Sutlememe? and why is he now not here?"

The agitated Caliph still wished to hear more, but she immediately
retired, with all her attendants; the fond monarch pursued her with his
eyes till she was gone out of sight, and then continued like a bewildered
and benighted traveller, from whom the clouds had obscured the
constellation that guided his way; the curtain of night seemed dropped
before him; everything appeared discoloured; the falling waters filled
his soul with dejection, and his tears trickled down the jasmines he had
caught from Nouronihar, and placed in his inflamed bosom; he snatched up
a shining pebble, to remind him of the scene where he felt the first
tumults of love. Two hours were elapsed, and evening drew on before he
could resolve to depart from the place; he often, but in vain, attempted
to go; a soft languor enervated the powers of his mind; extending himself
on the brink of the stream, he turned his eyes towards the blue summits
of the mountain, and exclaimed: "What concealest thou behind thee? what
is passing in thy solitudes? Whither is she gone? O Heaven! perhaps she
is now wandering in thy grottos, with her happy Gulchenrouz!"

In the meantime the damps began to descend, and the Emir, solicitous for
the health of the Caliph, ordered the imperial litter to be brought.
Vathek, absorbed in his reveries, was imperceptibly removed, and conveyed
back to the saloon that received him the evening before.

But let us leave the Caliph, immersed in his new passion, and attend
Nouronihar beyond the rocks, where she had again joined her beloved
Gulchenrouz. This Gulchenrouz was the son of Ali Hassan, brother to the
Emir, and the most delicate and lovely creature in the world. Ali
Hassan, who had been absent ten years on a voyage to the unknown seas,
committed at his departure this child, the only survivor of many, to the
care and protection of his brother. Gulchenrouz could write in various
characters with precision, and paint upon vellum the most elegant
arabesques that fancy could devise; his sweet voice accompanied the lute
in the most enchanting manner, and when he sang the loves of Megnoun and
Leileh, or some unfortunate lovers of ancient days, tears insensibly
overflowed the cheeks of his auditors; the verses he composed (for, like
Megnoun, he too was a poet) inspired that unresisting languor so
frequently fatal to the female heart; the women all doted upon him; for
though he had passed his thirt