“I had thought of that,” rejoined the Pasha. “By Allah, they shall have the garden-house towards Rôdah. Tomorrow I will have the place prepared for them.”

When Yûsuf Bey came back to life he wept anew, but weakly, helplessly. In that condition he was carried to his own apartments by the surgeon, with the Pasha’s help, Murjânah going on before to warn the bride.

This sad procession happened to encounter a slave of Leylah Khânum’s who, hearing Yûsuf’s groans, ran off with screams and told her mistress he was dead. At once the whole harem was filled with wailing. Fitnah Khânum, thunderstruck by the appalling news, defiled her face with dirt and tore her raiment. She rushed shrieking to the bridal chamber, as did every woman and child who by relationship could claim the right to enter. She knelt before the bride, who stood apart, bewildered, and besought her: