The idea of seeing Mrs. Cameron again was quite intolerable. She therefore wrote that lady a brief note, an asp for venom, designed to terminate acquaintance and to rankle, and plunged into the harem pleasures with sensations of defiance.
One morning, as she lounged upon her cushioned window-seat, smoking her narghile and listening to the voices wafted with the sunlight through her lattice, Fatûmah came and with a grin announced that Hamdi Bey desired an audience of her Honour. She gave the word, and in came Hamdi, knuckling his two eyes.
“O day of pitch!” he cried. “O vile nefarious day! O my beloved sister, hide me, save me! My father has enforced my mother’s harsh command. I am to be married today to that unholy child of dogs—against my will. I wished to wait a thousand years. Ghandûr is waiting at this minute to conduct me to the bath.”