CHAPTER XVI.

BEFORE THE STATUE

It was night—dead night—and the silence lay on the Frowning City like a

cloud.

Secretly, as evildoers, Sir Henry Curtis, Umslopogaas, and myself

threaded our way through the passages towards a by-entrance to the

great Throne Chamber. Once we were met by the fierce rattling challenge

of the sentry. I gave the countersign, and the man grounded his spear

and let us pass. Also we were officers of the Queens’ bodyguard, and in

that capacity had a right to come and go unquestioned.

We gained the hall in safety. So empty and so still was it, that even

when we had passed the sound of our footsteps yet echoed up the lofty

walls, vibrating faintly and still more faintly against the carven

roof, like ghosts of the footsteps of dead men haunting the place that

once they trod.

It was an eerie spot, and it oppressed me. The moon was full, and threw

great pencils and patches of light through the high windowless openings

in the walls, that lay pure and beautiful upon the blackness of the

marble floor, like white flowers on a coffin. One of these silver

arrows fell upon the statue of the sleeping Rademas, and of the angel

form bent over him, illumining it, and a small circle round it, with a

soft clear light, reminding me of that with which Catholics illumine

the altars of their cathedrals.

Here by the statue we took our stand, and waited. Sir Henry and I close

together, Umslopogaas some paces off in the darkness, so that I could

only just make out his towering outline leaning on the outline of an

axe.

So long did we wait that I almost fell asleep resting against the cold

marble, but was suddenly aroused by hearing Curtis give a quick

catching breath. Then from far away there came a little sound as though

the statues that lined the walls were whispering to each other some

message of the ages.

It was the faint sweep of a lady’s dress. Nearer it grew, and nearer

yet. We could see a figure steal from patch to patch of moonlight, and

even hear the soft fall of sandalled feet. Another second and I saw the

black silhouette of the old Zulu raise its arm in mute salute, and

Nyleptha was before us.

Oh, how beautiful she looked as she paused a moment just within the

circle of the moonlight! Her hand was pressed upon her heart, and her

white bosom heaved beneath it. Round her head a broidered scarf was

loosely thrown, partially shadowing the perfect face, and thus

rendering it even more lovely; for beauty, dependent as it is to a

certain extent upon the imagination, is never so beautiful as when it

is half hid. There she stood radiant but half doubting, stately and yet

so sweet. It was but a moment, but I then and there fell in love with

her myself, and have remained so to this hour; for, indeed, she looked

more like an angel out of heaven than a loving, passionate, mortal

woman. Low we bowed before her, and then she spoke.

“I have come,” she whispered, “but it was at great risk. Ye know not

how I am watched. The priests watch me. Sorais watches me with those

great eyes of hers. My very guards are spies upon me. Nasta watches me

too. Oh, let him be careful!” and she stamped her foot. “Let him be

careful; I am a woman, and therefore hard to drive. Ay, and I am a

Queen, too, and can still avenge. Let him be careful, I say, lest in

place of giving him my hand I take his head,” and she ended the

outburst with a little sob, and then smiled up at us bewitchingly and

laughed.

“Thou didst bid me come hither, my Lord Incubu” (Curtis had taught her

to call him so). “Doubtless it is about business of the State, for I

know that thou art ever full of great ideas and plans for my welfare

and my people’s. So even as a Queen should I have come, though I

greatly fear the dark alone,” and again she laughed and gave him a

glance from her grey eyes.

At this point I thought it wise to move a little, since secrets “of the

State” should not be made public property; but she would not let me go

far, peremptorily stopping me within five yards or so, saying that she

feared surprise. So it came to pass that, however unwillingly, I heard

all that passed.

“Thou knowest, Nyleptha,” said Sir Henry, “that it was for none of

these things that I asked thee to meet me at this lonely place.

Nyleptha, waste not the time in pleasantry, but listen to me, for—I

love thee.”

As he said the words I saw her face break up, as it were, and change.

The coquetry went out of it, and in its place there shone a great light

of love which seemed to glorify it, and make it like that of the marble

angel overhead. I could not help thinking that it must have been a

touch of prophetic instinct which made the long dead Rademas limn, in

the features of the angel of his inspiring vision, so strange a

likeness of his own descendant. Sir Henry, also, must have observed and

been struck by the likeness, for, catching the look upon Nyleptha’s

face, he glanced quickly from it to the moonlit statue, and then back

again at his beloved.

