The events of her life had been so strange and rapid during the last few days that, even amid her woe9, she revolved10 in her mind their startling import. It was little more than ten days since, under the guardianship11 of her father, she had commenced her journey from Damascus to Aleppo. When they had proceeded about half way, they were met at the city of Horns by a detachment of Turkish soldiers, sent by the Pasha of Aleppo, at the request of Hillel Besso, to escort them, the country being much troubled in consequence of the feud12 with the Ansarey. Notwithstanding these precautions, and although, from the advices they received, they took a circuitous13 and unexpected course, they were attacked by the mountaineers within half a day’s journey of Aleppo; and with so much strength and spirit, that their guards, after some resistance, fled and dispersed14, while Eva and her attendants, after seeing her father cut down in her defence, was carried a prisoner to Gindarics.
Overwhelmed by the fate of her father, she was at first insensible to her own, and was indeed so distracted that she delivered herself up to despair. She was beginning in some degree to collect her senses, and to survey her position with some comparative calmness, when she learnt from the visit of Cypros that Fakredeen and Tancred were, by a strange coincidence, under the same roof as herself. Then she recalled the kind sympathy and offers of consolation15 that had been evinced and proffered16 to her by the mistress of the castle, to whose expressions at the time she had paid but an imperfect attention. Under these circumstances she earnestly requested permission to avail herself of a privilege, which had been previously17 offered and refused, to become the companion, rather than the captive, of the Queen of the Ansarey; so that she might find some opportunity of communicating with her two friends, of inquiring about her father, and of consulting with them as to the best steps to be adopted in her present exigency18.
The interview, from which so much was anticipated, had turned out as strange and as distressful19 as any of the recent incidents to which it was to have brought balm and solace20. Recognised instantly by Tancred and the young Emir, and greeted with a tender respect, almost equal to the surprise and sorrow which they felt at beholding21 her, Astarte, hitherto so unexpectedly gracious to her captive, appeared suddenly agitated22, excited, haughty23, even hostile. The Queen had immediately summoned Fakredeen to her side, and there passed between them some hurried and perturbed25 explanations; subsequently she addressed some inquiries26 to Tancred, to which he replied without reserve. Soon afterwards, Astarte, remaining intent and moody27, the court was suddenly broken up; Keferinis signifying to the young men that they should retire, while Astarte, without bestowing28 on them her usual farewell, rose, and, followed by her maidens29, quitted the chamber2. As for Eva, instead of returning to one of the royal apartments which had been previously allotted30 to her, she was conducted to what was in fact a prison.
There she had passed the night and a portion of the ensuing day, visited only by Cypros, who, when Eva would have inquired the cause of all this mysterious cruelty and startling contrast to the dispositions31 which had preceded it, only shook her head and pressed her finger to her lip, to signify the impossibility of her conversing32 with her captive.
It was one of those situations where the most gifted are deserted33 by their intelligence; where there is as little to guide as to console; where the mystery is as vast as the misfortune; and the tortured apprehension34 finds it impossible to grapple with irresistible35 circumstances.
In this state, the daughter of Besso, plunged36 in a dark reverie, in which the only object visible to her mind’s eye was the last glance of her dying father, was roused from her approaching stupor37 by a sound, distinct, yet muffled38, as if some one wished to attract her attention, without startling her by too sudden an interruption. She looked up; again she heard the sound, and then, in a whispered tone, her name ——
‘Eva!’
‘I am here.’
‘Hush!’ said a figure, stealing into the caverned chamber, and then throwing off his Syrian cloak, revealing to her one whom she recognised.
‘Fakredeen,’ she said, starting from her couch, ‘what is all this?’
The countenance of Fakredeen was distressed39 and agitated; there was an expression of alarm, almost of terror, stamped upon his features.
‘You must follow me,’ he said; ‘there is not a moment to lose; you must fly!’
‘Why and whither?’ said Eva. ‘This capture is one of plunder40 not of malice41, or was so a few hours back. It is not sorrow for myself that overwhelmed me. But yesterday, the sovereign of these mountains treated me with a generous sympathy, and, if it brought me no solace, it was only because events have borne, I fear, irremediable woe. And now I suddenly find myself among my friends; friends, who, of all others, I should most have wished to encounter at this moment, and all is changed. I am a prisoner, under every circumstance of harshness, even of cruelty, and you speak to me as if my life, my immediate24 existence, was in peril42.’
‘It is.’
‘But why?’
Fakredeen wrung43 his hands, and murmured, ‘Let us go.’
‘I scarcely care to live,’ said Eva; ‘and I will not move until you give me some clue to all this mystery.’
