Tell me, do you love me?
Does your blood throb in your veins when I touch you?
Does your heart beat quicker when you come near me?
Are your ears keener for my voice than for that of any other woman--tell me ?" His hands went up and clasped hers as they lay on his shoulders.

He took her right hand and pressed it to his heart, and laid her left hand on his cheek.

Then he let them fall.

He stepped back, bowed his head, and said: "The Queen is answered!" "Not the Queen, but the woman, Ma-Rim[=o]n, and as a woman loves to be answered.

And now the woman shall speak.