Chapter XV

Love ye the moon? Behold her face!
And there the lucid planet trace.
If breath of musky fragrance please,
Her balmy odours scent the breeze.
Possessed of every sportive wile,
’Tis bliss, ’tis heaven, to see her smile.

FERDOSI.

Auzeem, accompanied by the emperor, proceeded in the dusk of the evening, both muffled up in cloaks, towards that quarter of the seraglio in which the illustrious prisoners were confined. The keys having been already sent to Auzeem, by order of Bochari, who fondly hoped that the result would not fail to promote his own designs, the minister opened the door as gently as possible. He then locked it again on the inside, and requesting Jehangire to remain in the apartment used as a sleeping-room by Nourmahal and her attendants, he advanced to their sitting-chamber, where he found the family engaged in evening prayer. Amongst the other orisons which they uttered, in an audible and fervent tone, was one for the rescue of the empire from the thraldom in which it was now held by the usurper, and for the preservation of their imperial master, “for still our master he is,” added Kazim, “even though this intelligence, we have received of his abdication, be true. No other sovereign lord shall we acknowledge while he lives. May Allah look down upon him, and protect him from his enemies, even though his was the hand which authorised our confinement within these walls!”

Auzeem, checked by these sounds, stopped near the door of their saloon, which happened to be half open. The emperor, on whose ear some of the words also alighted, could not restrain himself from going forward. Placing himself behind Auzeem, he contemplated the group within, with the most lively emotion. A silver lamp, suspended from the roof of the chamber, diffused over it a brilliant light, which enabled them clearly to distinguish every object.

As soon as the family rose from prayer they sat in a circle, when Nourmahal, by Kazim’s desire, read some portions of a book which she held in her hand, and which purported to be a history of the Syrian prophet, of whose mission Jehangire and his companion had heard in Cashmere. It was a narrative of the sufferings of the god, written in a simple style of language, that touched the heart. It lost none of its sweetness or power in the accents of Nourmahal. She then took her mandolin, and preluding, with her accustomed grace upon the instrument, sung the first notes of a vesper hymn, in which her handmaids joined. They purposely restrained their voices within a low compass, in order that they might not be heard beyond the precincts of their prison. But the melody seemed, on that account, still more enchanting. It reminded Auzeem of the warbling of the birds at even-tide, during their late excursion amongst the forests of the Himalas. Jehangire was tremulous with rapture, on hearing again that voice which exercised so much power over his soul. It was with the utmost difficulty he restrained himself from rushing forward, and at all hazards, folding the admirable musician in his arms.

Auzeem advanced into the saloon, and throwing back his cloak, apologised for intruding on their privacy, adding that he was charged with a communication for Kazim, whom he still designated as chancellor, which would permit of no delay. Although the different members of the group were more or less startled by the suddenness of his appearance, they were in some degree prepared for it, as Auzeem had previously instructed the hermit to give them an intimation of his intentions.

“How is this?” asked Kazim; “you do me the honour to address me as chancellor, although there is no man in the empire who knows better than you do, that I have no longer either office or fortune in this country. The decrees by which I was stripped of both were under your signature.”

“Of this we will talk at another time,” said Auzeem. “I appear here by no means in the character of an enemy to the happiness of your family. On the contrary, I hope very shortly to convince you, that you have never had a friend more sincerely anxious than I am, to relieve you from the position in which you have been so long unhappily placed.”

“Undoubtedly, explanation is necessary upon this point. Indeed, looking to the present condition of the empire, as it is reported to us from those who have an opportunity of observing it, I can imagine many circumstances by which your conduct might have been influenced. Zeinedeen has taught us to rely upon your good faith, although hitherto appearances have been so violently against you. Your open co-operation, in almost all the acts of the usurper, would, you must allow, be a serious obstacle in the way of your obtaining the confidence of any faithful servant of the emperor--if, indeed, Jehangire still continue to bear that title. We are informed that his majesty has abdicated.”