‘Well, then, she is jealous of you; the Queen, Astarte; she is jealous of you with the English prince, that man who has brought us all so many vexations.’ ‘Is it he that has brought us so many vexations?’ replied Eva. ‘The Queen jealous of me, and with the English prince! ’Tis very strange. We scarcely exchanged a dozen sentences together, when all was disturbed and broken up. Jealous of me! Why, then, was she anxious that I should descend44 to her divan45? This is not the truth, Fakredeen.’
‘Not all; but it is the truth; it is, indeed. The Queen is jealous of you: she is in love with Tancred; a curse be on him and her both! and somebody has told her that Tancred is in love with you.’ ‘Somebody! When did they tell her?’ ‘Long ago; long ago. She knew, that is, she had been told, that Tancred was affianced to the daughter of Besso of Damascus; and so this sudden meeting brought about a crisis. I did what I could to prevent it; vowed46 that you were only the cousin of the Besso that she meant; did everything, in short, I could to serve and save you; but it was of no use. She was wild, is wild, and your life is in peril.’
Eva mused47 a moment. Then, looking up, she said, ‘Fakredeen, it is you who told the Queen this story. You are the somebody who has invented this fatal falsehood. What was your object I care not to inquire, knowing full well, that, if you had an object, you never would spare friend or foe48. Leave me. I have little wish to live; but I believe in the power of truth. I will confront the Queen and tell her all. She will credit what I say; if she do not, I can meet my fate; but I will not, now or ever, entrust49 it to you.’
Thereupon Fakredeen burst into a flood of passionate50 tears, and, throwing himself on the ground, kissed Eva’s feet, and clung to her garments which he embraced, sobbing51, and moaning, and bestowing on her endless phrases of affection, mixed with imprecations on his own head and conduct.
‘O Eva! my beloved Eva, sister of my soul, it is of no use telling you any lies! Yes, I am that villain52 and that idiot who has brought about all this misery53, misery enough to turn me mad, and which, by a just retribution, has destroyed all the brilliant fortunes which were at last opening on me. This Frank stranger was the only bar to my union with the sovereign of these mountains, whose beauty you have witnessed, whose power, combined with my own, would found a kingdom. I wished to marry her. You cannot be angry with me, Eva, for that. You know very well that, if you had married me yourself, we should neither of us have been in the horrible situation in which we now find ourselves. Ah! that would have been a happy union! But let that pass. I have always been the most unfortunate of men; I have never had justice done me. Well, she loved this prince of Franguestan. I saw it; nothing escapes me. I let her know that he was devoted54 to another. Why I mentioned your name I cannot well say; perhaps because it was the first that occurred to me; perhaps because I have a lurking55 suspicion that he really does love you. The information worked.
My own suit prospered56. I bribed57 her minister. He is devoted to me. All was smiling. How could I possibly have anticipated that you would ever arrive here! When I saw you, I felt that all was lost. I endeavoured to rally affairs, but it was useless. Tan-cred has no finesse58; his replies neutralised, nay59, destroyed, all my counter representations. The Queen is a whirlwind. She is young; she has never been crossed in her life. You cannot argue with her when her heart is touched. In short, all is ruined;’ and Fakredeen hid his weeping face in the robes of Eva. ‘What misery you prepare for yourself, and for all who know you!’ exclaimed Eva. ‘But that has happened which makes me insensible to further grief.’
‘Yes; but listen to what I say, and all will go right. I do not care in the least for my own disappointment. That now is nothing. It is you, it is of you only that I think, whom I wish to save. Do not chide60 me: pardon me, pardon me, as you have done a thousand times; pardon and pity me. I am so young and really so inexperienced; after all, I am only a child; besides, I have not a friend in the world except you. I am a villain, a fool; all villains61 are. I know it. But I cannot help it. I did not make myself. The question now is, How are we to get out of this scrape? How are we to save your life?’
‘Do you really mean, Fakredeen, that my life is in peril?’
‘Yes, I do,’ said the Emir, crying like a child.
‘You do not know the power of truth, Fakredeen. You have no confidence in it. Let me see the Queen.’
‘Impossible!’ he said, starting up, and looking very much alarmed.
‘Why?’
‘Because, in the first place, she is mad. Keferinis, that is, her minister, one of my creatures, and the only person who can manage her, told me this moment that it was a perfect Kamsin, and that, if he approached her again, it would be at his own risk; and, in the second place, bad as things are, they would necessarily be much worse if she saw you, because (and it is of no use concealing62 it any longer) she thinks you already dead.’
‘Dead! Already dead!’
‘Yes.’
‘And where is your friend and companion?’ said Eva. ‘Does he know of these horrors?’
