--Eveena, this discovery alone is reward infull for all my studies, toils, and perils. For all I have done andrisked already, for all the risks of the future, I am tenfold repaidin winning you."

  She looked up at these words with an expression in which there wasmore of bewilderment and incredulity than of satisfaction, evidentlytouched by the earnestness of my tone, but scarcely understanding mywords better than if I had spoken in my own tongue. It would not beworth while to record the next hour's conversation; I would only notethe strong and painful impression it left upon my mind. There was inEveena's language and demeanour a timidity--a sort of tentativefearful venturing as on dangerous ground, feeling her way, as it were,in almost every sentence--which could not be wholly attributed to theshyness of a very young and very suddenly wedded bride. There wasenough and to spare of this shyness; but more of the sheer physical ornervous fear of a child suddenly left in hands whose reputed severityhas thoroughly frightened her; not daring to give offence by silence,but afraid at each word to give yet more fatal offence in speaking.Longer experience of a world in which even the first passion of loveis devoid of tenderness--in which asserted equality has long sincedeprived women of that claim to indulgence which can only rest onacknowledged weakness--taught me but too well the meaning of thisfearful, trembling anxiety to please, or rather not to offend. Isuppose that even a brutal master hardly likes to see a child cower inhis presence as if constantly expecting a blow; and this cowering wasso evident in my bride's demeanour, that, after trying for a couple ofhours to coax her into confidence and unreserved feminine fluency, Ibegan to feel almost impatient. It was fortunate that, just as my toneinvoluntarily betrayed to her quick and watchful ear some shade ofannoyance, just as I caught a furtive upward glance that seemed to askwhat error she had committed and how it might be repaired, ascratching on the door startled her. She did not, however, venture todisengage herself from the hand which now held her own, but only movedhalf-imperceptibly aside with a slight questioning look and gesture,as if tacitly asking to be released. As I still held her fast, she wassilent, till the unnoticed scratching had been two or three timesrepeated, and then half-whispered, "Shall I tell them to come in?"When I released her, there appeared to my surprise at her call, nohuman intruder, but one of the ambau, bearing on a tray a goblet,which, as he placed it on a table beside us, I perceived to contain aliquid rather different from any yet offered me. The presence of thesemute servants is generally no more heeded than that of our cats anddogs; but I now learnt that Martial ideas of delicacy forbid them,even as human servants would be forbidden, to intrude unannounced onconjugal privacy. When the little creature had departed, I tasted theliquid, but its flavour was so unpleasant that I set down the vesselimmediately. Eveena, however, took it up, and drinking a part of it,with an effort to control the grimace of dislike it provoked, held itup to me again, so evidently expecting and inviting me to share itthat courtesy permitted no further demur. A second sign or look, whenI set it down unemptied, induced me to finish the draught. Regardingthe matter as some trivial but indispensable ceremonial, I took nofurther notice of it; but, thankful for the diversion it had given tomy thoughts, continued my endeavours to soothe and encourage my faircompanion. After a few minutes it seemed as if she were somewhatsuddenly gaining courage and confidence. At the same time I myselfbecame aware of a mental effect which I promptly ascribed to thedraught. Nor was I wrong. It contained one of those drugs which I havementioned; so rarely used in this house that I had never before seenor tasted any of them, but given, as matter of course, on any occasionthat is supposed to involve unusual agitation or make an exceptionalcall on nerves or spirits. But for the influence of this cup I shouldstill have withheld the remark which, nevertheless, I had resolved tomake as soon as I could hope to do so without annoying or alarmingEveena.

  "Are you afraid of me?" I asked somewhat abruptly. The question mayhave startled her, but I was more startled by the answer.

  "Of course," she said in a tone which would have been absolutelymatter of fact, except that the doubt evidently surprised her. "OughtI not to be so? But what made you ask? And what had I done todisplease you, just before they sent us the 'courage cup'?"

  "I did not mean to show anything like displeasure," I replied. "But Iwas thinking then, and I may tell you now, that you remind me not ofthe women of my own Earth, but of petted children suddenly transferredto a harsh school. You speak and look like such a child, as if youexpected each moment at least to be severely scolded, if not beaten,without knowing your fault."

  "Not yet," she murmured, with a smile which seemed to me more painfulthan tears would have been. "But please don't speak as if I shouldfear anything so much as being scolded by you. We have a saying that'the hand may bruise the skin, the tongue can break the heart.'"

  "True enough," I said; "only on Earth it is mostly woman's tongue thatbreaks the heart, and men must not in return bruise the skin."

  "Why not?" she asked. "You said to my mother the other day that Arga(the fretful child of Esmo's adoption) deserved to be beaten."

  "Women are supposed," I answered, "to be amenable to milderinfluences; and a man must be drunk or utterly brutal before he coulddeal harshly with a creature so gentle and so fragile as yourself."

  "Don't spoil me," she said, with a pretty half-mournful, half-playfulglance. "'A petted bride makes an unhappy wife.' Surely it is no truekindness to tempt us to count on an indulgence that cannot last."

  "There is among us," I rejoined, "a saying about 'breaking a butterflyon the wheel'--as if one spoke of driving away the tiny birds thatnestle and feed in your flowers with a hammer. To apply your proverbsto yourself would be to realise this proverb of ours. Can you not letme pet and spoil my little flower-bird at least till I have tamed her,and trust me to chastise her as soon as she shall give reason--if Ican find a tendril or flower-stem light enough for the purpose?"

  "Will you promise to use a hammer when you wish to be rid of her?"said she, glancing up for one moment through her drooping lashes witha look exactly attuned to the mingled archness and pathos of her tone.