Her Royal Lover: A Novel — page 197: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

HER ROYAL LOVER. 189 fascinated, blinded by the charm that the king’s presence was infiltrating in her, she had resisted! Did the king see? did he divine the conflict? Suddenly a joyous cry escaped from his heart. In a moment his arms infolded this beloved woman, and delirious kisses, which he could not restrain, rained upon the princess. “Thou lovest me!—thou lovest me! Ah! do not defend thyself !—do not say no! Thou lovest me as I love thee; I inhale it in the sigh which exhales from thy breast, in the breath of thy lips, in the hu- midity of thy beautiful eyes! Thou shalt be my wife, dost thou hear well? my wife! the well-be- loved wife of thy king! No more objections; I have thought of all. I have written to the Emperor of Caucasus, praying him to change the post of the Prince of Mineleko. My demand has been accepted ; Mineleko will return here no more. ‘To-day even, thou shalt enter at the bar thy plea for a divorce, and thy door will be forever forbidden to this man!” “But, if you should cease one day to love me?” Like a sorrowful sigh, this phrase escaped from the lips of Najeska Ivanowna, that those of the king held hermetically sealed under his own. “Will the sun ever cease to shine?” responded he, softly. Najeska Ivanowna was for a moment in such a state of intoxicating happiness that she could no longer resist! There, holding her pressed against his heart, the king, in fervent words, painted her fu- ture, this always ideal future when it is represented by the glowing words of love, but which reality never attains. Before the departure of his majesty every question was decided. The princess would send for an advo- Eomicbooks.com