Later in the evening, and when the governor had retired, my host said that his wife and mother would come and sit with us for a little while.
"I am not like the other Armenians in Anatolia," continued the speaker; "I have determined to shut up my female relations no longer."
"Do they not cover their faces?" I inquired.
"Yes, in the street they do, but not inside the house."
The ladies now entered. They were dressed in loose yellow silk dressing-gowns. Making a profound reverence to my host and self, they seated themselves on a divan in the farther corner of the room, tucking their legs underneath them, and assuming the same position as my companion.
"It is a great honour for them to see an Englishman," he observed.
"Yes," said the old lady, "and what a distance you have come! Our roads are bad, and travelling is very disagreeable for ladies," she continued. "To have to go always on horseback, or in a box slung on a mule, is not comfortable. Do English ladies ride?"
"Yes."
"And why should they ride?" observed my host's wife. "Have they not carriages and railways in your country, so that when a man travels he can take a woman with him without any difficulty?"
"Yes, but they ride for pleasure. Our Queen is very fond of riding, and often does so when she is in Scotland."