Not many days passed after this, before the women of the harem began to whisper among themselves in the passages and outer chambers.

‘See,’ they said, ’how our master favours this foreign woman, who is in all probability a devil from the Persian mountains.  Every day he will have her to sing to him, and to bring him drink, and to sit at his feet.  And he has given her several bracelets of gold and a large ruby.  Surely it will be better for us to flatter her and show her reverence, for if not she will before long give us sticks to eat, and we shall mourn our folly.’

So they began to exhibit great respect for Almasta, giving her always the best seat amongst them and setting aside for her the best portions of the mutton, and the whitest of the rice, and the largest of the sweetmeats and the mellowest of the old sugar dates, so that Almasta fared sumptuously.  But though she understood the reason why the women treated her so much more kindly than before, she was careful always to appear thankful and to speak softly to them, for she feared Zehowah, to whom they might speak of her, and who was very powerful with the Sultan.  She was indeed secretly transported with joy, for she loved Khaled and she began to think that before long he would marry her.  This was her only motive, also, for she was not otherwise ambitious, and though she afterwards did many evil deeds, she did them all out of love for him.

Though Khaled was by no means soft-hearted, he could not but pity her sometimes, seeing how she was deceived by his kindness, while he was only making a pretence of preferring her in order to gain Zehowah’s love.  Often he sat long with closed eyes while she sang to him or played softly upon the barbat, and he tried to fancy that the voice and the presence were Zehowah’s.  But her strange language disturbed him, for there were sounds in it like the hissing of serpents and like choking, which caused him to start suddenly just when her voice was sweetest.  For the Georgian tongue is barbarous and not like any human speech under the sun, resembling by turns the inarticulate warbling of birds, and the croaking of ravens, and the noises made by an angry cat.  Nevertheless, Khaled always made a pretence of being pleased, though he enjoined upon Almasta to learn to sing in Arabic.

‘For Arabic,’ he said to her, ’is the language of paradise, and is spoken by all beings among the blessed, from Adam, our father, who waits for the resurrection in the first heaven, to the birds that fly among the branches of the tree Sedrat, near the throne of Allah, singing perpetually the verses of Al Koran.  The black-eyed virgins reserved for the faithful, also speak only in Arabic.’

‘Shall I be of the Hur al Oyun of whom you speak?’ Almasta inquired.

’How is it possible that you should be of the black-eyed ones, when your eyes are blue?’ Khaled asked, laughing.  ’And besides, are you not an unbeliever?’

’I believe what you believe, and am learning your language.  There is no Allah beside Allah.’

‘And Mohammed is Allah’s prophet.’

‘And Mohammed is Allah’s prophet,’ Almasta repeated devoutly.

‘Good.  And the six articles of belief are also necessary.’

‘Teach me,’ said Almasta, laying the barbat upon the carpet and folding her hands.

’You must believe first in Allah, and secondly in all the angels.  Thirdly you must believe in Al Koran, fourthly in the prophets of Allah, fifthly in the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment, and lastly that your destiny is about your neck so that you cannot escape it.’

‘I believe in everything,’ said Almasta, who understood nothing of these sacred matters.  ‘Shall I now be one of the Hur al Oyun?’

‘But you have blue eyes.’

‘When I know that I am dying, I will paint them black,’ said Almasta, laughing sweetly.

‘The angels Monkar and Nakir will discover your deception,’ said Khaled.  ’When you are dead and buried, these two angels, who are black, will enter your tomb.  They are of extremely terrible appearance.  Then they will make you sit upright in the grave and will examine you first as to your belief and then as to your deeds.  You will then not be able to tell lies.  If you truly believe and have done good, your soul will then be breathed out of your lips and will float in a state of rest over your grave until the last judgment.  But if not, the black angels will beat your head with iron maces, and tear your soul from your body with a torment greater than that caused by tearing the flesh from the bones.’

‘I believe in everything,’ Almasta said again, supposing that her assent would please him.

‘You find it an easy matter to believe what I tell you,’ he said, for he could see that she would have received any other faith as readily.  ’But it is not easy for a woman to enter paradise, and since it is your destiny to have blue eyes, they will not become black.  The Hur al Oyun, however, are not mortal women and no mortal woman can ever be one of them, since they are especially prepared for the faithful.  But a man’s wives may enter paradise with him, in a glorified beauty which may not be inferior to that of the black-eyed ones.  If, for instance, Abdul Kerim had lived and been your husband, you might, by faith and good works, have entered heaven with him as one of his wives.’

Almasta looked long at Khaled, trying to see whether he still suspected her, and indeed he found it very hard to do so, for her look was clear and innocent as that of a young dove that is fed by a familiar hand.

