"Oh, but they were not Christians! Anna Campbell would be your real

wife; and your religion and laws would enjoin you to love her."

"No," I exclaimed, "neither my religion nor my laws could change my

heart or undo my love for you. It is my duty to protect your life and

make it a happy one; for are not you also my wife? Why should you alarm

yourself about an obligation of mine which, if we lived in your country,

would not disturb your confidence in me? Anna Campbell is not really in

love with me: we are only like two friends, prepared to unite with each

other in a conventional union, such as you may see many a couple around

us enter upon--an association of fortunes, in which the only personal

sentiments demanded are reciprocal esteem. My dear girl, what is there

to be jealous of? Don't you know that you will always be everything to

me?"

Poor Kondjé-Gul listened to these somewhat strange projects without the

least idea of opposing them. Still under the yoke of her native ideas,

those Oriental prejudices in which she had been brought up were too

deeply grafted in her mind to permit of her being rapidly converted by

acquaintance with our sentiments and usages--very illogical as they

often appeared to her mind--to a different view of woman's destiny.

According to her laws and her religion, I was her master. She could

never have entertained the possibility of her refusing to submit to my

will; but I could see by the tears in her eyes that this very touching

submission and resignation on her part was simply due to her devoted

self-control, and that she suffered cruelly by it.

"Come, why do you keep on crying?" I continued, drawing her into my

arms. "Do you doubt my love, dear?"

"Oh, no!" she replied quickly. "How could I mistrust you?"

"Well, then, away with those tears!"

"Yes," she said, giving me a kiss, "you are right, dear: I am very

silly! What can you expect of me? I am still half a barbarian, and am

rather bewildered with all I have learnt from you. There are still some

things in my nature which I can't understand. Why it is that I feel more

jealous of Anna Campbell than I was of Hadidjé, of Nazli, or of Zouhra,

I can't tell you; but I am afraid--she is a Christian, and perhaps you

will love her better than me. I feel that the laws and customs of your

country will recover their hold over you and will separate us. That

odious law which you once told me of, which would enfranchise me, so you

said, and make me my own mistress if I desired to leave you, often comes

back to my mind like a bad dream. It seems to me that this imaginary

liberty, which I don't want at any price, would become a reality if you

get married."




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