While Kazim was yet speaking, Mangeli and Nourmahal, feeling that the conversation was assuming a tone of importance, withdrew to the lower part of the saloon, leaving the two statesmen together. Nourmahal and her attendants resumed their labours at a piece of tapestry, upon which they had been engaged for some days, representing one of the battles of Acbar. Her mother took up her tambour, and endeavoured to proceed with a rose she was embroidering on muslin; but her anxiety to know the object of Auzeem’s mission, allowed her to make very little progress. Jehangire, concealed in the obscurity of the outer chamber, observed the whole scene with a degree of solicitude scarcely inferior to that of the wife and mother.

“If this report be true,” continued Kazim, “it must, I presume, be the result of dire necessity; and if affairs have arrived at such a crisis as this, I fear that those who, whether designedly or not, have been instrumental to it, have brought upon their heads responsibility of a most formidable nature.”

“It does seem an essential portion of Bochari’s plans,” replied Auzeem, “to compel the emperor to abdicate the throne; and I should be glad if any man would inform me, what means we possess to resist his design, in case he should persevere in his measures for carrying it into execution.”

Nourmahal now listened to their discourse with more earnestness even than Mangeli.

“Can he not find some mode of withdrawing from the seraglio,” asked Kazim, “and of be-taking himself to Delhi or Lahore, where, I am convinced, he would be soon surrounded by faithful subjects, more than sufficiently numerous to destroy the odious faction now leagued against him?”

“I much fear that any attempt of that kind would be perilous in the extreme. Failure would be instantly followed by assassination. Bochari has himself proposed the retirement of Jehangire to Persia.”

“Then it is all over. The fate of the empire is sealed.”

“He further proposes to discontinue your imprisonment, and that of your family, upon condition that”--

“Do not say any condition which shall separate my fate from that of my imperial master. I would much rather abide here, than be free upon terms of that description.”

“Excellent man!” breathed Jehangire; “it is only in adversity that I can truly estimate all thy worth.”

“The condition proposed is,” resumed Auzeem, “that you and your family should also withdraw from Hindostan.”

“Dear, dear father,” exclaimed Nourmahal, rising and hastening to Kazim, whom she tenderly embraced, “do not hesitate one moment in accepting this offer. We shall go back to the Ilamish,--to the home you once loved,--where we shall be happy as the day is long.”

“And if you suffer Jehangire to join you,” exclaimed the emperor, no longer capable of remaining in his place of concealment, “his happiness, too, will be complete!”

“The emperor! my lord! my master!” said Kazim, first touching the ground, and then his forehead with his right hand. Nourmahal followed his example, but kept her eyes fixed on the ground.

“No longer emperor, my friend, if the usurper may be believed. I am now before you, simply as Selim,--once the ruler of Hindostan, now a prisoner within the walls of his own palace, and soon, I suppose, to be even an exile from the land of his birth!”

“God is great,” said Kazim, in his voice of noble resignation. “Empire is in his hands; he gives and resumes it at his pleasure, and we can only bend to his decree.”

“Here are, indeed, examples of submission to the will of the most High, which dignify misfortune. What do I behold? A wretched, gloomy prison absolutely turned into a splendid residence! I can recognise the hand that has worked this miracle; it is here,” added Jehangire, taking Nourmahal’s right hand between both of his. “Whatever be thy future destiny, Nourmahal, would that these rooms could be for ever preserved in their present beauty and magnificence, as a record at once of thy skill and industry, and above all, of thy piety towards the best of parents! Heaven surely will reward virtues such as you have displayed during the whole of this long and severe trial, imposed upon you by the basest of men.”

“If I deserved any reward, Sire, I have already received it, and much more, in these words of approbation.”

“You have heard, Nourmahal, from Auzeem, of the critical state to which the empire has been reduced by the oppressor, into whose hands a combination of most unexpected circumstances appears to have, for the present, transferred my sceptre. For these two years back I have been no more than the nominal ruler of Hindostan. I am now required to abdicate, and to become an outcast from my own dominions. Should necessity compel me to take that course, say, shall there be a home for me, too, on the Ilamish?”

“Oh yes! it will be our delight to surround thee; as thy slaves to wait upon thee, to administer to thy happiness, to beguile thee from the recollection of thy natural pre-eminence, and to cheer thee, to the last hour of existence, by every means in our power.”