‘I would like to enter paradise with you,’ said Almasta, with an appearance of timidity.  ‘Is it not possible?’

‘It may be possible.  But I doubt it,’ Khaled answered, with gravity.

In those days, while Khaled thus spent many hours with Almasta, Zehowah often remained for a long time in another part of the harem, either surrounded by her women, or sitting alone upon the balcony over the court, absorbed in watching the people who came and went.  The slaves were surprised to see that Khaled seemed to prefer the society of the Georgian to that of his wife, but they dared say nothing to Zehowah and contented themselves with watching her face and endeavouring to find out whether she were displeased at what was happening, or really indifferent as she appeared to be.

Almasta herself was distrustful, supposing that Khaled and Zehowah were in league together to entrap her into a self-accusation, and though her heart was transported with happiness while she was with Khaled, yet she did not forget to be cautious whenever any reference was made to Abdul Kerim’s death.  She also took the long needle out of her hair and hid it carefully in a corner, in a crevice between the pavement and the wall, lest it should at any time fall from its place and bring suspicion upon her.

Khaled watched Zehowah as narrowly as the women did, to see whether any signs of jealousy showed themselves in her face, and sometimes they talked together of Almasta.

‘It is strange,’ said Khaled, ’that Allah, being all powerful, should have provided matter for dissension on earth by creating one woman more beautiful than another, the one with blue eyes, the other with black, the one with red hair and the other with hair needing henna to brighten it.  Are not all women the children of one mother?’

‘And are not all men her sons also?’ asked Zehowah.  ’It is strange that Allah, being all powerful, should have provided matter for sorrow by creating one man with a spirit easily satisfied, and the other with a soul tormented by discontent.’

Khaled looked fixedly at his wife, and bent his brows.  But in secret he was glad, for he supposed that she was beginning to be jealous.  However, he made a pretence of being displeased.

‘Is man a rock that he should never change?’ he asked.  ’Or has he but one eye with which to see but one kind of beauty?  Have I not two hands, two feet, two ears, two nostrils and two eyes?’

‘That is true,’ Zehowah answered.  ’But a man has only one heart with which to love, one voice with which to speak kind words, and one mouth with which to kiss the woman he has chosen.  And if a man had two souls, they would rend him so that he would be mad.’

At this Khaled laughed a little and would gladly have shown Zehowah that she was right.  But he feared to be treated with indifference, if he yielded to her argument so soon, and he held his peace.

‘Nevertheless,’ Zehowah continued, after a time, ’you are right and so am I. You said, indeed, not many days ago that your two hands should wither at the wrists if you took another wife, yet I advised you to do so; and now it is clear from what you say that you wish to marry Almasta.  I am your handmaiden.  Take her, therefore, and be contented, for she loves you.’

But now Khaled was much disturbed as to what he should answer, for he had hoped that Zehowah would break out into jealous anger.  He could not accept her advice, because of his oath and still more because of his love for her; yet he could not send away Almasta, since by so doing he would be giving over his last hope of obtaining Zehowah’s love by rousing her jealousy.

‘Take her,’ Zehowah repeated.  ’The palace is wide and spacious.  There is room for us both, and for two others also, if need be, according to divine law.  Take her, and let there be contentment.  Have you not said that she is more beautiful than I?’

‘No,’ answered Khaled, ‘I have not said so.’

’You have thought it, which is much the same, for you said that her hair was red but that mine needed henna to brighten it.  Marry her therefore, this very day.  Send for the Kadi, and order a feast, and let it be done quickly.’

‘Is it nothing to you, whether I take her or not?’ Khaled asked, seeking desperately for something to say.

’Is it for me to set myself up against the holy law?  Or did any one exact from you a promise that you would not take another wife?  And if you rashly promised anything of your own free will, the promise is not binding seeing that there is no authority for it in Al Koran, and that no one desires you to keep it ­neither I, nor Almasta.’

Zehowah laughed at her own speech, and Khaled was too much disturbed to notice that the laugh was rather of scorn than of mirth.

‘How shall I take a woman who is perhaps a murderess?’ he asked.  ’Shall I take her who was perhaps the cause of your revered father’s death?  May Allah give him peace!  Surely, the very thought is terrible to me, and I will not do it.’

’Will you convict her without witnesses?  And where is your witness?  Did not the physician explain the reason of the death, and did he suspect that there was anything unnatural about it?  But if you still think that she destroyed my father and Abdul Kerim ­peace on them both ­why do you make her sit all day long at your feet and sing to you in her barbarous language, which resembles the barking of jackals?  And why do you command her to bring you drink and fan you when it is hot, and you sleep in the afternoon?  This shows a forgiving and trustful disposition.’

