is the secret sorrow of
my life. A mystery hangs over my mother, for I lost both my parents in
extreme childhood; I was at her heart,' he added, in a broken voice,
'and amid outrage, tumult, and war. Of whom was my mother the child? I am
here to discover that, if possible. Her race and her beautiful religion
have been the dream of my life. All I have prayed for has been to
recognise her kindred and to behold her gods.'

'It is very interesting,' murmured the Queen.

'It is more than interesting,' sighed Fakredeen. 'Ah! beautiful Astarte!
if you knew all, if you could form even the most remote idea of what I
have suffered for this unknown faith;' and a passionate tear quivered on
the radiant cheek of the young prince.

'And yet you came here to preach the doctrines of another,' said
Astarte.

'I came here to preach the doctrines of another!' replied Fakredeen,
with an expression of contempt; his nostril dilated, his lip curled with
scorn. 'This mad Englishman came here to preach the doctrines of another
creed, and one with which it seems to me, he has as little connection
as his frigid soil has with palm trees. They produce them, I am told, in
houses of glass, and they force their foreign faith in the same manner;
but, though they have temples, and churches, and mosques, they confess
they have no miracles; they admit that they never produced a prophet;
they own that no God ever spoke to their people, or visited their land;
and yet this race, so peculiarly favoured by celestial communication,
aspire to be missionaries!'

'I have much misapprehended you,' said Astarte; 'I thought you were both
embarked in a great cause.'

'Ah, you learnt that from Darkush!' quickly replied Fakredeen. 'You see,
beautiful Astarte, that I have no personal acquaintance with Darkush. It
was the intendant of my companion who was his friend; and it is through
him that Darkush has learnt anything that he has communicated. The
mission, the project, was not mine; but when I found my comrade had the
means, which had hitherto evaded me, of reaching Gindarics, I threw
no obstacles in his crotchety course. On the contrary, I embraced the
opportunity even with fervour, and far from discouraging my friend from
views to which I know he is fatally, even ridiculously, wedded, I looked
forward to this expedition as the possible means of diverting his
mind from some opinions, and, I might add, some influences, which I am
persuaded can eventually entail