Leaving the thought to the thoughtful, we proceed to say that now
the real nature of the Egyptian made itself manifest.
It was not possible for her to have received a stranger with
repulsion more incisive; yet she was apparently as passionless as
a statue, only the small head was a little tilted, the nostrils
a little drawn, and the sensuous lower lip pushed the upper the
least bit out of its natural curvature.
She was the first to speak.
"Your coming is timely, O son of Hur," she said, in a voice sharply
distinct. "I wish to thank you for hospitality; after to-morrow I
may not have the opportunity to do so."
Ben-Hur bowed slightly without taking his eyes from her.
"I have heard of a custom which the dice-players observe with good
result among themselves," she continued. "When the game is over,
they refer to their tablets and cast up their accounts; then they
libate the gods and put a crown upon the happy winner. We have had
a game--it has lasted through many days and nights. Why, now that
it is at an end, shall not we see to which the chaplet belongs?"
Yet very watchful, Ben-Hur answered, lightly, "A man may not balk
a woman bent on having her way."
"Tell me," she continued, inclining her head, and permitting the
sneer to become positive--"tell me, O prince of Jerusalem, where is
he, that son of the carpenter of Nazareth, and son not less of God,
from whom so lately such mighty things were expected?"
He waved his hand impatiently, and replied, "I am not his keeper.
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