“By Allah, it is true, she will destroy the child! How often have I tried to warn her! But she is haughty in her weakness, and impatient of advice. She loves the fawning voice of her own servants. She has greatly changed. Yûsuf Bey, however, is for discipline. She has more than once complained to me of his severity towards the boy.”
“What good is that when she consoles Muhammad afterwards, and talks about his cruel father? I have heard her,” put in Na’imah, who was a member of the conclave, though a child in years. She spoke with great excitement. All the ladies smiled. Murjânah Khânum touched her cheek affectionately, and called her the most excellent of little mothers. Murjânah added:
“The whole trouble, as I see it, is her want of faith. She has lost the comfort of her own religion, without acquiring ours in more than name. Is such a woman, full of cowardice and self-indulgence, fit to rear a Muslim? Unless she change her whole behaviour, which appears unlikely, for her strength is gone, will it be wise to leave the child with her?”
“No!” came from all sides.
“Let his grandmother take charge of him,” said Leylah Khânum.
“God forbid!” cried Fitnah, “lest his mother hate me. Let him be given to the wisest, most benign of women, to our dear Murjânah.”
This motion won applause from all the ladies on the divan. They smiled to one another with rouged lips and kohled eyes. The room was beautifully cool and sweet, the cigarettes were of the best, the coffee excellent, and every one enjoyed the sense of doing serious business.
Murjânah showed no fear of the responsibility. Assured of Fitnah Khânum’s gracious help, she said the task of civilizing the small boy would not displease her; but first the menfolk had to be consulted, and due warning must be given to the luckless mother. The ladies Fitnah, Leylah, and Murjânah were deputed to convey the verdict of the council to the Pasha and to Yûsuf Bey, who were invited to Murjânah’s rooms that evening.
Yûsuf displayed some irritation when he heard the charges.
“But my wife is a Frank!” he cried. “Allah knows it is but natural her ways should be different from ours.”