they had done, with whom they had
conversed, and what had been said. At length she observed, 'Something
has also happened at Gindarics in your absence, noble princes. Last
night they brought part of a harem of the Pasha of Aleppo captive
hither. This may lead to events.'

'I have already ventured to observe to the lordly Keferinis,' said
Fakredeen, 'that every lance in the Lebanon is at your command, gracious
Queen.'

'We have lances,' said Astarte; 'it is not of that I was thinking. Nor
indeed do I care to prolong a quarrel for this capture. If the Pasha
will renounce the tribute of the villages, I am for peace; if he will
not, we will speak of those things of which there has been counsel
between us. I do not wish this affair of the harem to be mixed up with
what has preceded it. My principal captive is a most beautiful woman,
and one, too, that greatly interests and charms me. She is not a Turk,
but, I apprehend, a Christian lady of the cities. She is plunged in
grief, and weeps sometimes with so much bitterness that I quite share
her sorrow; but it is not so much because she is a captive, but because
some one, who is most dear to her, has been slain in this fray. I have
visited her, and tried to console her; and begged her to forget her
grief and become my companion. But nothing soothes her, and tears flow
for ever from eyes which are the most beautiful I ever beheld.'

'This is the land of beautiful eyes,' said Tancred, and Astarte almost
unconsciously glanced at the speaker.

Cypros, who had quitted the attendant maidens immediately on the
entrance of the two princes, after an interval, returned. There was
some excitement on her countenance as she approached her mistress, and
addressed Astarte in a hushed but hurried tone. It seemed that the fair
captive of the Queen of the Ansarey had most unexpectedly expressed to
Cypros her wish to repair to the divan of the Queen, although, the
whole day, she had frequently refused to descend. Cypros feared that the
presence of the two guests of her mistress might prove an obstacle to
the fulfilment of this wish, as the freedom of social intercourse that
prevailed among the Ansarey was unknown even among the ever-veiled women
of the Maronites and Druses. But the fair captive had no prejudices on
this head, and Cypros had accordingly descended to request the royal
permission, or consult the royal will. Astarte spoke to Keferinis, who
listened with an air of great profundity,