hts of stairs led to the apartments above.
The place was refulgent with the light of numerous chandeliers, the
glare of which was enhanced by the vast mirrors attached to the walls,
and the crystal pillars that supported the roof.

Not a human being met Alessandro's eyes; and he began to fear either
that he had mistaken the directions he had received, or that some
treachery was intended, when a door opened, and the female slave,
wrapped in a veil, made her appearance. Placing her forefinger upon that
part of the veil which covered her lips, to enjoin silence, she led the
way up the nearest staircase, Alessandro following with a heart beating
audibly. They reached a door at which a negro male slave was stationed.

"The hakim" (physician), said Alessandro's guide, laconically addressing
herself to the negro, who bowed in silence and threw open the door. The
female slave conducted the pretended physician into a small but
splendidly furnished ante-room, in which there were several other
dependents of her own sex. A door at the further end was opened, and
Alessandro passed through into another, larger, and still more
magnificently furnished room; the door closed behind him, and he found
himself alone with the idol of his adoration.

Half seated, half lying upon cushions of scarlet brocade, the glossy
bright hue of which was mellowed by the muslin spread over it, appeared
the beauteous creature whose image was so faithfully delineated in his
memory. She was attired in the graceful and becoming dualma, a purple
vest which set close to her form, and with a species of elasticity
shaped itself so as to develop every contour.

But in accordance with the custom of the clime and age, the dualma was
open at the bosom, sloping from each lovely white shoulder to the waist,
where the two folds joining, formed an angle, at which the purple vest
was fastened by a diamond worth a monarch's ransom. The sleeves were
wide, but short, scarcely reaching to the elbow, and leaving all the
lower part of the snowy arms completely bare. Her ample trousers were of
purple silk, covered with the finest muslin, and drawn in tight a little
above the ankles, which were naked. On her feet she wore crimson
slippers cut very low, and each ornamented with a diamond. Round her
person below the waist she wore a magnificent shawl, rolled up, as it
were, negligently, so as to form a girdle or zone, and fastened in front
with two large tassels of pearls. Diamon