Part 13 (1/2)
”But, dear Rezia,” said Siddha, making a faint attempt to conceal under a cheerful voice the uneasiness that was mastering him, ”even if this should be so, what is it to you? and what moves you to speak to me of it?”
”My own interests; but also the interest I take in you, my friend. I told you, as you will remember, of a friend who was exposed here to certain persecution. But now I will confess; I deceived you--it was not a friend, it was myself. The husband to whom my father's cruel command gave me, and whose tyranny I detest, will soon return, and my own desire is to fly from him, to be free, and some day perhaps in safety to be able to give myself to the one I choose; and to attain this I sought Kashmir as my place of refuge, and opened a communication with some of my friends there. But should this country also become subject to Akbar, my hope vanishes and I know not where to turn. Quickly you will again see me in the power of this man, who has my fate in his hands; our happy meetings will be at an end; and Rezia will cease to exist for you, as you,” she added, with a slight sigh, ”will for her.”
”Never!” cried Siddha, pa.s.sionately; ”that shall never happen. But what would you have? what means do you know of? what do you ask of me?”
”Only this,” replied Rezia, calmly, ”that you should not allow yourself to be used as a tool against your own country, against yourself, against me. Remain by your own brave followers; but when the decisive day comes, do not lead them against us; but know how to go over to those of us, who, in spite of outward show of subjection to the Emperor, have a secret understanding. Then a powerful party in Kashmir will side with you, support you by their influence, and raise you to the greatest honour; and in the end, though that is of less importance, you will find a resting-place in my arms, who will ever be grateful to you for your protection.”
”But,” said Siddha, following, among all other plans and proposals, the thread of his own thought, ”that would be treachery of the worst kind against the Emperor who has trusted me.”
”Certainly, treachery,” answered Rezia, with a contemptuous laugh. ”As the Emperor has shown you some favour, he naturally has a full right to use you as a tool against your country and people, but you have not the right to repay him in the same coin. Now be subject--or slave! However, act as you please. Your a.s.surances that you would do all I asked were nothing but the vain promises men are wont to make to simple women. But enough! Let our interview come to an end; not that I wish it, but it is better with firm resolution to part from one another, than to continue our intercourse only to see it inevitably broken off a few days later against our will.”
”Never!” said Siddha, as Rezia turned from him, as though to hide her grief. ”Nothing shall part us, and if for a moment I hesitated, I did not deceive you when I promised to do whatever you might ask. I repeat it, command and I obey.”
”Your word.”
”My word as a Rajput. But why do you ask it? you know well that I can do nothing but what you wish. Why should I keep silence respecting that which you must long have known? At last let me say freely, that you are dear to me, above everything, dearer than life or even honour. I love you with a pa.s.sion and devotion that until now I should never have thought possible; I believed I knew what love was, but what I took for it was only a childish liking. You have taught me differently; teach me more; teach me what it is when love like mine is returned. No slave can be more submissive to the will of his master than I to you; no slave of Akbar's or of any one but yourself. Whatever I may gain in the future, rank, esteem, riches, belong to you alone. And the power you have over me you may use or misuse as you will. But be mine, Rezia, mine as long as life lasts!”
”No, Siddha,” said she, softly withdrawing her hand from him, ”it is not fitting that I should hear such language, nor that you should use it. Remember that I am not yet free, and you yourself have other ties.”
”Other ties!” cried Siddha, pa.s.sionately; ”I break them, or rather I broke them long ago; and could I not do so, I should curse the day when they were laid on me. And you, if you are not free, I will soon make you so. We will fly to Kashmir, to that far-away, beautiful country in the north, where, as you say, Siddha Rama's name and influence is well known, and where none will dare to injure you whom I protect, your hated husband least of all.”
”And will that protection avail against Akbar and his favourites?” asked Rezia.
”Against him and his, as against all others,” was the proud reply; ”and against him we shall know well how to defend the liberty of Kashmir, if it were only for a place of refuge for you and for me.”
”But I cannot be yours,” interrupted Rezia; ”and it grieves me, in truth, that you have so spoken this evening. You might have spared us all this, and then our friendly intercourse might have continued, and led perhaps later to another and a closer tie. Now all must cease, however deeply it grieves me. Go now, say farewell, and forget me, it is better for you and--for me, whom you say you love.”
”In truth,” said Siddha, as he rose, and, with his head sank on his breast, drew back a few steps, ”to part at once is perhaps the wisest course. I see but too plainly that my love is despised. It is true that for me, without you, there is no life, no happiness possible. Still the continued martyrdom of meeting you, day by day, loving you more dearly, and yet knowing that you belong to that hated, cursed stranger, is more than I can bear. Fresh disturbances have broken out in the south, in the Dakhin, and the Emperor has ordered part of the army on service there. I will implore him to let me join them; and there in battle with the wild mountain races I may soon find, not forgetfulness, that is impossible, but an early and longed-for death.”
”Ah, Siddha,” said sadly the sweet, loved voice, ”why such violence because a weak woman (who finds the strife against herself and her own heart too much for her) seeks for a moment's strength to withstand you? It is, as you said, better that we should part, and yet--I cannot let you go; remain, it is but a short pause; seat yourself again by my side, and let me enjoy, even though it may be for the last time, that quiet conversation, undisturbed by pa.s.sion, that until now we have found so much pleasure in.”
And before Siddha was quite aware of what he did, he was again seated by the side of her who had so mastered his whole mind and understanding. At her desire he seized the lute that lay beside them, and tried to bring back to his recollection one of the songs of his native land, for which, in the winning way peculiar to her, she had begged; but vainly he tried, sometimes beginning and then breaking off, his memory failed him, and dejectedly he laid down the useless lute.
”I know no more,” he said. ”I can neither think nor remember.”
”How now, my singer,” said Rezia, laughing; ”must I set you the example? But let us first drink to one another.” And lifting a golden goblet to her lips, she made Siddha empty his, and then began, in soft, melting tones, a Persian love song that soon brought Siddha back to himself.
”Now, then,” cried he, as Rezia finished, and he began the description of a lover's reception from Kalidasa's ”Seasons,” [82] ”The Bride represented by the Return of Summer.”
The singer ceased, and she who listened to him had drawn nearer, gazing at him with her fascinating eyes, that now shone with an unwonted glow. Suddenly he seized both her hands, and drew her to him with irresistible force.
”Rezia,” he said, ”Rezia, be to me as Kalidasa's bride--now and always mine!”
She softly murmured Siddha's name and flung her arms around his neck.
More than once since that evening a manly figure might have been seen in the darkness of night carefully looking around him, and then following the cactus road that led to the dwelling of the Armenian. Iravati's lotus flower had struck against the frail vessel on which he had embarked, and had been wrecked by a sultry wind.