“Auzeem, I have hitherto resisted the demands of the usurper for my abdication. Let him be informed forthwith, that I oppose them no longer. I feel that I shall be much happier on the banks of the Ilamish, with these dear companions of my solitude, than I ever could be again upon a throne, which I have hitherto found only a fountain of every bitterness. From the height to which I was elevated, I saw, with very few exceptions,--exceptions almost comprehended in the circle that now hears me,--nothing but selfishness, ingratitude, rapacity, and meanness, in mankind. I have been shocked by the picture of innate hypocrisy and worthlessness which they have constantly exhibited before me. They are not worth any further sacrifices. Be it arranged that I quit this wretched country.”

Auzeem observed, that it might be prudent not to yield too easily to the usurper’s exactions, lest he might withhold also the provision of which he spoke, for the emperor’s future maintenance.

“That shall be no bar,” said Nourmahal. “Yield nothing upon that ground, for here,” she added, opening a cabinet filled with gold, the produce of her industry, “here is a supply of wealth sufficient, at least for the present, to meet every exigency. For the future, while health and reason shall remain, those who have earned this treasure, may be able to replenish it--if, indeed, it will be accepted.”

“Dearest--noblest of women,” said Jehangire in a tone of deep emotion, “how proud I feel in confessing before those who love you, as they love their own hearts, that you have been long the object of my warmest affection. Kazim, my best of friends, you will bear witness, that so long as the laws of the empire interposed obstacles between me and this idol of my soul, I never even so much as hinted to you the state of my feelings upon this subject, agonising as they often have been.”

“We are aware, sire, of the generous restraints which you imposed upon yourself in that respect. And had I but known, at an earlier period, your predisposition in favour of Nourmahal, much pain might have been spared on either side.”

“If I have an ambition still to recover my throne, which, I may say, is lost, it would only be that I might enjoy the satisfaction of sharing it with this dear one.”

“I thank destiny for giving me the opportunity to shew, that it was not your imperial station I looked at, when my heart first knew those emotions which drew me towards you--emotions which I have never forgotten--never could conquer. My beloved mother knows what I have suffered--she will tell you all.”

“And I will listen to your disclosures, Mangeli, with feelings which I shall often intreat you to renew. Oh! how delightful it is to know that one is loved for one’s self!--that no motive of external splendour or station alloys the purity of that divine affection which moves two souls to mutual adoration, the first moment they meet! This is a joy which I never felt before. I would not give it away for an empire!”

Some pebbles flung up against the lattice attracted the attention of Auzeem, who happened to be standing near the window. He mentioned the circumstance to Kazim, who said,

“It must be Zeinedeen. Whenever he cannot obtain entrance into our prison, he takes this mode of communicating with us. I shall speak to him. All is safe here, Zeinedeen--have you any message?”

“There is a terrible tumult going on in the city,” answered Zeinedeen, who was alone in a small boat on the Jumna. “There is a vast crowd of the populace in the neighbourhood of a house, where they say the conspirators are assembled, who are to proclaim Bochari emperor at the break of day. The people are indignant beyond any thing I can describe. They are endeavouring to pull the house down. Listen! There are discharges of fire-arms.”

“The people--they are for Jehangire?”

“All for Jehangire--they swear that they will no longer live under the usurper.”

“My noble, faithful people,” exclaimed Jehangire. “Let us go forth, Auzeem, and place ourselves at their head.”

“I have been expecting this outbreak, sire,” said Auzeem; “but I fear it is premature. It would not be prudent to expose yourself at this moment. Zeinedeen,” he continued, addressing the hermit, “the emperor is here. Can you inform us where are the rajaputs?”

“They have just gone down from the citadel, to rescue their party from the perils with which they are threatened. Let me pray you to take care of the emperor. The night is teeming with rumours of his assassination. It is given out that he refused to abdicate, and that upon attempting to escape from the seraglio, he was murdered by his own guards. I must depart. I perceive a boat coming this way. Be admonished in time.”

“Then this is their real plot. I thought I had tracked the Persian through all his deceptions; but I see he has over-reached me at last,” said Auzeem.

“Yours, my lord, has been a most hazardous policy,” remarked Kazim.

“I own it--but the emperor is still safe--that is the principal object, and I do not yet despair. Bochari is aware that we are here.”

“If he be, then you may expect to see the rajaputs around us presently,” said Kazim.

“They will have sufficient employment with the people for a while. But I confess we have not a moment to lose.”