CHAPTER IV.
In consequence of the marriage of Ruzeea Begum with Mullik Altoonia, her brother Beiram, who had been elevated to the empire of Delhi, was securely seated upon the musnud. The disgust excited by the conduct of their queen had weaned from her the hearts of those among her subjects who had hitherto maintained her cause, and she had become an object of universal odium. Bold and enterprising, however, she determined not to submit patiently to the loss of a throne, and assembling an army under the command of her husband, prepared to vindicate her rights. Beiram, meanwhile, collected forces to oppose the threatened invasion, and placed them under the command of the quondam Abyssinian slave, whose injuries were likely to urge him to employ his best energies to foil the efforts of a resolute and accomplished foe.
The recollection of the fierce determination with which Ruzeea Begum had sought his life, was incentive sufficiently strong to urge the general to devote his talents and energies to a cause which impelled him by a double motive-retribution, and a desire to rid the people among whom he had been naturalized from the dominion of a tyrant. A still stronger motive remained behind. Upon his return to the capital, Yakoot discovered that the late favourite hadbeen removed from the palace, and knowing the Sultana’s implacable passions, he had everything to fear for Bameea’s safety. He had been able to ascertain nothing satisfactory respecting her, and his apprehensions were roused in proportion to the suspense which he was forced to endure. It was a sad thing to be divided from the object of his affections through the criminal passions of a woman whose power enabled her to be cruel, and whose malice urged her to exercise that power.
Although the Sultana was at a distance from Delhi, it soon became evident that neither had her vengeance slumbered, nor was she without tools to execute her will. The secret assassin once more attempted the life of the detested Abyssinian, who again frustrated the sanguinary intention. Finding that she was still so active in putting measures into operation for his destruction, he determined to march without a moment’s delay, and by a decisive battle settle the question of her enmity for ever.
The evening before he marched, Yakoot retired to rest at an early hour. He had not been long upon his couch, when placing his hand beside his head, it came in contact with something cold and slippery. Starting from the bed, he saw a large venomous snake which had raised itself and spread out its hood, and was in act to strike when he retreated beyond the reach of mischief. Upon examining the apartment, he discovered two of these monsters concealed under the palampore. Taking them by the tails, he summoned his attendants, who were all ignorant how the reptiles could have invaded the sanctuary of their master’s apartment. It was however recollected that a snake-charmer had been employed to get rid of those noxious reptiles on the preceding day. He was immediately summoned, but denied all knowledge of the intruders; however, upon the torture being applied, the confession was extorted from him, and he was immediately punished by being flung over the battlements of the city; after which the forces under the Ameer-ool-Omrah marched from the capital.
When Ruzeea Begum quitted Delhi on her journey towards Bituhnda, she took with her the unhappy Bameea, whom shetreated with extreme rigour upon discovering the attachment which existed between her and the Abyssinian. She had confined her a prisoner in an apartment of the palace, and allowed her only the most homely food, debarring her even from the indulgence of an attendant, and exposing her to every mortification which her inveterate malice could suggest.
On the day after Yakoot’s last audience with the Sultana, Bameea was summoned to the royal presence; and all the attendants being commanded to withdraw, the former said, “Woman, when menials interpose between sovereigns and their pleasures, it is the habit of princes to prevent them from countervailing their wishes either by imprisonment or death. Thou art too poor a thing to die; but nevertheless, when we forbear to tread upon the worm, we take care to remove it from our path. How didst thou become acquainted with the Abyssinian slave?”
“We met in the garden of the palace. The same brilliant achievement in the arena which won the Queen’s admiration, won also mine. We met, our vows were interchanged, and he has remained faithful to his love.”
“And despised his sovereign for a toy which she could crush with the blast of her nostrils. Now, hear me—I love that foreigner. Never would he have been raised from the debasing condition of a slave to the dignity of Ameer-ool-Omrah, if he had not made a deep impression upon his mistress’s heart. Monarchs do not advance menials to the highest office in the state, unless they entertain towards them more than a common feeling of approbation. His queen was entitled to his gratitude when she stripped from him the badge of slavery and raised him to a level with the nobles of her court. His ingratitude has been as signal as her favours: but he shall live to experience that a sovereign’s hatred can debase him as greatly as her love has raised him. You, who have been the cause of the mortification of your royal mistress, can expect no further favour at her hands, and you may congratulate yourself with the loss of liberty, when your offence might have been visited with the loss of life. We shall meet again. Go!”
The Sultana struck her hands together, and several attendants entered, who were ordered to conduct the trembling Bameea to prison. She entered it with a painful apprehension of what the jealousy of the Begum might prompt her to put in operation against the Abyssinian, towards whom it was evident that the gall of her malice was overflowing.
