"Listen," said I; "I love your fair charge with an intensity of passion; this is no place for us to give ourselves up to love, for there is danger, and we must fly: I am a stranger in the city, and am on the eve of departure for my home, which is in Hindostan, and whither I will convey her safely; she is willing to accompany me, and your aid and advice are all that is required."
"To fly! to leave home and every one for Hindostan, and with one unknown! Azimabee, this is madness; how know you who he is, and where he will take you? I will not assist you. I was willing that you should have a lover, and helped you to get one; but this is mere madness—we shall be ruined."
"Mother," said I, "I am no deceiver; I swear by your head and eyes I can be faithful; do but help two poor creatures whose affections are fixed upon each other, and we will invoke the blessings of the prophet on your head to the latest day of our lives. I leave here to-morrow; my father is a merchant and accompanies me; he has ample wealth for us both, and I am his only child: we shall soon be beyond any chance of pursuit, and in our happiness will for ever bless you as the author of it. Ah, nurse, cannot you contrive something? is there no spot on the road past Golconda which you could fix on for our meeting? I can reward you richly, and now promise you one hundred rupees, if you will do my bidding."
Azima gathered courage at my words, and fell at the feet of the old woman. "Kulloo!" she cried, "have you not known me as a child? have I not loved you from infancy? Alas! I have neither mother nor father now; and has he not beaten me with a shoe? have I not sworn to quit this house? and did you not swear on my head you would aid me?"
"What can I do? what can I do?" cried the nurse; "alas, I am helpless; what can an old woman like me do?"
"Anything, everything," I exclaimed; "woman's wit never yet failed at a pinch."
"Did you not say you had made a vow to visit the Durgah of Hoosain Shah Wullee?" cried Azima; "and did not you say you would take me to present a nuzzur at the shrine of the holy saint, if I recovered from my last illness?"
"Thou hast hit it, my rose," said the nurse; "I had forgotten my vow. Sahib, can you meet us at the Durgah to-morrow at noon?"
"Assuredly," said I, "I will be present. Good nurse, do not fail us, and another fifty shall be added to the hundred I have already promised."
"May your condescension and generosity increase!" cried she. "Sahib, I have loved this fair girl from her infancy, and though it will go sorely against my heart, I will give her into your hands rather than she should be further exposed to the indignities she has already undergone."