n, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard,
received them in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which
ran nearly the whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the
gardens, and on the other supported by an ivory wall, with niches
painted in green fresco, and in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche,
also, was covered with an almost invisible golden grate, which confined
a nightingale, and made him constant to the rose he loved. At the foot
of each niche was a fountain, but, instead of water, each basin was
replenished with the purest quicksilver.[31] The roof of the kiosk was
of mother-of-pearl inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of
rare marbles and precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits
and the most beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page
flung at intervals refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant
chamber was a divan of light green silk, embroidered with pearls,
and covered with cushions of white satin and gold. Upon one of these
cushions, in the middle of the divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in
abstraction upon a volume of Persian poetry lying on her knees, one hand
playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds,[32] and the other holding
a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.

The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over
each shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but
high and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she
looked up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples,
the more fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of
her countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed
in a robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from
which peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.[33] Her round
white arms looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth
from their large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and
the right arm was quite bare.

Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady's proffered hand. Alroy
fell into the background.

'They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,' said the
physician, bending again as he smiled, 'and her slave hastened at her
command to tend her.'

'It was a south wind. The win