Chapter 2
Said Cairide':
Mongan's wife at that time was Bro'tiarna, the Flame Lady. She
was passionate and fierce, and because the blood would flood
suddenly to her cheek, so that she who had seemed a lily became,
while you looked upon her, a rose, she was called Flame Lady. She
loved Mongan with ecstasy and abandon, and for that also he called
her Flame Lady.
But there may have been something of calculation even in her
wildest moment, for if she was delighted in her affection she was
tormented in it also, as are all those who love the great ones of
life and strive to equal themselves where equality is not
possible.
For her husband was at once more than himself and less than
himself. He was less than himself because he was now Mongan. He was
more than himself because he was