‘No one knows of them except myself. The Queen sent for me last night to speak to me of the subject generally. It was utterly63 vain to attempt to disabuse64 her; it would only have compromised all of us. She would only have supposed the truth to be an invention for the moment. I found your fate sealed. In my desperation, the only thing that occurred to me was to sympathise with her indignation and approve of all her projects. She apprised65 me that you should not live four-and-twenty hours. I rather stimulated66 her vengeance67, told her in secresy that your house had nearly effected my ruin, and that there was no sacrifice I would not make, and no danger that I would not encounter, to wreak68 on your race my long-cherished revenge. I assured her that I had been watching my opportunity for years. Well, you see how it is, Eva; she consigned69 to me the commission which she would have whispered to one of her slaves. I am here with her cognisance; indeed, by this time she thinks ’tis all over. You comprehend?’
‘You are to be my executioner?’
‘Yes; I have undertaken that office in order to save your life.’
‘I care not to save my life. What is life to me, since he perhaps is gone who gave me that life, and for whom alone I lived!’
‘O Eva! Eva! don’t distract me; don’t drive me absolutely mad! When a man is doing what I am for your sake, giving up a kingdom, and more than a kingdom, to treat him thus! But you never did me justice.’ And Fakredeen poured forth70 renewed tears. ‘Keferinis is in my pay; I have got the signet of the covered way. Here are two Mamlouk dresses; one you must put on. ‘Without the gates are two good steeds, and in eight-and-forty hours we shall be safe, and smiling again.’
‘I shall never smile again,’ said Eva. ‘No, Fakredeen,’ she added, after a moment’s pause, ‘I will not fly, and you cannot fly. Can you leave alone in this wild place that friend, too faithful, I believe, whom you have been the means of leading hither?’
‘Never mind him,’ said the Emir. ‘I wish we had never seen him. He is quite safe. She may keep him a prisoner perhaps. What then? He makes so discreet71 a use of his liberty that a little durance will not be very injurious. His life will be safe enough. Cutting off his head is not the way to gain his heart. But time presses. Come, my sister, my beloved Eva! In a few hours it may not be in my power to effect all this. Come, think of your father, of his anxiety, his grief. One glimpse of you will do him more service than the most cunning leech72.’
Eva burst into passionate tears. ‘He will never see us again. I saw him fall; never shall I forget that moment!’ and she hid her face in her hands.
‘But he lives,’ said Fakredeen. ‘I have been speaking to some of the Turkish prisoners. They also saw him fall; but he was borne off the field, and, though insensible, it was believed that the wound was not fatal. Trust me, he is at Aleppo.’ ‘They saw him borne off the field?’ ‘Safe, and, if not well, far from desperate.’ ‘O God of my fathers!’ said Eva, falling on her knees; ‘thine is indeed a mercy-seat!’
‘Yes, yes; there is nothing like the God of your fathers, Eva. If you knew the things that are going on in this place, even in these vaults73 and caverns74, you would not tarry here an instant. They worship nothing but graven images, and the Queen has fallen in love with Tancred, because he resembles a marble statue older than the times of the preAdamite Sultans. Come, come!’
‘But how could they know that he was far from desperate?’
‘I will show you the man who spoke75 to him,’ said Fakredeen; ‘he is only with our horses. You can ask him any questions you like. Come, put on your Mamlouk dress, every minute is golden.’
‘There seems to me something base in leaving him here alone,’ said Eva. ‘He has eaten our salt, he is the child of our tents, his blood will be upon our heads.’
‘Well, then, fly for his sake,’ said Fakredeen; ‘here you cannot aid him; but when you are once in safety, a thousand things may be done for his assistance. I could return, for example.’
‘Now, Fakredeen,’ said Eva, stopping him, and speaking in a solemn tone, ‘if I accompany you, as you now require, will you pledge me your word, that the moment we pass the frontier you will return to him.’
‘I swear it, by our true religion, and by my hopes of an earthly crown.’
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1
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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treasuries
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| n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库 | |
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apertures
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| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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7
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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10
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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13
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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exigency
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| n.紧急；迫切需要 | |
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distressful
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| adj.苦难重重的，不幸的，使苦恼的 | |
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solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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21
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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22
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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30
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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38
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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40
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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41
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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42
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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43
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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44
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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45
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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46
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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47
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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48
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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49
entrust
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| v.信赖，信托，交托 | |
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50
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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51
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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52
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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53
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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54
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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55
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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56
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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58
finesse
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| n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕 | |
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59
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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60
chide
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| v.叱责；谴责 | |
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61
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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62
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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63
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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64
disabuse
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| v.解惑；矫正 | |
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apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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66
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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67
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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68
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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69
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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70
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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71
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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72
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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73
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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74
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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75
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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