The young Omrah was silent.
“What construction am I to put upon your silence?” asked Humayoon, sternly.
“I plead guilty to the charge: I am at the Emperor’s mercy.”
“Vuluvir,” said Humayoon, turning to his former host, “your wrong shall be redressed, and your daughter restored.”
The offender was immediately committed to the custody of an officer; and that very night Yhahil was delivered to the arms of her anxious parents.
The next day, Vuluvir was summoned to the imperial presence. “My friend,” said the sovereign, “I know that the religion you profess is one from which you derive little consolation, and to which none of your tribe are bound by very strong attachments. It is my intention to ennoble you, provided you consent to become one of the faithful; and in your conversion I shall look for that of your family.” After a conference of some length, the Pariah embraced the Emperor’s proposal; and the next day was raised to the rank of Omrah, with a sum from the treasury sufficient to support that dignity. His wife and Yhahil became, likewise, converts to the new faith. The idea of being now naturalised among a people who welcomed her and her parents as their common kindred, poured a flood of joy upon Yhahil’s heart. She felt no longer degraded, and began to soften in her indignation towards the man who forced her from her home. He had, however, committed no violence. She had been carried to a house engaged for the purpose of securing her; but, when there, the noble only pressed his suit without offering the slightest offence to her purity. She repelled his advances with unqualified indignation; he treated her, nevertheless, with uniform respect. The recollection of this disarmed her anger, and she besought her father to solicit his release.
“My daughter,” said he, embracing her, “you have always found me ready to meet every wish of your heart, but in the present instance I have secret misgivings which deter me from compliance. To come at once to the point, I fear the violence of that young noble.”
Yhahil smiled.—“His violence, my father, was not shown when I was in his power, and I can forgive his rashness in his forbearance.”
“But, surely, the man who would forcibly tear a daughter from her parent’s roof is to be feared.”
“I do believe—nay I am sure, that he loves me; and though he sought to win me to a dishonourable intercourse while I was a Pariah, I think he might no longer hesitate to wed me as an Omrah’s daughter. I love him, father. He must be liberated for my sake. If we should ever meet in future, it will be as honourable lovers, or as strangers, but I must no longer be the cause of his captivity.”