And then he adds: “Lady H. Stanhope had an English physician with her in Syria, who, if he be living, can bear testimony that her ladyship did not commit this fault, when she superintended the cutting-out of his scarlet galligaskins.”
[23] This is the girl Fatôom, who afterwards, in conjunction with others, robbed her ladyship of money and effects to a considerable amount.
[24] See [Additional Notes], at the end of the volume.
[25] Formerly secretary to Lady Hester Stanhope, now French vice-consul at Damascus. He is the individual so highly eulogized in M. Lamartine’s Souvenirs de l’Orient.
[26] The names of these ladies and gentlemen were Mr. Cronin, a surgeon; Mrs. and Miss Cronin, his mother and sister; Mr. Parnell, son of Sir Henry Parnell, and afterwards Lord Congleton; Mr. Newman, a gentleman of great classical acquirements; and Mr. Hamilton.
CHAPTER III.
Lady Stanhope’s reception of Dr. —— —Her residence described—Supposed reasons for her seclusion—Her extraordinary influence over her dependants—Her violent temper—Dress and appearance—Her influence in the country—Abdallah Pasha guided by her—Her hostility towards the Emir Beshýr—Her defiance of his power—Her opinion of him—Flight of the Emir—His return—Death of the Sheykh Beshýr.
We reached Beyrout, after a prosperous voyage, on the 8th of December, having anchored eight days at Cyprus to disembark some merchandize, the Arab family, and the English party. In pursuance of Lady Hester Stanhope’s injunctions, I dressed myself in an old faded suit of Turkish clothes, and thus presented myself at the English and French consuls’ residences. My appearance certainly was not calculated to make her ladyship’s creditors suppose I came loaded with money to pay her debts; and I felt, as I passed through the streets, that my old Bedouin manteau or abah, and indeed my whole dress, in which I had twice traversed the desert to Palmyra, was of a hue and age to dissipate the hopes of the most sanguine.
I lost no time in sending off a messenger to announce my arrival to Lady Hester Stanhope; and received a note from her on the 11th, in which, after congratulating us on our safety, she expressed the pleasure it would give her to see me; she added that, as for my family, they must not expect any other attentions from her than such as would make them comfortable in their cottage; that they were not to take this ill on her part, as she had long before apprized me that she did not think English ladies could make themselves happy in Syria, and that therefore I, who had brought them, must take the consequences. This reception was not very agreeable to my feelings, but it was highly characteristic of Lady Hester.
With the bearer of the letter her ladyship sent camels for our luggage, donkeys for my family, and a horse for me. At Nebby Yôoness, where we slept the first night, we found another of her servants, who had been sent thither to prepare our dinner and beds; and, on the following day, two miles from her house, we met Mr. Jasper Chasseaud, her secretary, who had come thus far to welcome us. Placing my family under this gentleman’s guidance, I hurried forward alone, and reached Lady Hester Stanhope’s residence about noon. A cottage had been provided for us in the village of Jôon, with two black slaves for servants, and, so far as the accommodation was concerned, we had no reason to be discontented. Mr. Chasseaud accompanied my family to their new home, but it was twelve at night before I was able to join them.