Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/162

 Was it probable that a Mohammedan of Akil's birth and position would entertain the idea for a moment ? He dismissed the old woman with a refusal which was at once decisive and curt, afraid to trust himself to listen again to a tale of love that had stirred him to his very soul.

The next day at the same hour the old woman sought the English officer and repeated her story. He resolutely put her aside ; and on a third and fourth attempt forbade her to speak to him again on the subject. One night, having supped and dismissed his servants, he occupied his usual easy chair in the great hall. Perhaps he idly wondered what the fair unknown of the bukshi's harem was like. The romance of the situation must have appealed strongly to a man of his nature for he was no ascetic and he could not have been indifferent to the frequent appeals which had been made.

While he thus rested, a purdah was drawn aside and a veiled figure glided into the room. Kneeling by his side she lifted her veil and revealed the beautiful face of Akil ud Dowlah's granddaughter. Before he could utter a word of remonstrance she poured forth a passionate declaration of her love in soft Persian, a tongue he understood as well as his own language. Even now he did not succumb to the temptation of the moment. Reason sounded a note of warning, and he struggled against the responsive passion that sprang into flame under the thrilling tones of her pleading. Compelled to listen in spite of himself, he felt the soft touch of a trembling hand on his. Then, and only then, was reason thrown to the winds, and he abandoned himself to the witchery of the moment. Taking her in his arms he vowed eternal fidelity, while she, in a heaven of bliss, only asked to be one of the humblest of his handmaids.

It was not as his handmaid, however, that the English