"
"I know that I love her," said he, quickly.
"But love is a great deceiver. You shall not take her for your wife."
"Why?" he demanded, turning and looking into the face of Salome.
Her dark eyes were now gazing into his, her hand softly stroking his
bare arm.
"Because," she whispered, and now he could feel the motion of her
shapely red lips upon his ear, "here, in Judea, you shall find one who
loves you with a greater love."
His pulses were quick with passion. He rose, turning from the daughter
of Herod. To his amazement the others had all departed. He and this
living Venus of Judea were alone.
She rose and spoke rapidly, her heart's fire in her words! "Here the
love of women is longer than their lives--greater than their prudence
or their hope of heaven."
She stood erect before him, her beauty striving with the ardor of her
words.
He looked down at her with a kind of fear in his eyes.
She took his hand in hers. "My father is fond of you," she continued.
"Shall I tell your future?"
"And I knew it for a moment hence I should know all," he answered;
covering his eyes.
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