‘This is an unanswerable argument,’ thought Khaled, being very much perplexed.  ’Can I answer that I do all this in order to see whether Zehowah is jealous?  She would certainly laugh to herself and say in her heart that she has married a fool.’

So he said nothing, but bent his brows again, and endeavoured to seem angry.  But Zehowah took no notice of his face and continued to urge him to marry Almasta.

‘Have you ever seen such a woman?’ she asked.  ’Have you ever seen such eyes?  Are they not like twin heavens of a deep blue, each having a shining sun in the midst?  Is not her hair like seventy thousand pieces of gold poured out upon the carpet from a height?  Her nose is a straight piece of pure ivory.  Her lips are redder than pomegranates when they are ripe, and her cheeks are as smooth as silk.  Moreover she is as white as milk, freshly taken from the camel, whereas my hands are of the colour of blanket-bread before it is baked.’

‘Your hands are much smaller than hers,’ said Khaled, who could not suffer Zehowah to discredit her own beauty.

‘I do not know,’ she answered, looking at her fingers.  ’But they are less white.  And Almasta is far more beautiful than I. You yourself said so.’

‘I never said so,’ Khaled replied, more and more perplexed.  ’There are two kinds of beauty.  That is what I said.  Allah has willed it.  Almasta is a slave, and her hands are large.  It is a pity, for she is like a mare that has many good points, but whose hoofs are overgrown through too much idleness in the stable.  I say that there are two kinds of beauty.  Yours is that of the free woman of a pure and beautiful race; hers is that of the slave accidentally born beautiful.’

Zehowah gathered up her three long black tresses and laid them across her knees as she sat.  Then she shook off her golden bracelets, one after the other, to the number of a score and heaped them upon the hair.

‘Which do you like best?’ she asked.  ’The black or the gold?  The day or the night?  Here you see them together and can judge fairly between them.’

Khaled sought for a crafty answer and made a pretence of pondering the matter deeply.

‘After the night,’ he said at last, ’the day is very bright and glorious.  But when we have looked on it long, only the night can bring rest and peace.’

He was pleased with himself when he had made this answer, supposing that Zehowah would find nothing to say.  But he had only laid a new trap for himself.

‘That is quite true,’ she answered, laughing.  ’That is also the reason why Allah made the day and the night to follow each other in succession, lest men should grow weary of eternal light or eternal darkness.  For the same reason also, since you have a wife whose hair is black, I counsel you to take a red-haired one.  In this way you will obtain that variety which the taste of man craves.’

‘If I follow your advice, you will regret it,’ said Khaled.

’You think I shall be jealous, but you are mistaken.  I am what I am.  Can another woman make me more or less beautiful?  Moreover, I shall always be first in the palace, though you take three other wives.  The others will rise up when you come in, but I shall remain sitting.  I shall always be the first wife.’

‘Undoubtedly, that is your right,’ Khaled replied.  ’Do you suppose that I wish to put any woman in your place?’

Then Zehowah laughed, and laid her hand upon Khaled’s arm.

‘How foolish men are!’ she exclaimed.  ’Do you think you can deceive me?  Do you imagine, because I have answered you and talked with you to-day, and listened to your arguments, that I do not understand your heart?  Oh, Khaled, this is true which you often say of yourself, that your wit is in your arm.  If I were a warrior and stood before you with a sword in my hand, you could argue better, for you would cut off my head, and the argument would end suddenly.  But Allah has not made you subtle, and words in your mouth are of no more avail than a sword would be in mine, for you entangle yourself in your own language, as I should wound myself if I tried to handle a weapon.’

At this Khaled was much disconcerted, and he stroked his beard thoughtfully, looking away so as not to meet her eyes.

‘I do not know what you mean,’ he said, at last.  ’You certainly imagine something which has no existence.’

’I imagine nothing, for I have seen the truth, ever since the first day when you desired to be alone with Almasta.  You are only foolishly trying to make me jealous of her, in order that I may love you better.’

When Khaled saw that she understood him, he was without any defence, for he had built a wall of sand for himself, like a child playing in the desert, which the first breath of wind causes to crumble, and the second blast leaves no trace of it behind.

