CHAPTER IV.
On the following evening Haschim, the merchant, came to the governor'shouse with a small part of his caravan. A stranger might have takenthe mansion for the home of a wealthy country-gentleman rather than theofficial residence of a high official; for at this hour, after sunset,large herds of beasts and sheep were being driven into the vastcourt-yard behind the house, surrounded on three sides by out-buildings;half a hundred horses of choice breed came, tied in couples, fromthe watering-place; and in a well-sanded paddock enclosed by hurdles,slaves, brown and black, were bringing fodder to a large troop ofcamels.
The house itself was well-fitted by its unusually palatial size andantique splendor to be the residence of the emperor's viceroy, and theMukaukas, to whom it all belonged, had in fact held the office for along time. After the conquest of the country by the Arabs they had lefthim in possession, and at the present date he managed the affairs ofhis Egyptian fellow-countrymen, no more in the name of the emperor atByzantium, but under the authority of the Khaliff at Medina and hisgreat general, Amru. The Moslem conquerors had found him a ready andjudicious mediator; while his fellow-Christians and country-men obeyedhim as being the noblest and wealthiest of their race and the descendantof ancestors who had enjoyed high distinction even under the Pharaohs.
Only the governor's residence was Greek--or rather Alexandrian-in style;the court-yards and out-buildings on the contrary, looked as thoughthey belonged to some Oriental magnate-to some Erpaha (or prince of aprovince) as the Mukaukas' forefathers had been called, a rank whichcommanded respect both at court and among the populace.
The dragoman had not told the merchant too much beforehand of thegovernor's possessions: he had vast estates, in both Upper and LowerEgypt, tilled by thousands of slaves under numerous overseers. Here inMemphis was the centre of administration of his property, and besidesthe offices for his private affairs were those he needed as a stateofficial.
Well-kept quays, and the wide road running along the harbor side,divided his large domain from the river, and a street ran along the wallwhich enclosed it on the north. On this side was the great gate, alwayswide open by day, by which servants or persons on business-errandsmade their entrance; the other gate, a handsome portal with Corinthiancolumns opening from the Nile-quay, was that by which the waterparty hadreturned the evening before. This was kept closed, and only openedfor the family, or for guests and distinguished visitors. There wasa guardhouse at the north gate with a small detachment of Egyptiansoldiers, who were entrusted with the protection of the Mukaukas'person.
As soon as the refreshing evening breeze came up from the river afterthe heat of the day there was a stir in the great court-yard. Men, womenand girls came trooping out of the retainers' dwellings to breathe thecooler air. Waiting-maids and slaves dipped for water into enormousearthen vessels and carried it away in graceful jars; the free-men ofthe household rested in groups after the fatigues of the day, chatting,playing and singing. From the slaves' quarters in another court-yardcame confused sounds of singing hymns, with the shrill tones of thedouble pipe and duller noise of the tabor--an invitation to dance;scolding and laughter; the jubilant shouts of a girl led out to dance,and the shrieks of a victim to the overseer's rod.
The servant's gateway, still hung with flowers and wreaths in honor ofOrion's recent return, was wide open for the coming and going of theaccountants and scribes, or of such citizens as came very willingly topay an evening call on their friends in the governor's household; forthere were always some officials near the Mukaukas' person who knew morethan other folks of the latest events in Church and State.
Ere long a considerable number of men had assembled to sit under thedeep wooden porch of the head-steward's dwelling, all taking eager partin the conversation, which they would have found very enjoyable evenwithout the beer which their host offered them in honor of the greatevent of his young lord's return; for what was ever dearer to Egyptiansthan a brisk exchange of talk, at the same time heaping ridicule orscorn on their unapproachable superiors in rank, and on all they deemenemies to their creed or their country.
Many a trenchant word and many a witty jest must have been uttered thisevening, for hearty laughter and loud applause were incessant in thehead steward's porch; the captain of the guard at the gate cast enviousand impatient glances at the merry band, which he would gladly havejoined; but he could not yet leave his post. The messengers' horses werestanding saddled while their riders awaited their orders, there weresupplicants and traders to be admitted or turned away, and there werestill a number of persons lingering in the large vestibule of thegovernor's palace and craving to speak with him, for it was well knownin Memphis that during the hot season the ailing Mukaukas grantedaudience only in the evening.
The Egyptians had not yet acquired full confidence in the Arabgovernment, and every one tried to avoid being handed over to itsrepresentative; for none of its officials could be so wise or so justas their old Mukaukas. How the suffering man found strength and time tokeep an eye on everything, it was hard to imagine; but the fact remainedthat he himself looked into every decision. At the same time no onecould be sure of his affairs being settled out of hand unless he couldget at the governor himself.
