The Power of the Fraternity

The princess did not start--she did not even look surprised when I
uttered the strange sentence, but her great round eyes welled up in
tears, and she caught her breath in a half-sob once. Then, without
uttering a word, she extended her hand and placed it in mine, and we
remained thus, for a moment silent. Presently, in a low whisper, I
heard her repeat after me, the words, "Love, honor, and obey;" and she
added: "As long as we both shall live."

With a quick gesture that was purely feminine, she withdrew her hand
from mine and thrust the clustering hair away from her temples. Then
she went to the window and gazed upon the snow clad city, and thus she
remained for several minutes.

Presently she returned and came back to where I was standing.

"It is strange, is it not, Mr. Derrington?" she asked in a low voice.
"I do not think that I am myself to-day. It is hard to realize that
this is Zara de Echeveria who speaks to you now. I am like another
person; it is as though another spirit had entered my body, and I seem
to act without a will of my own. It began last night when you first
entered my presence. It was evident to me when I saw you apparently
asleep in the garden, knowing that you had overheard the conversation
between my brother and myself; it asserted itself when we stood
together under the green light later in the evening, when you told me
that I must keep the engagement made with you to-day, and when you
entered this room a few hours ago, it seemed as though you belonged to
me--as though you had stolen away my will--as though I had no right to
act without your sanction. Can you explain it?"