The Sultan ordered the Uzir to signify to the Sheikh his Royal command that his daughter was forthwith to be wedded to João, and that it was His Majesty’s intention to give her a handsome dowry.
A great feast was prepared by the officers of the Court, at which the Sheikh attended, whilst Rahma was taken to the harem of the Hajib (Chief Chamberlain), where the ladies had also prepared a feast. Beautiful dresses and jewelry were sent by the Sultan to Rahma, and a marriage contract was drawn up by public notaries, signed by the Kadi, with a note of the dowry, one thousand ducats, given her by the Sultan.
On the day of the wedding, the bride, ensconced in a wooden cage, covered with silk and embroidery, was conveyed on the back of a mule to João’s house, accompanied by musicians with pipes and drums and a large troop of men firing guns. The cage was removed from the back of the mule by four female slaves and brought into the room, prepared with handsome carpets, where João awaited her. The slaves assisted her to leave the cage and retired.
As soon as they were alone Rahma threw herself at the feet of her husband, crying, ‘Oh beloved! God has answered our prayers. He is merciful, and now I shall be, as long as I live, your faithful, happy wife. But, João, I beg you to repeat that you believe in God and the Day of Resurrection. I rejoice to see you in the garb of a Moslem, and hope you are now really one of the Faithful.’
‘Rahma,’ he said, raising her in his arms, ‘to thee I owe my life; for thee I shall be ready to lay it down; but I must not deceive thee! I am not a Moslem, but a Christian, and, as such, I believe in God and the last Day. I assumed this garb in order that I might be supposed to be a Mohammedan, and thus be able to petition the Sultan that you should be my wife.’
Rahma drew away from his arms, saying, ‘I cannot, I must not, offend God by marrying a Christian.’
João replied, ‘Know you not that your prophet Mohammed married a Christian woman? Oh loved wife! I shall be a faithful husband, and when I tell you about my belief and religion, you will learn that we have the same laws from God, except that we Christians cannot marry more than one wife. Does such a law displease you, my Rahma?’
‘Swear,’ she said, ‘that you will never divorce me, never marry another woman.’
‘I swear,’ he replied, ‘that nought but death shall part us.’
Rahma then threw herself into João’s arms, exclaiming, ‘I am for ever your loving wife, and shall honour and obey you!’