“Thou sayest thou dost love me,” she said in a low voice, “and thy

voice rings true, but how am I to know that thou dost speak the truth?”

“Though,” she went on with proud humility, and in the stately third

person which is so largely used by the Zu-Vendi, “I be as nothing in

the eyes of my lord,” and she curtseyed towards him, “who comes from

among a wonderful people, to whom my people are but children, yet here

am I a queen and a leader of men, and if I would go to battle a hundred

thousand spears shall sparkle in my train like stars glimmering down

the path of the bent moon. And although my beauty be a little thing in

the eyes of my lord,” and she lifted her broidered skirt and curtseyed

again, “yet here among my own people am I held right fair, and ever

since I was a woman the great lords of my kingdom have made quarrel

concerning me, as though forsooth,” she added with a flash of passion,

“I were a deer to be pulled down by the hungriest wolf, or a horse to

be sold to the highest bidder. Let my lord pardon me if I weary my

lord, but it hath pleased my lord to say that he loves me, Nyleptha, a

Queen of the Zu-Vendi, and therefore would I say that though my love

and my hand be not much to my lord, yet to me are they all.”

“Oh!” she cried, with a sudden and thrilling change of voice, and

modifying her dignified mode of address. “Oh, how can I know that thou

lovest but me? How can I know that thou wilt not weary of me and seek

thine own place again, leaving me desolate? Who is there to tell me but

that thou lovest some other woman, some fair woman unknown to me, but

who yet draws breath beneath this same moon that shines on me tonight?

Tell me _how_ am I to know?” And she clasped her hands and stretched

them out towards him and looked appealingly into his face.

“Nyleptha,” answered Sir Henry, adopting the Zu-Vendi way of speech; “I

have told thee that I love thee; how am I to tell thee how much I love

thee? Is there then a measure for love? Yet will I try. I say not that

I have never looked upon another woman with favour, but this I say that

I love thee with all my life and with all my strength; that I love thee

now and shall love thee till I grow cold in death, ay, and as I believe

beyond my death, and on and on for ever: I say that thy voice is music

to my ear, and thy touch as water to a thirsty land, that when thou art

there the world is beautiful, and when I see thee not it is as though

the light was dead. Oh, Nyleptha, I will never leave thee; here and now

for thy dear sake I will forget my people and my father’s house, yea, I

renounce them all. By thy side will I live, Nyleptha, and at thy side

will I die.”

He paused and gazed at her earnestly, but she hung her head like a

lily, and said never a word.

“Look!” he went on, pointing to the statue on which the moonlight

played so brightly. “Thou seest that angel woman who rests her hand

upon the forehead of the sleeping man, and thou seest how at her touch

his soul flames up and shines out through his flesh, even as a lamp at

the touch of the fire, so is it with me and thee, Nyleptha. Thou hast

awakened my soul and called it forth, and now, Nyleptha, it is not

mine, not mine, but _thine_ and thine only. There is no more for me to

say; in thy hands is my life.” And he leaned back against the pedestal

of the statue, looking very pale, and his eyes shining, but proud and

handsome as a god.

Slowly, slowly she raised her head, and fixed her wonderful eyes, all

alight with the greatness of her passion, full upon his face, as though

to read his very soul. Then at last she spoke, low indeed, but clearly

as a silver bell.

“Of a truth, weak woman that I am, I do believe thee. Ill will be the

day for thee and for me also if it be my fate to learn that I have

believed a lie. And now hearken to me, oh man, who hath wandered here

from far to steal my heart and make me all thine own. I put my hand

upon thy hand thus, and thus I, whose lips have never kissed before, do

kiss thee on the brow; and now by my hand and by that first and holy

kiss, ay, by my people’s weal and by my throne that like enough I shall

lose for thee—by the name of my high House, by the sacred Stone and by

the eternal majesty of the Sun, I swear that for thee will I live and

die. And I swear that I will love thee and thee only till death, ay,

and beyond, if as thou sayest there be a beyond, and that thy will

shall be my will, and thy ways my ways.

