"The night was far advanced when at last my lord came to me, and, to my surprise, clinging to his arm, was his wife, the sultana. I placed cushions for her close to one of the casements, where she had been wont to sit on the occasions of her visits in days gone by. Without a word she sank into the place thus assigned to her.
"But Mirza Shah strode into the centre of the little circular room, and took his stand right under the lamp that illuminated it.
"'Now what have you to say, thou false astrologer?' he demanded, without word of prelude.
"Then did I take my courage in both hands, and told him everything—that the stars had in truth revealed to me that the son was destined to be his father's slayer, and that in my foolish desire to give the parents immediate joy I had suppressed the incident of the flaming star.
"As my narrative reached the end I watched the changes in the face of Mirza Shah. I had expected anger-righteous anger against my own self, but in place of this there came over his handsome countenance a serene look of happiness.
"'I thank you, Syed Ali,' he said, 'for the service you have done me. Had you told me eighteen years ago what you tell me to-night, then for a certainty would the guilt of murder be now upon my soul. To-day I am indeed in sore sorrow, but, Allah be praised, there is not my own child's blood upon my hands.'
"As he spoke he spread out his palms, as if in testimony of their stainlessness.
"But at that moment a great burst of lamentation came from beneath the sultana's veil, and, in a shrill tone of agony, she began to reproach herself.
"'It is I who am the cause of all this misery,' she wailed.
"Instantly Mirza Shah bent down and silenced her, then gathered her, almost like a bundle, into his arms.