haturika to summon me, knowing that it was impossible for me to come
of my own accord, and that I should be sitting waiting with my heart
on fire for her summons to arrive. And so I lay, tossing all night
long sleepless on my bed, and cursing the moon, which poured as if to
mock me a silver flood of light upon the floor, seeming to say: Think
what a night it must be in the garden! until in an agony of
reminiscence and humiliation, I turned my back to it, and lay with my
face to the wall. And when at last day returned, I arose and sat, in
deep dejection, worn out, and at my wits' very end, never even daring
to look towards the door, which remained obstinately shut. And all day
long I sat still in a kind of dream, neither eating nor drinking, and
hopelessly waiting still. And at last once more the sun went down,
after a day that was longer than a year, leaving me lying in the dark.

And I know not how I got through the night, which I shudder even to
remember; but when morning came, I was within a very little of being
mad. And burning with fever, hot and cold by turns, for sheer
impotence I got up and went out, and wandered up and down the streets,
till at last for weariness I was obliged to return, though the thought
of my deserted house was almost more horrible than death. And all at
once, I looked up, and lo! there was Chaturika herself, coming towards
me in the street.

XIX

And at the sight of her, my heart leaped into my mouth, for she
resembled the very last link that joined me to the Queen, in a
feminine form. But at the very moment that I saw her, she saw me also;
and she turned away, pretending not to see me, and went round the
corner into another street. And instantly, I leaped after her like a
deer, and caught her, almost running to escape me. And then, seeing
that there was absolutely no help for it, she stopped, and stood
looking at me with defiance, like an animal at bay.

And presently I said: Dost thou not know me, that thou runnest so fast
to get away? And she said: I never saw thee: I was only in a hurry.
And I said: Now, from bad, it is worse; thou art lying. And why,
instead of running away, art thou not rather hastening to meet me?
Hast thou no message for me from the Queen? And she said: No: none.
And I exclaimed: What! none? Did not my message come to thee? And she
said, reluctantly: It came. Then I said: Then the Queen must know that
I am here. And why has she never sent? And Chaturika said: