Waiting alone in the secret alcove they had both come to know so well, with the perilous cries of the frolicking children wafting in from outside, Lady Cesar thought once more of Long Igraine, the man she had belonged to so completely. He was now, according to David’s shocking revelation, lost forever in the wilds of the Amazon.
   Suddenly, came a confused chorus of greetings from the courtyard, and she felt her heart suddenly beat with a new, wild rhythm. He was here! “Kiss me, beloved!” he said with an unholy gleam in his eye.
   At that moment he slid the little ring onto her finger, and as the band began to play, she wordlessly let her body melt against his own.