‘And am I foolish, because I have done this thing?’ he cried, not attempting to deny the truth.  ’Am I a fool because I desire your love?  But it is folly to speak of it, for you will reproach me and say that I am discontented, and will offer me another woman for my wife.  Go.  Leave me alone.  If you do not love me, the sight of you is as vinegar poured into a fresh wound, and as salt rubbed into eyes that are sore with the sand.  Go.  Why do you stay?  Do you not believe me?  Do you wish me to kill you that I may have peace from you?  It is a pity that you did not marry one of the hundred suitors who came before me, for you certainly loved one of them, since you cannot love me.  You doubtless loved the Indian prince.  Would you have him back?  I can give you his bones, for I slew him with my own hands and buried him in the Red Desert, where his soul is sitting upon a heap of sand, waiting for the day of resurrection.’

Then Zehowah was greatly astonished, for neither she nor any one else had ever known what had been the end of that suitor, and after waiting a long time, his people who had been with him had departed sorrowing to their own country, and she had heard no more of them.

‘What is this?’ she asked in amazement.  ’Why did you kill him?  And how could you have done this thing unseen, since he was guarded by many attendants?’

’I took him out of the palace in the night, when all were asleep, and then I killed him,’ said Khaled, and Zehowah could get no other answer, for he would not confess that he had been one of the genii, lest she should not believe the truth, or else, believing, should be afraid of him in the future.

‘I will give you his bones,’ he said, ’if you desire them, for I know where they are, and you certainly loved him, and are still mourning for him.  If he could be alive, I would kill him again.’

‘I never loved him,’ Zehowah answered, at last.  ’How was it possible?  But I would perhaps have married him, hoping to convert all his people to the true faith.’

’As you have married me in the hope, or the assurance, of giving your people a just king.’

’You are angry, Khaled.  And, indeed, I could be angry, too, but with myself and not with you, as you are with me, though it be for the same reason.  For I begin to see and understand why you are discontented, and indeed I will do what I can to satisfy you.’

’You must love me, as I love you, if you would save me from destruction,’ said Khaled.

Though Zehowah could not comprehend the meaning of the words, she saw by his face that he was terribly moved, and she herself began to be more sorry for him.

‘Indeed, Khaled,’ she said, ’I will try to love you from this hour.  But it is a hard thing, because you cannot explain it, and it is not easy to learn what cannot be explained.  Do you think that all women love their husbands in this way you mean?  Am I unlike all the rest?’

Khaled took her hand and held it, and looked into her eyes.

‘Love is the first mystery of the world,’ he said.  ’Death is the second.  Between the two there is nothing but a weariness darkened with shadows and thick with mists.  What is gold?  A cinder that glows in the darkness for a moment and falls away to a cold ash in our hand when we have taken it.  But love is a treasure which remains.  What is renown?  A cry uttered in the bazar by men whose minds are subject to change as their bodies are to death.  But the voice of love is heard in paradise, singing beside the fountains Tasnim and Salsahil.  What is power?  A net with which to draw wealth and fame from the waters of life?  To what end?  We must die.  Or is power a sword to kill our enemies?  If their time is come they will die without the sword.  Or is it a stick to purify the hides of fools?  The fool will die also, like his master, and both will be forgotten.  But they who love shall enter the seventh heaven together, according to the promise of Allah.  Death is stronger than man or woman, but love is stronger than death, and all else is but a vision seen in the desert, having no reality.’

‘I will try to understand it, for I see that you are very unhappy,’ said Zehowah.

She was silent after this, for Khaled’s words were earnest and sank into her soul.  Yet the more she tried to imagine what the passion in him could be like, the less she was able to understand it, for some of Khaled’s actions had been foolish, but she supposed that there must have been some wisdom in them, having its foundation in the nature of love.

‘What he says is true,’ she thought.  ’I married him in order to give my people a just and brave king, and he is both brave and just.  And I am certainly a good wife, for I should be dissolved in shame if another man were to see my face, and moreover I am careful of his wants, and I take his kefiyeh from his head with my own hands, and smooth the cushions for him and bring him food and drink when he desires it.  Or have I withheld from him any of the treasures of the palace, or stood in the way of his taking another wife?  Until to-day, I thought indeed that this talk of love meant but little, and that he spoke of it because he desired an excuse for marrying Almasta who loves him.  But when I said at a venture that he wished to make me jealous, he confessed the truth.  Now all the tales of love told by the old women are of young persons who have seen each other from a distance, but are hindered from marrying.  And we are already married.  Surely, it is very hard to understand.’

After this Khaled never called Almasta to sit at his feet and sing to him, as he had done before, and Zehowah was constantly with him in her stead.  At first Almasta supposed that Khaled only made a pretence of disregarding her, out of respect for his wife, but she soon perceived that he was indifferent and no longer noticed her.  She then grew fierce and jealous, and her voice was not heard singing in the harem; but she went and took her needle again from the crevice in the pavement and hid it in her hair, and though Zehowah often called her, when Khaled was not in the house, she made as though she understood even less of the Arabic language than before and sat stupidly on the carpet, gazing at her hands.  Zehowah wearied of her silence, for she understood the reason of it well enough.