“Oh see, see, my lord! thou knowest not how humble is she who loves; I,

who am a Queen, I kneel before thee, even at thy feet I do my homage;”

and the lovely impassioned creature flung herself down on her knees on

the cold marble before him. And after that I really do not know, for I

could stand it no longer, and cleared off to refresh myself with a

little of old Umslopogaas’ society, leaving them to settle it their own

way, and a very long time they were about it.

I found the old warrior leaning on Inkosi-kaas as usual, and surveying

the scene in the patch of moonlight with a grim smile of amusement.

“Ah, Macumazahn,” he said, “I suppose it is because I am getting old,

but I don’t think that I shall ever learn to understand the ways of you

white people. Look there now, I pray thee, they are a pretty pair of

doves, but what is all the fuss about, Macumazahn? He wants a wife, and

she wants a husband, then why does he not pay his cows down[18] like a

man and have done with it? It would save a deal of trouble, and we

should have had our night’s sleep. But there they go, talk, talk, talk,

and kiss, kiss, kiss, like mad things. Eugh!”

[18] Alluding to the Zulu custom.—A. Q.

Some three-quarters of an hour afterwards the “pair of doves” came

strolling towards us, Curtis looking slightly silly, and Nyleptha

remarking calmly that the moonlight made very pretty effects on the

marble. Then, for she was in a most gracious mood, she took my hand and

said that I was “her Lord’s” dear friend, and therefore most dear to

her—not a word for my own sake, you see. Next she lifted Umslopogaas’

axe, and examined it curiously, saying significantly as she did so that

he might soon have cause to use it in defence of her.

After that she nodded prettily to us all, and casting a tender glance

at her lover, glided off into the darkness like a beautiful vision.

When we got back to our quarters, which we did without accident, Curtis

asked me jocularly what I was thinking about.

“I am wondering,” I answered, “on what principle it is arranged that

some people should find beautiful queens to fall in love with them,

while others find nobody at all, or worse than nobody; and I am also

wondering how many brave men’s lives this night’s work will cost.” It

was rather nasty of me, perhaps, but somehow all the feelings do not

evaporate with age, and I could not help being a little jealous of my

old friend’s luck. Vanity, my sons; vanity of vanities!

On the following morning, Good was informed of the happy occurrence,

and positively rippled with smiles that, originating somewhere about

the mouth, slowly travelled up his face like the rings in a duckpond,

till they flowed over the brim of his eyeglass and went where sweet

smiles go. The fact of the matter, however, was that not only was Good

rejoiced about the thing on its own merits but also for personal

reasons. He adored Sorais quite as earnestly as Sir Henry adored

Nyleptha, and his adoration had not altogether prospered. Indeed, it

had seemed to him and to me also that the dark Cleopatra-like queen

favoured Curtis in her own curious inscrutable way much more than Good.

Therefore it was a relief to him to learn that his unconscious rival

was permanently and satisfactorily attached in another direction. His

face fell a little, however, when he was told that the whole thing was

to be kept as secret as the dead, above all from Sorais for the

present, inasmuch as the political convulsion which would follow such

an announcement at the moment would be altogether too great to face and

would very possibly, if prematurely made, shake Nyleptha from her

throne.

That morning we again attended in the Throne Hall, and I could not help

smiling to myself when I compared the visit to our last, and reflecting

that, if walls could speak, they would have strange tales to tell.

What actresses women are! There, high upon her golden throne, draped in

her blazoned “kaf” or robe of state, sat the fair Nyleptha, and when

Sir Henry came in a little late, dressed in the full uniform of an

officer of her guard and humbly bent himself before her, she merely

acknowledged his salute with a careless nod and turned her head coldly

aside. It was a very large Court, for not only did the signing of the

laws attract many outside of those whose duty it was to attend, but

also the rumour that Nasta was going to publicly ask the hand of

Nyleptha in marriage had gone abroad, with the result that the great

hall was crowded to its utmost capacity. There were our friends the

priests in force, headed by Agon, who regarded us with a vindictive

eye; and a most imposing band they were, with their long white

embroidered robes girt with a golden chain from which hung the

fish-like scales. There, too, were a number of the lords, each with a

band of brilliantly attired attendants, and prominent among them was

Nasta, stroking his black beard meditatively and looking unusually

pleasant. It was a splendid and impressive sight, especially when the

officer after having read out each law handed them to the Queens to

sign, whereon the trumpets blared out and the Queens’ guard grounded

their spears with a crash in salute. This reading and signing of the

laws took a long time, but at length it came to an end, the last one

reciting that “whereas distinguished strangers, etc.”, and proceeding

to confer on the three of us the rank of “lords”, together with certain

military commands and large estates bestowed by the Queen. When it was

read the trumpets blared and the spears clashed down as usual, but I

saw some of the lords turn and whisper to each other, while Nasta

ground his teeth. They did not like the favour that was shown to us,

which under all the circumstances was not perhaps unnatural.

