French and Oriental Love in a Harem | Page 6

me, I swore to him that I would live for the accomplishment of his
wishes: from the depths of my soul, indeed, I felt certain that he saw
me.
When the flow of my tears had ceased, I did not want to tarry a moment
in the accomplishment of his last behests. I ran to his bed-chamber,
opened his desk, and found the two portraits. One, a valuable miniature,
represents a woman of twenty-five, the other is a photograph of Anna
Campbell at the age of fifteen. Although not so pretty as her mother,
perhaps, she has a charming childlike face; the poor little thing felt
uncomfortable, no doubt, when they made her sit, for her expression is
rather sulky and unnatural. Still she gives promise of being attractive
when she has passed the awkward age. I felt myself suddenly possessed
by a sentiment of affection for this unknown cousin, whose guardian I
had become and whose husband I am to be. Upon this cold picture I
repeated to my uncle the oath to obey his wishes; then, taking up a pen,
I wrote a will appointing Anna Campbell the universal legatee of all the

property which my uncle left us.
But one part of my inheritance, the most remarkable and the least
expected, was at present unknown either to the notary or to myself.
I don't wish to make myself out better than I really am, my dear Louis:
I must declare, nevertheless, that in spite of the very natural
bewilderment which I felt on finding myself the owner of such a
fortune, my first thought, when once I had disposed of the legal matters,
was to pay a tribute of mournful regrets to the memory of my poor
uncle. I should have considered it base ingratitude, not to say impiety
on my part, to have shown myself too eager to enjoy the wealth
bequeathed to me by so generous a benefactor. His loss really left a
cruel void in my heart. I decided, therefore, at least to live a few
months at Férouzat. I wrote immediately to the aunt of Anna Campbell,
to express my resolution to fulfil the wishes of my second father,
begging her to dispose of my services in every way as those of a
protector and friend ready to respond to every appeal. Four days
afterwards, I received from her a most cordial and elegantly-worded
letter. She assured me of her confidence in all the good accounts which
my uncle had given of me; and she gave me news of my fiancée, "who
for one who is still only a child, promises already to develop into an
accomplished woman."
Having discharged these conventional duties, I shut myself up in my
retreat, and set to work.
For me to say that my retirement was not more distracted than I would
have desired, might perhaps be called a dangerous assertion; but what
could I do? Was it not my duty to acquaint myself with all that my
uncle bequeathed to me? And the Lord knows what marvels my
château of Férouzat contained! Every day I made some fresh discovery
in rooms full of curious furniture and antiquities of all ages and of all
countries. Barbassou-Pasha was a born buyer of valuable objects, and
the furniture was crammed with rich draperies, hangings, costumes, and
objects of art or curios: my steward himself could not enumerate them
all.

But the most delightful of all these marvels is certainly
Kasre-el-Nouzha, my neighbouring property. Kasre-el-Nouzha was a
Turkish fancy of my uncle's. These three Arabic words correspond to
the Spanish Buen-Retiro; or, literally translated, they signify "Castle of
Pleasures." This was the retreat, separated only by a party-wall from
Férouzat, that was formerly inhabited by the exiled minister who had
fled from the persecutions of the Sultan. Picture to yourself, hidden in a
great park whose umbrageous foliage concealed it from view, a
delightful palace of the purest Oriental architecture, surrounded by
gardens, with flowering shrubs covered with a wealth of blossoms,
standing in the midst of green lawns, a sort of Vale of Tempé
transplanted, one might imagine, from the East. My uncle Barbassou,
conscientious architect that he was, had copied the plan from one of the
residences of the King of Kashmir. In the interior of the Kasre you
might fancy yourself in the house of some grandee of Stamboul or of
Bagdad. Luxuries, ornaments, furniture, and general domestic
arrangements, have all been studied with the taste of an artist and the
exactitude of an archæologist. At the same time European comforts are
gratefully mingled with Turkish simplicity. The silken tapestries of
Persia, the carpets of Smyrna with those harmonious hues which seem
to be borrowed from the sun, the capacious divans, the bath-rooms, and
the stores, all contribute in