The Prince of India, vol 2 | Page 5

"At the Father's bedside I received his blessing; and asked leave to be
absent a few days. 'Where?' he inquired, and I answered: 'Thou knowest
I regard the Princess Irene as my little mother. I should like to go see
her.'"
Sergius sought his auditor's face at this, and observing no sign of
objection to the familiarity, was greatly strengthened.
"The Father endeavored to persuade me not to come, and it was with
that purpose he entered upon the disclosures you ask.... 'The life the
Princess leads'--thus he commenced--'and her manners, are outside the
sanctions of society.'"
Here, from resting on her elbow, the listener sat upright, grasping the
massive arm of the chair.
"Shall I proceed, O Princess?"
"Yes."
"This place is very public"--he glanced at the people above them.
"I will hear you here."
"At your pleasure.... The Hegumen referred next to your going about
publicly unveiled. While not positively wrong, he condemned the
practice as a pernicious example; besides which there was a defiant
boldness in it, he said, tending to make you a subject of discussion and
indelicate remark."
The hand on the stony arm trembled.
"I fear, O Princess," Sergius continued, with downcast look, "that my
words are giving you pain."
"But they are not yours. Go on."

"Then the Father came to what was much more serious."
Sergius again hesitated.
"I am listening," she said.
"He termed it your persistence in keeping up the establishment here at
Therapia."
The Princess grew red and white by turns.
"He said the Turk was too near you; that unmarried and unprotected
your proper place was in some house of God on the Islands, or in the
city, where you could have the benefit of holy offices. As it was, rumor
was free to accuse you of preferring guilty freedom to marriage."
The breeze fell off that moment, leaving the Princess in the centre of a
profound hush; except for the unwonted labor of her heart, the leaves
overhead were not more still. The sight of her was too oppressive--
Sergius turned away. Presently he heard her say, as if to herself: "I am
indeed in danger. If my death were not in meditation, the boldest of
them would not dare think so foul a falsehood.... Sergius," she said.
He turned to her, but she broke off diverted by another idea. Had this
last accusation reference to the Emperor's dream of making her his wife?
Could the Emperor have published what took place between them?
Impossible!
"Sergius, did the Hegumen tell you whence this calumny had origin?"
"He laid it to rumor merely."
"Surely he disclosed some ground for it. A dignitary of his rank and
profession cannot lend himself to shaming a helpless woman without
reason or excuse."
"Except your residence at Therapia, he gave no reason."
Here she looked at Sergius, and the pain in the glance was pitiful. "My

friend, is there anything in your knowledge which might serve such a
rumor?"
"Yes," he replied, letting his eyes fall.
"What!" and she lifted her head, and opened her eyes.
He stood silent and evidently suffering.
"Poor Sergius! The punishment is yours. I am sorry for you--sorry we
entered on this subject--but it is too late to retire from it. Speak bravely.
What is it you know against me? It cannot be a crime; much I doubt if
it be a sin; my walk has been very strait and altogether in God's view.
Speak!"
"Princess," he answered, "coming down from the landing, I was
stopped by a concourse studying a brass plate nailed to the right-hand
pillar of your gate. It was inscribed, but none of them knew the import
of the inscription. The hamari came up, and at sight of it fell to saluting,
like the abject Eastern he is. The bystanders chaffered him, and he
retorted, and, amongst other things, said the brass was a safeguard
directed to all Turks, notifying them that this property, its owner, and
inmates were under protection of the Prince Mahommed. Give heed
now, I pray you, O Princess, to this other thing of the man's saying. The
notice was the Prince Mahommed's, the inscription his signature, and
the Prince himself fixed the plate on the pillar with his own hand."
Sergius paused.
"Well," she asked.
"The inferences--consider them."
"State them."
"My tongue refuses. Or if I must, O Princess, I will use the form of
accusation others are likely to have adopted. 'The Princess Irene lives at
Therapia because Prince Mahommed is her lover, and it is a convenient

place of meeting. Therefore his safeguard on her gate.'"
"No one could be bold enough to"--
"One has been bold enough."
"One?"
"The Hegumen of my Brotherhood."
The Princess was very pale.
"It is cruel--cruel!" she exclaimed. "What ought I to do?"