Business hours were now over; the anxiety caused both by the delay inthe rising of the Nile and by the advent of the comet had filled thewaiting-rooms with more petitioners than usual. Deputations from townand village magistrates had been admitted in parties; supplicants onprivate business had gone in one by one; and most of them had come forthcontent, or at any rate well advised. Only one man still lingered,--acountryman whose case had long been awaiting settlement--in the hopethat a gift to the great man's doorkeeper, of a few drachmae out of hispoverty might at length secure him the fruit of his long patience--whenthe chamberlain, bidding him return on the morrow, officiously flungopen the high doors that led to the Mukaukas' apartments, to admit theArab merchant, in consideration of Haschim's gold piece which had cometo him through his cousin the dragoman. Haschim, however, had observedthe countryman, and insisted on his being shown in first. This was done,and a few minutes later the peasant came out satisfied, and gratefullykissed the Arab's hand.
Then the chamberlain led the old merchant, and the men who followed himwith a heavy bale, into a magnificent anteroom to wait; and his patiencewas put to a severe test before his name was called and he could showthe governor his merchandise.
The Mukaukas, in fact, after signifying by a speechless nod that hewould presently receive the merchant--who came well recommended--hadretired to recreate himself, and was now engaged in a game of draughts,heedless of those whom he kept waiting. He reclined on a divan coveredwith a sleek lioness' skin, while his young antagonist sat opposite ona low stool, The doors of the room, facing the Nile, where he receivedpetitioners were left half open to admit the fresher but still warmevening-air. The green velarium or awning, which during the day hadscreened off the sun's rays where the middle of the ceiling was open tothe sky, was now rolled back, and the moon and stars looked down intothe room. It was well adapted to its purpose as a refuge from theheat of the summer day, for the walls were lined with cool, coloredearthenware tiles, the floor was a brightly-tinted mosaic of patternson a ground of gold glass, and in the circular central ornament of thisartistic pavement stood the real source of freshness: a basin, twoman's length across, of brown porphyry flecked with white, from whicha fountain leaped, filling the surrounding air with misty spray. A fewstools, couches and small tables, all of cool-looking metal, formed thesole furniture of this lofty apartment which was brilliantly lighted bynumerous lamps.
A light air blew in through the open roof and doors, made the lampsflicker, and played with Paula's brown hair as she sat absorbed, asit seemed, in the game. Orion, who stood behind her, had several timesendeavored to attract her attention, but in vain. He now eagerly offeredhis services to fetch her a handkerchief to preserve her from a chill;this, however, she shortly and decidedly declined, though the breezecame up da
mp from the river and she had more than once drawn her peplosmore closely across her bosom.
The young man set his teeth at this fresh repulse. He did not know thathis mother had told Paula what he had yesterday agreed to, and couldnot account for the girl's altered behavior. All day she had treated himwith icy coldness, had scarcely answered his questions with a distant"Yes," or "No;" and to him, the spoilt favorite of women, this conducthad become more and more intolerable. Yes, his mother had judged herrightly: she allowed herself to be swayed in a most extraordinarymanner by her moods; and now even he was to feel the insolence ofher haughtiness, of which he had as yet seen nothing. This repellentcoldness bordered on rudeness and he had no mind to submit to it forlong. It was with deep vexation that he watched every turn of her hand,every movement of her body, and the varying expression of her face; andthe more the image of this proud maiden sank into his heart the morelovely and perfect he thought her, and the greater grew his desire tosee her smile once more, to see her again as sweetly womanly as shehad been but yesterday. Now she was like nothing so much as a splendidmarble statue, though he knew indeed that it had a soul--and what aglorious task it would be to free this fair being from herself, asit were, from the foolish tempers that enslaved her, to show her--byseverity if need should be--what best beseems a woman, a maiden.
He became more and more exclusively absorbed in watching the young girl,as his mother--who was sitting with Dame Susannah on a couch at somelittle distance from the players--observed with growing annoyance, andshe tried to divert his attention by questions and small errands, so asto give his evident excitement a fresh direction.
Who could have thought, yesterday morning, that her darling would sosoon cause her fresh vexation and anxiety.
