"
"It is true, Osman Bey," said Nefysseh, with a low sigh; "time heals
all wounds, and sorrow no longer darkens my soul; yet know that
Mourad Bey still lives in my heart, and it is because he still lives
for me that I am able to bear this life and this separation."
"I well know, O Sitta, your fidelity, your noble sentiments,"
replied Bardissi; "it is this knowledge that makes me adore and
reverence you; and were it not strange if I, too, could ever forget
the man who loved you so passionately, and whose memory you still
love? But such love, Sitta, excites no jealousy, and even he who
loves passionately respects such love. Listen to me, Sitta Nefysseh;
hear why I have come to you; I can endure it no longer; the seal
must at last fall from his lips, and Bardissi must give utterance to
what he feels, to that which glows in his heart, and can no longer
be repressed. Yes, Sitta Nefysseh, you must at last hear that I am
dying for love, and that if you refuse to hear me, I must--"
"Silence!" exclaimed Nefysseh, interrupting him, with queenly
composure, as she rose from her seat--"silence, Osman Bey! do you
not know that my husband Mourad lived here in this garden, in this
place? How could his wife, Sitta Nefysseh, have received you
unveiled if her husband had not stood by her side? Do you not see
him, Osman Bey? Do you not see his eyes fixed on you with an angry
expression, and do not his lips ask his friend how he can betray
friendship? What was your promise to Mourad? To honor and guard his
wife while you lived.
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