‘I am tired of this woman,’ she said to Khaled.  ’Do you think I am jealous of her now?’

Khaled smiled a little, but said nothing, only shaking his head.

‘I am tired of her,’ Zehowah repeated.  ’She sits before me like a sack of barley in a grainseller’s shop, neither moving nor speaking.’

‘She is yours,’ Khaled answered.  ’Send her away.  Or we will give her in marriage to one of the sheikhs who will take her away to the desert.  In this way she will not be able even to visit you except when her husband comes into the city.’

But they decided nothing at that time.  Some days later Khaled was sitting alone upon a balcony, Zehowah having gone to the bath, when Almasta came suddenly before him and threw herself at his feet, beating her forehead and tearing her hair, though not indeed in a way to injure it.

‘What have I done?’ she cried.  ‘Why is my lord displeased?’

Khaled looked at her in surprise, but answered nothing at first.

’Why are my lord’s eyes like frozen pools by the Kura, and why is his forehead like Kasbek in a mist?’

Khaled laughed a little at her words.

‘Kasbek is far from Riad,’ he answered, ’and the waters of the Kura do not irrigate the Red Desert.  I am not displeased.  On the contrary, I will give you a husband and a sufficient dowry.  Go in peace.’

But Almasta remained where she was, weeping and beating her forehead.

‘Let me stay!’ she cried.  ’Let me stay, for I love you.  I will eat the dust under your feet.  Only let me stay.’

‘I think not,’ Khaled answered.  ’You weary Zehowah with your silence and your sullenness.’

‘Let me stay!’ she repeated, over and over again.

She was not making any pretence of grief, for the tears ran down abundantly and stained the red leather of Khaled’s shoes.  Though he was hard-hearted he was not altogether cruel, for a man who loves one woman greatly is somewhat softened towards all such as do not stand immediately in his way.

‘It is true,’ he thought, ’that I have given this woman some occasion of hope, for I have treated her kindly during many days, and she has probably supposed that I would marry her.  For she is less keen-sighted than Zehowah, and moreover she loves me.’

‘Do not drive me out!’ cried Almasta.  ’For I shall die if I cannot see your face.  What have I done?’

’You have indeed done nothing worthy of death, for I cannot prove that you killed Abdul Kerim.  I will therefore give you a good husband and you shall be happy.’

But Almasta would not go away, and embracing his knees she looked up into his face, imploring him to let her remain.  Khaled could not but see that she was beautiful, for the mid-day light fell upon her white face and her red lips, and made shadows in her hair of the colour of mellow dates, and reflections as bright as gold when the burnisher is still in the goldsmith’s hand.  Though he cared nothing for Almasta and little for her sorrow, his eye was pleased and he smiled.

Then he looked up and saw Zehowah standing before him, just as she had come from the bath, wrapped in loose garments of silk and gold.  He gazed at her attentively for there was a distant gleam of light in her eyes and her cheeks were warm, though she stood in the shadow, so that he thought she had never been more beautiful, and he did not care to look at Almasta’s face again.

‘Why is Almasta lamenting in this way?’ Zehowah asked.

‘She desires to stay in the palace,’ Khaled answered; ’but I have told her that she shall be married, and yet she wishes to stay.’

’Let her be married quickly, then.  Is she a free woman, that she should resist, or is she rich that she should refuse alms?  Let her be married.’

’There is a certain young man, cousin to Abdul Kerim, a Bedouin of pure descent.  Let him take her, if he will, and let the marriage be celebrated to-morrow.’

But Almasta shook her head, and her tears never ceased from flowing.

‘You will marry him,’ said Khaled.  ’And if any harm comes to him, I will cause you to be put to death before the second call to prayer on the following morning.’

When Almasta heard this, her tears were suddenly dried and her lips closed tightly.  She rose from the floor and retired to a distance within the room.

On that day Khaled sent for the young man of whom he had spoken, whose name was Abdullah ibn Mohammed el Herir, and offered him Almasta for a wife.  And he accepted her joyfully, for he had heard of her wonderful beauty, and was moreover much gratified by being given a woman whom the former Sultan would probably have married if he had lived.  Khaled also gave him a grey mare as a wedding gift, and a handsome garment.

The marriage was therefore celebrated in the customary manner, and no harm came to Abdullah.  But as the autumn had now set in, he soon afterwards left the city, taking Almasta with him, to live in tents, after the manner of the Bedouins.