He had come home just such a man as she and his father could havewished: independent and experienced in the ways of the great world. Inthe Capital he had, no doubt, enjoyed all that seems pleasant in theeyes of a wealthy youth, but in spite of that he had remained freshand open-hearted even to the smallest things; and this was what mostrejoiced his father. In him there was no trace of the satiety, theblunted faculty for enjoyment, which fell like a blight on so many menof his age and rank. He could still play as merrily with little Mary,still take as much pleasure in a rare flower or a fine horse, as beforehis departure. At the same time he had gained keen insight into thepolitical situation of the time, into the state of the empire and thecourt, into administration, and the innovations in church matters; itwas a joy to his father to hear him discourse; and he assured his wifethat he had learnt a great deal from the boy, that Orion was on the highroad to be a great statesman and was already quite capable of taking hisfather's place.
When Neforis confessed how large a sum in debts Orion had left inConstantinople the old man put his hand in his purse with a sort ofpride, delighted to find that his sole remaining heir knew how tospend the immense wealth which to him was now a burden rather than apleasure--to make good use of it, as he himself had done in his day, anddisplay a magnificence of which the lustre was reflected on him and onhis name.
"With him, at any rate," said the old man, "one gets something for themoney. His horses cost a great deal but he knows how to win with them;his entertainments swallow up a pretty sum, but they gain him respectwherever he goes. He brought me a letter from the Senator Justinus, andthe worthy man tells me what a leading part he plays among the gildedyouth of the Capital. All this is not to be had for nothing, and it willbe cheap in the end. What need we care about a hundred talents more orless! And there is something magnanimous in the lad that has given himthe spirit to feel that."
And it was not a hale old grey-beard who spoke thus, but a broken man,whose only joy it was to lavish on his son the riches which he had longbeen incapable of enjoying. The high-spirited and gifted youth, scarcelymore than a boy in years, whom he had sent to the Capital with no smallmisgivings, must have led a far less lawless life than might have beenexpected; of this the ruddy tinge in his sunburnt cheeks was ampleguarantee, the vigorous solidity of his muscles, and the thick wavesof his hair, which was artificially curled and fell in a fringe, as wasthen the fashion, over his high brow, giving him a certain resemblanceto the portraits of Antinous, the handsomest youth in the time ofthe Emperor Hadrian. Even his mother owned that he looked like healthitself, and no member of the Imperial family could be more richly,carefully and fashionably dressed than her darling. But even in thehumblest garb he would have been a handsome--a splendid youth, andhis mother's pride! When he left home there was still a smack of theprovincial about him; but now every kind of awkwardness had vanished,and wherever he might go--even in the Capital, he was certain to be oneof the first to attract observation and approval.
And what had he not known in his city experience? The events of half acentury had followed each other with intoxicating rapidity in the courseof the thirty months he had spent there. The greater the excitement, thegreater the pleasure was the watchword of his time; and though he hadrioted and revelled on the shores of the Bosphorus if ever man did,still the pleasures of feasting and of love, or of racing with his ownvictorious horses--all of which he had enjoyed there to the full--wereas child's play compared with the nervous tension to which he had beenstrung by the appalling events he had witnessed on all sides. Howpetty was the excitement of an Alexandrian horse-race! Whether Timonor Ptolemy or he himself should win--what did it matter? It was a finething no doubt to carry off the crown in the circus at Byzantium, butthere were other and soul-stirring crises there beyond those which werebound up with horses or chariots. There a throne was the prize, andmight cost the blood and life of thousands!--What did a man bring homefrom the churches in the Nile valley? But if he crossed the threshold ofSt. Sophia's in Constantinople he often might have his blood curdled,or bring home--what matter?--bleeding wounds, or even be carried home--acorpse.
Three times had he seen the throne change masters. An emperor and anempress had been stripped of the purple and mutilated before his eyes.
Aye, then and there he had had real and intense excitement to thrillhim to the marrow and quick. As for the rest! Well, yes, he had had moretrivial pleasures too. He had not been received as other Egyptians were:half-educated philosophers--who called themselves Sages and assumeda mystic and pompously solemn demeanor, Astrologers, Rhetoricians,poverty-stricken but witty and venemous satirists, physicians makinga display of the learning of their forefathers, fanaticaltheologians--always ready to avail themselves of other weapons thanreason and dogma in their bitter contests over articles of faith,hermits and recluses--as foul in mind as they were dirty in theirpersons, corn-merchants and usurers with whom it was dangerous toconclude a bargain without witnesses. Orion was none of these. Asthe handsome, genial, and original-minded son of the rich and nobleGovernor, Mukaukas George, he was welcomed as a sort of ambassador;whatever the golden youth of the city allowed themselves was permittedto him. His purse was as well lined as theirs, his health and vigor farmore enduring; and his horses had beaten theirs in three races, thoughhe drove them himself and did not trust them to paid charioteers. The"rich Egyptian," the "New Antinous," "handsome Orion," as he was called,could never be spared from feast or entertainment. He was a welcomeguest at the first houses in the city, and in the palace and the villaof the Senator Justinus, an old friend of his father, he was as much athome as a son of the house.
