Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/126

 "There is no question of the funeral pyre here, my Prince, but only of faithfulness through life."

"It is a question of a burning pyre for me, Mihr-un-Nissa, if you bless not my affection. No trembling Kafir widow ever gave herself up to more terrible flames than that to which I am consigned; and shall the mandate of an old despot ordain me to this life of torture?"

"Respect your great father, Prince Selim. He has built up this great Empire for you. He will leave you the most glorious throne on earth."

"And what were the Empire and the throne to me unless you share them with me? Small gratitude do I owe him who has torn you from my embrace and consigned me to a life-long unhappiness. But Prince Selim is not the man to submit, and let his father, in all his might and glory, beware of a desperate man."

"Hush! Hush! speak not thus, for walls have ears. And your duty, Prince, as well as prudence, counsels you to submit to a venerable father whose ways are those of wisdom and religion."

"Religion! Why, Mihr-un-Nissa, he is more an infidel and a sun-worshipper than a Musalman! He and his Counsellor, the traitor Abul Fazel, have proclaimed a new religion which they call the Divine Faith, and wish to unite us with the despised Kafirs of this land!"

"I may not listen to words like these, Prince," said Mihr-un-Nissa, in a voice of unrepressed anger. "I may not hear words of disrespect against our great Sovereign who has honoured and rewarded my husband. And when you speak of the despised Kafirs, you forget, Prince, that your own mother is