Then there came a pause, and Nasta stepped forward and bowing humbly,

though with no humility in his eye, craved a boon at the hands of the

Queen Nyleptha.

Nyleptha turned a little pale, but bowed graciously, and prayed the

“well-beloved lord” to speak on, whereon in a few straightforward

soldier-like words he asked her hand in marriage.

Then, before she could find words to answer, the High Priest Agon took

up the tale, and in a speech of real eloquence and power pointed out

the many advantages of the proposed alliance; how it would consolidate

the kingdom, for Nasta’s dominions, of which he was virtually king,

were to Zu-Vendis much what Scotland used to be to England; how it

would gratify the wild mountaineers and be popular among the soldiery,

for Nasta was a famous general; how it would set her dynasty firmly on

the throne, and would gain the blessing and approval of the “Sun”,

_i.e._, of the office of the High Priest, and so on. Many of his

arguments were undoubtedly valid, and there was, looking at it from a

political point of view, everything to be said for the marriage. But

unfortunately it is difficult to play the game of politics with the

persons of young and lovely queens as though they were ivory effigies

of themselves on a chessboard. Nyleptha’s face, while Agon spouted

away, was a perfect study; she smiled indeed, but beneath the smile it

set like a stone, and her eyes began to flash ominously.

At last he stopped, and she prepared herself to answer. Before she did

so, however, Sorais leant towards her and said in a voice sufficiently

loud for me to catch what she said, “Bethink thee well, my sister, ere

thou dost speak, for methinks that our thrones may hang upon thy

words.”

Nyleptha made no answer, and with a shrug and a smile Sorais leant back

again and listened.

“Of a truth a great honour has been done to me,” she said, “that my

poor hand should not only have been asked in marriage, but that Agon

here should be so swift to pronounce the blessing of the Sun upon my

union. Methinks that in another minute he would have wed us fast ere

the bride had said her say. Nasta, I thank thee, and I will bethink me

of thy words, but now as yet I have no mind for marriage, that is a cup

of which none know the taste until they begin to drink it. Again I

thank thee, Nasta,” and she made as though she would rise.

The great lord’s face turned almost as black as his beard with fury,

for he knew that the words amounted to a final refusal of his suit.

“Thanks be to the Queen for her gracious words,” he said, restraining

himself with difficulty and looking anything but grateful, “my heart

shall surely treasure them. And now I crave another boon, namely, the

royal leave to withdraw myself to my own poor cities in the north till

such time as the Queen shall say my suit nay or yea. Mayhap,” he added,

with a sneer, “the Queen will be pleased to visit me there, and to

bring with her these stranger lords,” and he scowled darkly towards us.

“It is but a poor country and a rough, but we are a hardy race of

mountaineers, and there shall be gathered thirty thousand swordsmen to

shout a welcome to her.”

This speech, which was almost a declaration of rebellion, was received

in complete silence, but Nyleptha flushed up and answered it with

spirit.

“Oh, surely, Nasta, I will come, and the strange lords in my train, and

for every man of thy mountaineers who calls thee Prince, will I bring

two from the lowlands who call me Queen, and we will see which is the

staunchest breed. Till then farewell.”

The trumpets blared out, the Queens rose, and the great assembly broke

up in murmuring confusion, and for myself I went home with a heavy

heart foreseeing civil war.

After this there was quiet for a few weeks. Curtis and the Queen did

not often meet, and exercised the utmost caution not to allow the true

relation in which they stood to each other to leak out; but do what

they would, rumours as hard to trace as a buzzing fly in a dark room,

and yet quite as audible, began to hum round and round, and at last to

settle on her throne.