“Dost thou, O Ce-cil! believe me blindly, even though I admit to thee that I—I am unworthy thy generous love? To me, alas! debased and degraded as I am, the fruit of the great lote tree is forbidden, and the water of Salsabil may never cool my lips.” Then, sinking upon her knees before me, she suddenly burst again into tears, covering her face with her hands.
“Come,” I said, “let not thoughts of thy past cause thee unhappiness. There is danger; and we must arm ourselves, and both bear our burdens bravely.”
“Ah!” she cried in accents of poignant bitterness, “it is impossible that thou canst ever love me sufficiently to make me thy wife, even when thou, at last, knowest my story. See!” and, throwing out her arms wildly, she stretched forth her open palms towards me. “See! I am held to this horde of cut-throats by gyves invisible yet unbreakable! I kneel before thee, my Amîn! a despicable, vile-hearted woman, whose whole life hath been one of ignominy and deceit, whose very name is a by-word of reproach! Forsaken by Allah, defamed by man, I confess myself unworthy thy thoughts. I cannot—nay, I will not bring upon thee disgrace and shame, for my hands!—they are stained by heinous crimes!” she added hoarsely, bowing low and hiding her face.
Taking her by the wrist, I was about to assist her to rise, when she snatched away her arm as if she had been stung.
“No, no!” she cried in heart-thrilling tones. “Place not thine hand upon me! My touch polluteth thee! It will perhaps be best—best for both of us if we part to-night to never meet again!”
“Tell me,” I demanded quickly, “have not thy crimes been committed under compulsion?”
“Yes, they have! I swear—they—have!” she answered brokenly.
“And thou art the wife of Hadj Absalam?” I said fiercely, half convinced that I spoke the truth.
“Ah! no, no!” she protested, with feverish anxiety, raising her pale, haggard face imploringly to mine. “Judge me not too harshly,” she cried. “Though the awful stigma of sin lieth upon me, and my life is accursed, yet here at thy feet I tell thee I am neither wife nor slave. I have suffered no man to hold me in fond embrace, nor to kiss my lips, save thee. I take oath upon the Book of Everlasting Will.”
“Canst thou not tell me why thou, a pure and innocent woman, art here among these barbaric Sons of the Desert?” I asked, now convinced by her terrible earnestness that my suspicions were groundless.