"I will not remain," he said to Fleda. To Rhodo he added: "I am not a
robber of the dead. That's high-faluting talk. What I have of his was
given to me by him. She was for me if I could win her. He said so. This
is a free country. I will wait outside," he added to Fleda.
She made a gesture as though she would detain him, but she realized that
the hour of her fate was at hand, and that the old life and the new were
face to face, Rhodo standing for one and she for the other. When they
were alone, Rhodo's eyes softened, and he came near to her. "You asked me
what I wished to tell you," he said. "See then, I want to tell you that
it is for you to take the place of the dead Ry. Everywhere in the world
where the Romanys wander they will rejoice to hear that a Druse rules us
still. The word of the Ry of Rys was law; what he wished to be done was
done; what he wished to be undone was undone. Because of you he hid
himself from his people; because of you I was for ever wandering, keeping
the peace by lies for love of the Ry and for love of you."
His voice shook. "Since your mother died--and she was kin of mine--you
were to me the soul of the Romany people everywhere. As a barren woman
loves a child, so I loved you. I loved you for the sake of your mother.
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