mit. I was about to draw myself up on the wall when, to my surprize, I heard her speak once more.
"Stay."
Turning, I saw her coming toward me, and with head bowed and arms folded once more, I awaited her further words.
"I know not why my heart is softened coward you, transgressor and profaner though you are," she said, coming up before me, "yet the deed is done, and may not be undone by your sudden departure. Nor can it be made worse by your lingering a moment longer. I therefore grant you leave to say that which you came to say, providing only that it is honorable."
"O, lady," I replied, "it is honorable in thought and purpose, yet I dare not say it now, with the full realization of the heinous crime I have so thoughtlessly committed, upon me. My only words, then, will be to humbly ask your forgiveness for what I have done."
"Allah does not withhold His mercy from the truly penitent. Who, then, am I to refuse you pardon? Take my forgiveness, freely granted, but pray to Allah for His."
"May He requite you," I said fervently, and laid my hand on the wall to draw myself up.
"Must you go?" she asked.
I paused. There was that in her eyes which somehow reassured me and bade me stay. After all, I had come with a definite purpose-in mind, and it was the height of folly to leave without accomplishing it, now that I had the opportunity.
"It lies in your province to say," I replied.
She laughed softly.
"I fear you have an ally, a very powerful aid on which you have not counted," she said. "Woman's curiosity has got the better of me, and it seems that I simply must know what you came to tell me. Take your moment, therefore, and say your say."
I stood awkwardly before her, not knowing how to begin—seeking suitable words with which to describe fittingly the depth and purity of my passion. Finding none, and marking her growing impatience, I blurted it out in a most unseemly and uncourtly fashion.
"I came to tell you that I love you, and to ask you to become my wife."
She drew in her breath sharply, and swayed slightly toward me, but when I would have caught her in my arms she quickly eluded me.
"Your words are no less startling than your manner of entrance," she said when she had recovered herself, "nor are they less unconventional. If what you say be true, why have you not sent khatibeh women to convey the message, as is the custom? Surely you are not too poor to employ at least one khatibeh."
"Nor a dozen, nor a hundred," I rejoined. "I would squander my all on khatibeh women, if I might thus hope to win you. No, the reason is to be found in my own foolhardy precipitancy. Tonight, when I heard you singing, I suddenly realized that I loved you. I wanted to be with you, if but for a moment, to tell you"
"Enough," she said coldly. "You heard me singing, so I presume you also heard what I said to my slave. If so"
It was my turn to interrupt.
"I heard you talking to someone," I lied, instinctively feeling that her outraged pride would be my undoing, "but as to what was said, I know nothing."
"Allah forgive you if you speak not the truth," she said. "But I will grant you the benefit of the doubt. As to that which you have asked of me, it is that
