She would have been completely happy in those days but for embarrassment arising from a secret which she longed yet feared to tell. She was with child. Suspicion grew to certainty and still she put off the announcement, dreading the outcry of these candid women and the harem ceremonies. It slipped from her by accident, one afternoon, and the fuss they made proved even worse than expectation.

Amînah Khânum brought Bedr-ul-Budûr to see her, saying:

“This girl of mine has news to tell you.”

The old Princess herself proclaimed the news with praise to Allah. A flush suffused the listener from head to foot.

“I too⁠—” she murmured, and then stopped in great confusion. Amînah Khânum pounced on her with eager questions. Bedr-ul-Budûr knelt down before her in an ecstasy.

“Thou, too, art blest? And thou hast kept it secret all this while?” the Princess cried. “O Bedr, go and beg the lady Fitnah to come hither instantly!”