are you blind? You have come to
me often; have I ever looked unglad? Have I wearied of you soon? Have I
failed you? Could you read into that no favour from me, Diadyomene, who
have the sea to range? Can you wrong so my grace to you in the past as to
plan an extortion? Ah, foolish, needless, empty wrong! Your eyes have
been fair to me when they said what your tongue would not. Speak now fair
words, since I cannot read your eyes. Dear hands, reach out for mine,
take them and draw me out of the snare, and with gladness and shame own
it needless, as with gladness and pride will I.'

So vile a wretch she took him to be! and the bitterness was that he might
not disclaim. For a moment he had fallen to that baseness; it might be
that only because life was going out of him so fast was he past such
purpose now. A stupid 'No, no,' was all he could bring out.

She sprang up at a bound, driven to fury. She longed to strike with mere
woman strength, yet she dared not a contact, lest hers be the
disadvantage. With a shriek she fled back into the dark, and he heard the
dreadful wailing cries wheeling away. Desperately he prayed for himself
and for her; for his pain and an agony of pity were almost more than he
could bear.

Suddenly she came upon him and stood close. Her tone was changed.

'At last,' she said, 'miserable creature, you shall know the truth. You
love me. I know it well; I have known it long. And with all my
strength--I--hate you. Not for this night's treachery and insolence
only; from the first I hated you; and hatred has grown since more
bitter-strong, till your one life and body seemed all too little to stay
it. Ah! the love I read in your eyes has been sweet sustenance. So I
waited and waited only for this: for love of me to take deep hold of your
heart, to be dearer than life, before I plucked it up by the roots; and
to laugh in your face as I did it, knowing it worse than any death. Oh!
it should have been by daylight. I would like to see your face and your
eyes now, and watch your great body writhe--I think it does! Why, laugh I
must.

'Can you fathom my hate by its doings? You stood here first, glad, proud,
strong in your youth; but a few short weeks, and I had turned all to
ruin. Yes, I--I--only was your bane, though I but watched, and laughed,
and whispered beneath my waters, and let you be for the handling of your
fellows. Truly my hate has worked subtly and well, and even beyond
device; it has reached beyo