Part 14 (1/2)
”My husband is very fond of yours,” said Ashweesha, with a pleasant smile, leading her guests to a large cus.h.i.+on on the floor, and squatting them down beside her.
”It gratifies me much to hear you say so,” replied Mrs Langley.
They spoke in a jargon of languages, and made up their deficiencies by signs, of which we dare not attempt a characteristic translation.
”He sent you a new slave-girl lately, I believe?” said the Sultana, beginning to feel her way.
”Yes,” exclaimed the guest with animation, ”it was _very_ kind of him; and I find her _so_ sweet and amiable, and useful too. She a.s.sists me with my dear baby so admirably, as well as with the household, that I begin already to feel as if I could not get on without her. Do you know I have set my heart on raising sufficient money to ransom her and set her free?”
”Then you will only lose her, for she will certainly go home to her husband,” observed Ashweesha, with a look of simplicity.
”Of course; I count on that,” returned Mrs Langley. ”You know that we Christians differ from Mohammedans widely on the point of slavery; and I am sure,” she added playfully, ”you will not think me rude when I say that I mean to take advantage of your laws, and procure the ransom of as many slaves as possible during my residence here.”
”If you had the wealth of a king,” said Ashweesha, with a smile, ”you could not ransom the half of them, they are so numerous.”
”I am too well aware of that,” rejoined the other sadly; ”nevertheless, that does not exempt me from my duty. In the laws of my heavenly King and Saviour Jesus Christ it is written--`Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.'”
The Sultana bent a keen look of interest on her guest, and was about to reply, but seemed to change her mind, and said:--
”It was Sidi Ha.s.san, I am told, who brought in this slave-girl; and, by the way, I hear that he has become your janissary. Do you like him?”
”I have seen so little of him that I can hardly tell.--You have walked with him in the garden, Agnes, several times; what do _you_ think of him?”
”I don't like him at _all_!” answered Agnes, with powerful emphasis.
Both ladies laughed, and so did the six little daughters of the Sultana, who had maintained a dignified silence while their elders were conversing.
”My little girl is rather given to take hasty prejudices,” said Mrs Langley apologetically.
”Does your husband find him useful?” continued the Sultana, returning to the charge.
”No doubt he does, but I really cannot say, for my husband has only mentioned him casually, and I never venture to speak of his business affairs unless called on to do so. The fact that Sidi Ha.s.san has been much oftener in town than at our residence since he was sent to us, may account for my slight knowledge about him.”
”Oh! he has been very often in town, has he?” exclaimed Ashweesha.
Before Mrs Langley could reply, an attendant announced that dinner was served in the adjoining room, whereupon the Georgian slaves were ordered to pick up the jewels that strewed the carpet. This they did, and, having locked them in the gla.s.s cabinet before mentioned, followed the party into the dining-room.
It was a somewhat peculiar dinner in many respects. There was great variety. Meat, poultry, pastry, and sweatmeats of strange kinds and forms, succeeded each other, and were done full justice to by all present. It was like a glimpse of paradise to little Agnes; for, having been brought up in the simplest of styles, and forbidden pastry and sweatmeats altogether since the day of her birth, she absolutely revelled in new sensations.
It must not be supposed that she violently broke through all restraints on this occasion; but her mother saw that if old rules were enforced, the child would be confused by the conflicting entreaties of her hostesses and the denials of her mother, while the Sultana might be offended. Mrs Langley, therefore, gave her _carte-blanche_ to eat what she pleased.
The party all sat on embroidered cus.h.i.+ons on the floor, round a small low table made of silver and mother-of-pearl. On this, each dish was placed separately; and all ate out of the same dish, after the Moorish fas.h.i.+on. The spoons were made of rosewood, tipped with amber, and the napkins were richly embroidered in gold, silver, and variously coloured silk on a curiously-wrought linen ground. All the vessels used were of the most elaborate and costly description, and we need scarcely add that the viands were good. Among other things there was fish, which was served and eaten with honey! but the chief among the dishes was kooskoos. This was the _piece de resistance_ of the Moorish dinner-table, the substance on which the ladies chiefly fed and flourished. To be fat was, in those days, the most desirable attribute of a wife in the eyes of an Algerine husband, therefore kooskoos was eaten in quant.i.ty. It was made largely of flour, rolled, in some mystical manner, into the form of little pellets, like small sago; this, boiled with b.u.t.ter and other fatty substances, with bits of meat and chicken, and other viands mixed through it,--the whole being slightly seasoned and spiced,--was deemed food fit for a Sultana.
During the meal they became very chatty, and the young people paid much attention to Agnes, who, being a sensitively good girl, felt, every time that she experienced a new taste, as though she were breaking all the Ten Commandments, notwithstanding the permission of her mother!
Several times Ashweesha turned the conversation on the home affairs of her guests, and attempted to gain further information about Sidi Ha.s.san's doings, but found, much to her annoyance, that Mrs Langley knew little more than she had already communicated. Her good-humour was, however, restored by that lady's unaffected admiration of the numerous lovely things by which she was surrounded. She specially praised the splendid napkins and the spoons before referred to, and when they rose from table, the Sultana presented her and Agnes with those that they had used.
After giving them coffee and making another vain attempt to extract information, Ashweesha dismissed her guests, who returned home charmed with the novelty of their reception and entertainment.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.