briglvt  fancy  to  roam  as  I  listed  in  the  garden  of  thy  love,
Hnchecked  and  unheeded  by  any  one  but  thyself,  I  must  cover
myself  with  the  veil  of  discretion  and  deliba:ation,  and  take  heed
to  my  steps  lest  I  foil  into  tjie  snsu^s  which  jealousy  will  not  fail
to  place  for  me.'

'Alia  forbid !'  cried  the  Khan  fervently j  'thou  hast  no  cause
to  fear  tiiem.'

'I  know  not,'  she  replied;  'but  I  can  scarcely  hope  that  there
may  be  firiend^ip  between  me  and  those  whom  you  describe;
there  may  be  a  show  for  a  while,  but  the  end  will  be  bitterness.'

And  the  poor  girl  wept ;  for  she  had  suddenly  been  disturbed
upon  her  height  of  security,  or  at  all  events  of  unmolested
occupation,  and  even  in  a  few  minutes  she  could  not  help
expecting  some  rude  collision  which  would  perhaps  cast  her
down  headlong.  And  her  own  peaceful  home — its  freedom  from
care,  its  loving  affection,  its  harmless  pleasures — rose  so  vividly
to  her  mind,  that  she  could  not  help  for  the  time  regretting
bitterly  that  she  had  left  it,  to  endure  such  a  prospect  as  appeared
to  open  before  her.  Nor  did  the  Khan  disturb,  except  by  a
caress  or  a  well-timed  word  of  cheerful  hope,  the  thoughts  which
he  knew  must  be  passing  in  her  heart,  but  to  which  he  could  not
respond  in  a  manner  to  make  her  forget  them  on  the  instant;
they  must  have  their  vent,  he  thought,  and  thought  wisely.  She
lay  down  and  wept,  till  sleep  gradually  asserted  its  mastery  over
her  wearied  form  and  rudely-excited  thoughts.
