"No, I want you to be here.

When the time arrives, I want the full light to shine upon you." After this she demurred no more, but moved obediently into the appointed seat, her companion placing himself beside her.
In the first moments of agitation and nervousness, she had scarcely observed her surroundings; but now, as her perturbation partially subsided, she looked back at the rows of bowed or erect figures, and forward at the space about which the incense clung like a filmy veil.

At a first glance this veil seemed almost too dense to penetrate; but as her sight grew accustomed to its drifting whiteness, she was able to discern the objects that lay behind.
In place of the altar, usually prominent in every religious building, there was a wide semicircular space, within which stood a gold chair raised upon a dais and a heavy lectern of symbolic design on which rested a white leather book, worn yellow at the edges.

Over this book a man was poring, apparently unconscious of the active interest he evoked.
He was short and thick-set, with a square jaw, a long upper lip, and keen eyes.

Over a head of vividly red hair, he wore a round black silk cap, and his figure was enveloped in a flowing black gown.
From time to time, as he read, he lifted one hand in rapt excitement, while his lips moved unceasingly in rapid, inaudible speech.