Their eyes were darkened with kohl, and their mouths were brightened with carmine.
The nails of their fingers and of their toes were stained a ruddy hue.
But none of the wives or the women demanded or received more care or attention than did Lotus Flower, the favorite dancing girl of the Maharajah.
For none was so lithe of limb nor so supple of joint as was this same Lotus Flower.
She it was who could sway the slowest.
And she it was who could whirl the fastest.
Lotus Flower was a young Circassian beauty.
She had been brought from Bagdad.
For two days the Maharajah had had in the palace as his guest an English officer, one Captain Esme Lawrence.
And for two nights Lotus Flower had been summoned to the Court of Delight to dance before the visitor.