"I will—and truly as there is but one God, and he the father of life and maker of things. First, then, the affection which at my going was my Lord's, and which gave me to see him as the Light of the World, and the perfection of glory in promise, is now divided."
"You mean there is another Light of the World? Be it so, and still you leave me flattered. How far you had to travel before finding the other! Who is he?"
"The Emperor of the Greeks."
"Constantine? Are his gifts so many and rich? The next."
"I am a Christian."
"Indeed? Perhaps you can tell me the difference between God and Allah. Yesterday Kourani said they were the same."
"Nay, my Lord, the difference is between Christ and Mahomet."
"The mother of the one was a Jewess, the mother of the other an Arab—I see. Go on."
The Count did not flinch. "My Lord, great as is your love of the Princess Irene"—Mahommed half raised his hands, his brows knit, his eyes filled with fire, but the Count continued composedly—"mine is greater."
The Sultan recovered himself.