It was under his roof, and the auspices of his kindhearted wife Martina,that he made acquaintance with the fair Heliodora, the widow of a nephewof the Senator; and the whole city had been set talking of the tenderintimacy Orion had formed with the beautiful young woman whose rigidvirtue had hitherto been a subject of admiration no less than her fairhair and the big jewels with which she loved to set off her simplebut costly dress. And many a fair Byzantine had striven for the youngEgyptian's good graces before Heliodora had driven them all out of thefield. Still, she had not yet succeeded in enslaving Orion deeply andpermanently; and when, last evening, he had assured his mother that shewas
not mistress of his heart he spoke truly.
His conduct in the Capital had not certainly been exemplary, but he hadnever run wild, and had enjoyed the respect not only of his companionsin pleasure, but of grave and venerable men whom he had met in the houseof Justinus, and who sang the praises of his intelligence and eagernessto learn. As a boy he had been a diligent scholar, and here he let noopportunity slip. Not least had he cultivated his musical talents in theImperial city, and had acquired a rare mastery in singing and playingthe lute.
He would gladly have remained some time longer at the Capital, but atlast the place grew too hot to hold him-mainly on his father's account.The conviction that George had largely contributed to the disaffectionof Egypt for the Byzantine Empire and had played into the hands of theirresistible and detested upstart Arabs, had found increasing acceptancein the highest circles, especially since Cyrus--the deposed and nowdeceased Patriarch of Alexandria--had retired to Constantinople. Orion'scapture was in fact already decided on, when the Senator Justinus andsome other friends had hinted a warning which he had acted on just intime.
His father's line of conduct had placed him in great peril; but he owedhim no grudge for it--indeed, he most deeply approved of it. A thousandtimes had he witnessed the contempt heaped on the Egyptians by theGreeks, and the loathing and hatred of the Orthodox for the Monophysitecreed of his fellow-countrymen.
He had with difficulty controlled his wrath as he had listened againand again to the abuse and scorn poured out on his country and people bygentle and simple, laymen and priests, even in his presence; regardinghim no doubt as one of themselves--a Greek in whose eyes everything"Barbarian" was as odious and as contemptible as in their own.
But the blood of his race flowed in the veins of the "new Antinous" whocould sing Greek songs so well and with so pure an accent; every insultto his people was stamped deep in his heart, every sneer at his faithrevived his memory of the day when the Melchites had slain his twobrothers. And these bloody deeds, these innumerable acts of oppressionby which the Greek; had provoked and offended the schismatic Egyptianand hunted them to death, were now avenged by his father. It lifted uphis heart and made him proud to think of it. He showed his secret soulto the old man who was as much surprised as delighted at what he foundthere; for he had feared that Orion might not be able wholly to escapethe powerful influences of Greek beguilements;--nay, he had often feltanxious lest his own son might disapprove of his having surrendered tothe Arab conquerors the province entrusted to his rule, and concluded apeace with them.
The Mukaukas now felt himself as one with Orion, and from time to timelooked tenderly up at him from the draught-board. Neforis was doing herbest to entertain the mother of her son's future bride, and divert herattention from his strange demeanor. She seemed indeed to be successful,for Dame Susannah agreed to everything she said; but she betrayed thefact that she was keeping a sharp watch by suddenly asking: "Does yourhusband's lofty niece not think us worthy of a single word?"
"Oh no!" said Neforis bitterly. "I only hope she may soon find someother people to whom she can behave more graciously. You may depend uponit I will put no obstacle in her way."
Then she brought the conversation round to Katharina, and the widow toldher that her brother-in-law, Chrysippus, was now in Memphis with his twolittle daughters. They were to go away on the morrow, so the young girlhad been obliged to devote herself to them: "And so the poor child issitting there at this minute," she lamented, "and must keep those twolittle chatter-boxes quiet while she is longing to be here instead."
Orion quite understood these last words; he asked after the young girl,and then added gaily:
"She promised me a collar yesterday for my little white keepsake fromConstantinople. Fie! Mary, you should not tease the poor little beast."
