he other
hand, it was quite out of the question for them to shew themselves out
of doors enshrouded in their triple veils, attracting wherever they went
the remarks of the idle crowd.

At last, after a great many hesitations, Zouhra, who is the bravest of
them all, ventured to go out with me, buried in the recesses of a
brougham, and protected by a very thick kind of mantilla, which after
all was hardly any less impenetrable than a _yashmak_. Then they grew
bolder, and impelled by curiosity, their coquetry getting the better of
their bashful timidity, they took a drive one day in a landau to the
Bois with Mohammed. I mounted on horseback and met them, without
appearing to know them. Everything went off as well as could be.

The carriage which I had purchased is severely simple in style, as is
suitable for a foreigner of distinction. In his European disguise
Mohammed maintains that expression of serene dignity which so
excellently suits his part of a father escorting his three daughters.
There is, in short, nothing about the latter to excite attention. If a
dark pair of eyes is sometimes distinguishable through the embroidered
veils, the fashion, at any rate, permits the features to be sufficiently
disguised to conceal the beauty of my sultanas from over-bold glances.

Of course poor Kondje-Gul, still living away from the others, does not
take part in these frolics; but we thus gain some hours of liberty. On
the second day, while my _wives_ were driving in the Bois, we took our
opportunity of going out, like true lovers, arm in arm; it was most
delightful!

We went on foot to the Boulevards. You may guess what raptures
Kondje-Gul was in each step we took. It was the first time she had been
out with me alone, the first time she had felt herself free and released
from the imprisonment of the harem. Many an inquisitive fellow, seeing
us pass, and struck with her dignified manner, stopped of a sudden, and
tried to distinguish her features through the veil. We quietly laughed
at his disappointment.

When we arrived at the Rue de la Paix, we went into some of the
well-known jewellers' shops. At the sight of so many marvels, you may
guess how she was dazzled. She felt as if in a dream. We spoke in
Turkish; and the puzzled shop-keepers gazed in astonishment upon this
strange display of Asiatic charms, which they had evidently met with for
the first time. All this amused us; and it is unnecessary to add that I
quitted these