"They will
come by water!" relates one of them, "and that is why the dehabieh
is being built at Boulak. It is like a magnificent saloon, and is to
be beautifully adorned--the walls hung with velvet, and the floor
covered with costly Persian carpets. The viceroy's first wife and
his children will come up from Alexandria in this dehabieh."
"His first wife?" exclaims another. "You speak of his first. Has he
then other wives?"
The person addressed then assumes a mysterious air, as if to
intimate that he is in the viceroy's confidence, and quite
accurately informed as to the number of his wives. "It is not
known," says he, hesitatingly; "it is, however, well known that a
harem has been constructed at the citadel, and that here also the
apartments in the wing of the palace are to be arranged as a harem."
"One wife hardly requires two harems, I should fancy?" they all
laughingly repeat; "by Allah, one wife has no need of two harems,
and the viceroy must therefore have as the prophet allows, more than
one wife."
But no one knows it; and Mohammed takes care to be silent concerning
his private life. He is reticent in such matters, and only talkative
when in conference with his ministers and government officials, and
most so when conversing with Hassan, his minister of finance, on
which occasions he is often compelled to hear that the treasury is
unfortunately almost empty, and that new means of replenishing it
must be devised.
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