ugh he was
himself the sole cause of all the difficult and annoying circumstances
in which he found himself involved, the moment that his passions and his
interests alike required that Tancred should be free and uninjured,
he acted, and indeed felt, as if Amalek alone were responsible for the
capture and the detention of Lord Montacute.

The young Emir indeed was, at this moment, in one of those moods which
had often marred his popularity, but in which he had never indulged
towards Eva before. She had, throughout his life, been the commanding
influence of his being. He adored and feared her, and knew that she
loved, and rather despised him. But Eva had ceased to be the commanding
influence over Fakredeen. At this moment Fakredeen would have sacrificed
the whole family of Besso to secure the devotion of Tancred; and the
coarse and rude exclamation to which he had given vent, indicated the
current of his feelings and the general tenor of his mind.

Eva knew him by heart. Her clear sagacious intellect, acting upon an
individual whom sympathy and circumstances had combined to make her
comprehend, analysed with marvellous facility his complicated motives,
and in general successfully penetrated his sovereign design.

'An obstinate Jew dog!' she exclaimed; 'and who art thou, thou jackal of
this lion! who should dare to speak thus? Is it not enough that you have
involved us all in unspeakable difficulty and possible disgrace, that we
are to receive words of contumely from lips like yours? One would think
that you were the English Consul arrived here to make a representation
in favour of his countryman, instead of being the individual who planned
his plunder, occasioned his captivity, and endangered his life! It is
a pity that this young noble is not acquainted with your claims to his
confidence.'

The possibility that in a moment of irritation Eva might reveal his
secret, some rising remorse at what he had said, and the superstitious
reverence with which he still clung to her, all acting upon Fakredeen at
the same time, he felt that he had gone too far, and thereupon he sprang
from the divan, on which he had been insolently lolling, and threw
himself at the feet of his foster-sister, whimpering and kissing her
slippers, and calling her, between his sobs, a thousand fond names.

'I am a villain,' he said, 'but you know it; you have always known it.
For God's sake, stand by me now; 'tis my only chance. You are the only
being