When he left the council, the prince was conducted by an officer to a large mansion, which the princess Badoura had already ordered to be furnished, and prepared for his reception. He there found officers and servants ready to receive his commands, and a stable filled with very fine horses; the whole suited to the dignity of an emir, which had just been conferred on him; and when he went into his closet, his steward presented him with a coffer full of gold for his expenses. The less he was able to guess from what quarter this good fortune came, the greater was his surprise and admiration: but he never entertained the least suspicion that it was his own princess who was the cause of the whole.
At the end of two or three days, the princess Badoura, to afford Camaralzaman more frequent access to her person, as well as to raise him to higher distinction, bestowed on him the office of grand treasurer, which had become vacant. He acquitted himself in this new office with so much integrity, at the same time conferring obligations on every one, that he acquired not only the friendship of all the nobles about the court, but also won the hearts of the common people by his rectitude and generosity.
Camaralzaman would have been the happiest of men, to find himself in such high favour with a king, who, as he supposed, was an entire stranger to him, and thus to obtain the esteem of every one, which daily increased, had he possessed his princess also. But in the midst of all his splendour he never ceased lamenting her loss, and that he could gain no information respecting her in a country, where he concluded she must have passed some time, since he had been separated from her by an accident, so unfortunate for both. He might have suspected something, if the princess Badoura had retained the name of Camaralzaman, which she assumed with his dress. But when she ascended the throne, she changed it for that of Armanos, in compliment to the former king, her father-in-law. So that she was now known only by the name of King Armanos the younger, and there were only a few courtiers who remembered the name of Camaralzaman, which she bore on her first arrival at the Island of Ebony. Camaralzaman had not yet had sufficient intercourse with them to learn this circumstance; but he might in the end have been informed of it.
As the princess Badoura feared that it might so happen; and as she wished Camaralzaman to be indebted to her only for the discovery, she resolved at length to put an end to her own torments, and to those she well knew he suffered. In fact, she had remarked, that whenever she conversed with him on the affairs relating to his office, he frequently heaved deep sighs, which could only be silent addresses to her. She herself lived in a state of constant restraint, which she was determined to put a period to without further delay. Besides which, the friendship of the nobles, the zeal and affection of the people, every thing contributed to persuade her that the crown of the Island of Ebony might be placed on his head without any obstacle.
The princess Badoura had no sooner formed this resolution, in concert with the princess Haiatalnefous, than she spoke to prince Camaralzaman, in private, on the same day: “Camaralzaman,” said she, “I wish to converse with you on an affair, which will require some discussion, and on which I want your advice. As I think I cannot do it more conveniently than at night, come to me this evening; tell your people not to wait for you, and I will provide you with a bed.”
Camaralzaman did not fail to repair to the palace at the hour appointed by the princess. She took him with her into the inner palace, and having told the chief of the eunuchs, who was preparing to follow her, that she did not require his attendance, and that he had only to keep the door fastened, she conducted him into a different apartment from that of the princess Haiatalnefous, in which she was accustomed to sleep.
When the prince and princess were in a chamber, which contained a bed, and had fastened the door, the princess took the talisman out of a little box, and presented it to Camaralzaman: “It is not long since an astrologer gave me this talisman,” said she, “and as I know you to be well informed in every science, you perhaps can tell me its peculiar properties.” Camaralzaman took the talisman, and approached a light, to examine it. He no sooner recognised it, than, with a degree of surprise which delighted the princess, he exclaimed, “Ah, sire, your majesty asks me the properties of this talisman? Alas! its properties are such, as to make me die with grief and sadness, if I do not shortly find the most charming and amiable princess that was ever beheld under heaven, to whom this talisman belonged, and which was the cause of my losing her. The adventure was of so singular a nature, that the recital of it would excite your majesty’s compassion for a husband and a lover so unfortunate as I am, if you would have the patience to listen to it.”
“You will relate it to me some other time,” replied the princess, “but I am very happy,” added she, “to tell you, that I know something concerning it: wait for me here, I will return in a moment.”
Saying this, the princess went into a closet, where she took off the royal turban, and having in a few minutes put on a woman’s dress, together with the girdle she wore on the day of their separation, she returned to the chamber where she had left the prince.
Camaralzaman instantly knew his dear princess. He ran to her, and embracing her with the utmost tenderness, “Ah,” cried he, “how much I am obliged to the king for having surprised me so agreeably.”—“Do not expect to see the king again,” replied the princess, embracing him in her turn, and with tears in her eyes, “in me you behold the king: sit down, that I may explain to you this enigma.”