When Ruzeea Begum quitted Delhi, she took with her the unhappy Bameea, who, on their arrival at Bituhnda, was subjected to a still more rigid captivity than before. The poor girl’s situation was deplorable. She was now apprehensive of never again beholding the object of her heart’s affection, and began to yield to the saddest apprehensions. The hatred of her royal mistress was of too fierce a nature ever to give way to compunction, and she saw nothing but misery before her. Her days were long intervals of bitterness, and her nights seasons of disturbed and unrefreshing sleep. She grew thin, and wasted to a shadow;—hope was banished from her bosom;—she looked forward to death as a release from miseries which now seemed to crush her with the weight of a mountain;—she felt that death would be a relief, but this was a mercy which suited not the purpose of her tyrant, who took delight in seeing her victim suffer.
Bameea thought of escape, but this appeared impracticable. As an almost forlorn hope, she tried the integrity of an occasional attendant, who was admitted to clean her apartment. The woman seemed to listen willingly to the tempting promises of reward made by the captive, if she would facilitate her flight. A bribe was placed upon her “itching palm.” She clutched the gold with a miser’s eagerness; the doors of Bameea’s prison were opened, but she was discovered before she had quitted the palace, and borne back again to her captivity. She had been betrayed. The bribe had been received, and the prisoner denounced. Her confinement was now more than ever rigid. She was removed to a small apartment in which there was no outlet save the door, and this was so massive as to stifle all expectations of escape.
The poor girl now abandoned herself to the strong impulse of despair. To her surprise she was visited by the Begum, who upbraidedher with having attempted to corrupt the woman admitted to her apartment. “There is no guilt,” said Bameea, with earnestness, “in using any means to escape the inflictions of tyranny. All things are lawful to evade the oppression of those who make their passions the medium of their actions. Your cruelty has rendered my life a bane, and I am prepared to relinquish it whenever your malice shall suggest the sacrifice.”
The Sultana smiled bitterly. “I would not take your life; that would not satisfy my vengeance. If you were dead, you could no longer suffer the punishment which my ill-requited affections—and of these you are the cause—demand as a just expiation. I intend to punish the wretch who has injured me through you, and he shall yet live to curse the day that he treated with indifference the affections of Ruzeea Begum.”
“But why should you longer feel his disregard when you have now one to whom those affections are sacred, and to whom you have relinquished the sole right to possess them?”
“Political alliances have little to do with the warm emotions of the heart. It is enough that I loved the slave who has despised me, and he shall feel my vengeance. But you may obtain your liberty upon one condition. Relinquish the affections of the Abyssinian by entering into a conjugal alliance with a noble whom I have selected for you, and who entertains towards you a warm attachment. Consent to become his wife, and the doors of your prison shall be instantly unbarred.”
“Never!” cried the agitated girl with energy. “You may keep me lingering through a life of wretchedness within a dungeon, but you cannot rob me of my soul’s freedom. My love will only expire with my death, and I will never purchase my liberty at the sacrifice you demand.”
The Sultana’s eyes flashed fire, and she quitted her victim without uttering a word; but there was a volume in her glance. That very evening Bameea’s food was changed. A curry was placed before her which had been prepared, as it appeared, with more than usual care. She eyed it apprehensively. Suspicions of the darkest description instantly took possession of her mind. Shecould not forget the Begum’s glance of fury as she quitted her prison: the curry, therefore, remained untouched; for though death would have been a welcome visitant, yet she resolved to avoid any but that which nature brings, so long as the choice was left her. A small quantity of the homely food upon which she had been accustomed to feed since her captivity remained, and upon this she relieved the demands of nature.
That night was passed in sleepless agony. She looked forward to the dawn with a presentiment of terror. Phantoms passed before her mind which almost convulsed her frame to madness. She arose and looked at the refection which she suspected to be poisoned: she laid her hands upon the dish, and had all but resolved to brave the penalty of tasting it, when her better feelings prevailed, her excitement subsided, and she sank into a state of transient insensibility. It was short. She was roused by a stranger. He brought her tidings of great joy. On the afternoon of the preceding day, a battle had been fought betwixt the forces of Mullik Altoonia, headed by himself and his consort, and those of the Sultan Beiram, commanded by Yakoot. The former had been routed, and the Sultana and her husband slain. The shouts of victory soon reached the ears of Bameea, and these were shortly followed by a sight of her lover.
The happy pair were immediately after united; the Abyssinian was confirmed by Beiram in his office of Ameer-ool-Omrah—the nation prospered under his sage councils, and the loves of Yakoot and Bameea became the subject of many an Eastern legend.