"No, let the dog go," added the widow, addressing the governor's littlegranddaughter, who was trying to make the recalcitrant dog kiss herdoll. "But you know, Orion, this tiny creature is really too delicatefor such a big man as you are! You should give him to some pretty younglady and then he would fulfil his destiny! And Katharina is embroideringhim a collar; I ought not to tell her little secret, but it is to havegold stars on a blue ground."
"Because Orion is a star," cried the little girl. "So she is workingnothing but Orions."
"But fortunately there is but one star of my name," observed he. "Praytell her that Dame Susa."
The child clapped her hands. "He does not choose to have any other starnear him!" she exclaimed.
The widow broke in: "Little simpleton! I know people who cannot evenbear to have a likeness traced between themselves and any one else.--Butthis you must permit, Orion--you were quite right just now, Neforis; hismouth and brow might have been taken from his father's face."
The remark was quite accurate; and yet it would have been hard toimagine two men more unlike than the bright youth full of vitality, andthe languid old man on the couch, to whom even the small exertion ofmoving the men was an effort. The Mukaukas might once have been like hisson, but in some long past time. Thin grey locks now only covered onehalf of his bald head, and of his eyes, which, thirty years since, hadsparkled perhaps as keenly as Orion's, there was usually nothing, orvery little to be seen; for the heavy lids always drooped over them asthough they had lost the power to open, and this gave his handsome butdeathly-pale face a somewhat owl-like look. It was not morose, however;on the contrary the mingled lines of suffering and of benevolentkindliness resulted in an expression only of melancholy. The mouthand flabby cheeks were as motionless as though they were dead. Grief,anxiety and alarms seemed to have passed over them with a paralysinghand and had left their trace there. He looked like a man weary untodeath, and still living only because fate had denied him the grace todie. Indeed, he had often been taken for dead by his family when he haddipped too freely into a certain little blood-stone box to take too manyof the white opium-pills, one of which he placed between his colorlesslips at long intervals, even during his game of draughts.
He lifted each piece slowly, like a sleeper with his eyes half shut; andyet his opponent could not hold her own against his wary tactics and wasdefeated by him now for the third time, though her uncle himself calledher a good player. It was easy to read in her high, smooth brow anddark-blue eyes with their direct gaze, that she could think clearlyand decisively, and also feel deeply. But she seemed wilful too, andcontradictory--at any rate to-day; for when Orion pointed out some moveto her she rarely took his advice, but with set lips, pushed the pieceaccording to her own, rarely wiser, judgment. It was quite plain thatshe was refractory under the guidance of this--especially of thiscounsellor.
The bystanders could not fail to see the girl's repellent manner andOrion's eager attempts to propitiate her; and for this reason Neforiswas glad when, just as her husband had finished the third game, andhad pushed the men together on the board with the back of his hand,his chamberlain reminded him that the Arab was without, awaiting hispleasure with growing impatience. The Mukaukas answered only by a sign,drew his long caftan of the finest wool closer around him, and pointedto the doors and the open roof. The rest of the party had long felt thechill of the damp night air that blew through the room from the river,but knowing that the father suffered more from heat than from anything,they had all willingly endured the draught. Now, however, Orion calledthe slaves, and before the strangers were admitted the doors were closedand the roof covered.
Paula rose; the governor lay motionless and kept his eyes apparentlyclosed; he must, however, have seen what was going forward through animperceptible slit, for he turned first to Paula and then to the otherwomen saying: "Is it not strange?--Most old folks, like children,seek the sun, and love to sit, as the others play, in its heat. WhileI--something that happened to me years ago--you know;--and it seemed tofreeze my blood. Now it never gets warm, and I feel the contrast betweenthe coolness in here and the heat outside most acutely, almost as apain. The older we grow the more ready we are to abandon to the youngthe things
we ourselves used most to enjoy. The only thing which we oldfolks do not willingly relinquish is personal comfort, and I thank youfor enduring annoyances so patiently for the sake of securing mine.--Itis a terrific summer! You, Paula, from the heights of Lebanon, know whatice is. How often have I wished that I could have a bed of snow. To feelmyself one with that fresh, still coldness would be all I wish for! Thecold air which you dread does me good. But the warmth of youth rebelsagainst everything that is cool."
This was the first long sentence the Mukaukas had uttered since thebeginning of the game. Orion listened respectfully to the end, but thenhe said with a laugh: "But there are some young people who seem to takepleasure in being cool and icy--for what cause God alone knows!"
As he spoke he looked the girl at whom the words were aimed, full inthe face; but she turned silently and proudly away, and an angry shadepassed over her lovely features.