Rostan He fancied his hearing failed him and that he had not rightly understood what that Ungrateful and Ambitious Creature had newly said He was near upon a quarter of an hour without being able to answer her keeping his Eys fixed upon the ground with an immovable Air without once raising them up to her who was no longer in any perplexity Is this said he to her after some great sighs with which he eased his Heart what you desire from my Love Is this repeated he once more the recompence that I am to expect for my Services Can I only be happy by rendring my self the most wretched of all Men Cannot I please but by Destroying my self Ah too Fatal Destiny Perfidious Love Ungrateful Mistress Saying these Words he got up all disordered went away in a Pet and withdrew to his own House where probably he passed his time but very ill Homais could have wished that Rostan had not been so nice in Love that he had been more Complaisant and that her Design had succeeded better but she could not Repent of what she had done for her Ambition made her look upon all manner of Conditions as beneath her except that of being Queen she fancied her Heart deserved it and that Rostan would but give her her due though he Purchased it at that Rate This Desolate Lover passed some Days without seeing the Ambitious Sultana and was so extream Melancholly that it Amazed all the Court and likewise Troubled the King very much who could never learn the Occasion of it though it had almost brought him to the Grave But at length after having Consulted his Heart again for some time if it would not choose rather to Dye than not be beloved but by seeing what it adored enjoyed by another he was loath to leave this World insomuch that he resolved to Write to that ungrateful Creature which he did in these Terms IF the sad Condition too unjust Homais your Cruelty has Reduced me to has not yet been able to move you to Pitty you will at least be touched with my blinded Passion that to please you forces me not only to forget my self but makes me Sacrifice all my Happiness to your Ambitious Desires Why did you not Ask my Life I should not have found it difficult to have satisfied you I fancy I should not have dared to have Murmured But require Love to betray it self to make my Heart help you to Stab me Certainly nothing can be more Cruel or Unjust However you shall be Obeyed and I will make this Sacrifice to your Beauty Once Dying was not sufficient and you have found the means of putting me to Death every Day You shall have suddenly that Pleasure for I am going to endeavour your Satisfaction Adieu This Note which he was about to put an end to being delivered to the Sultana by a faithful Agent she made him this Answer I Do not desire your Death Heaven is my Witness nothing is so Dear to me in the World as you are But if you have a mind I should excuse the Weaknesses of your Heart why will not you excuse those of mine You are Governed by Love and I am by Glory Our Ascendants are equally Powerful Favour mine and I shall take Care to Satisfy yours What a Delight would it be to me to be Obliged to so Dear a Lover for all the Greatness I can hope for in this World How Great will your Joy be to have made her Happy you Love and to have fixed your Heart in the highest Place you could Mount it to Never were these two Passions at so great a Distance and never will they be so well United You have made an excellent Beginning You Love me as much as I desire but Compleat what you have begun and let Us make appear in Us two a Marvellous Example of two Real Lovers I Repeat it to you here again that I Love you and as you are ready to do all for me so you will likewise ever find me ready to do all for you Farewell Rostan Trembled when he Received this Letter and Read it with extraordinary Motions of Joy and of Love There was more of Glory in it than Kindness but all that came from that Beautiful Sultana Charmed him he would have Loved it though it had been Poyson and indeed nothing could be more Bitter to the Heart of a Lover than what she exacted from him He however Resolved to do it and from that Day beginning to Recover he made secret Practices and Cabals for the bringing his Design to Effect and the King knew not that it proceeded from him and indeed the Marriage was Consummated in a very few days and without his being the least suspected Some of the Chief of the Divan were deputed to represent to this Prince that it was time he should think of leaving them Lawful Successours that it would be the Glory of his Race and the Benefit of his Kingdom and that he needed only to choose which of the Sultana's he liked Best The King having thanked them for their Zeal for the Good of the State and the Affection they had for his Person made them this Answer That he had no other desire than that of satisfying them but that as it was an Affair that demanded some Reflection he could not give them a positive Answer at that time but that he would in few days and then dismissed them He then Consulted some of his Confidents upon the Choice he was to make who being all gained by Rostan to whom they almost all owed their Fortunes made him cast his Eyes upon several Sultana's but Extolled none of their Merits so much as they did that of Homais who was the most perfect Beauty in all that Country The King being very sensible on that side was easily taken and having likewise Consulted therein his dear Rostan who was the Soveraign Arbitrator of all his Wills He was confirmed more than ever in that Choice this Favourite thanking him that he Condescended of himself to do this Honour to one of his Relations whom he was not Acquainted with but whom he had heard talked of with great Admiration This Prince being already in Love upon the Reports of others with a Creature he had not yet seen impatiently longed to Content his Heart as well as satisfy the desires of his People and having called a Divan the next Morning he concluded the Marriage and Consummated it that very Evening They go to Work in that Country without much Ceremony and all Business is both quickly Resolved on and quickly put in Execution Thus is Homais Raised upon the Throne her Ambition had nothing more to pretend to and all she had to do more was to satisfy Love Though Rostan might now hope to be suddainly Happy yet he was not Capable of Joy and not being yet perfectly Recovered the Remnants of his Disease served for a pretext to help him Conceal all the Torments of his Heart while all others were
of a Maid runs some Risque to be seen by a Man But Rostan running after stayed Her and lifting up Her Barnus with which She had hid Her self He was Charmed at the Sight of Her and said to Her in that Moment all that the most Tender and Passionate Heart on Earth is Capable of Inspiring so Beautiful a Person Homais deplored the outrage that Rostan had newly done Her and though these Tears were more feigned than Real they quite Inflamed the too sensible Favourite with Love He made Himself known to that Weeping Beauty and fell to perswading Her that he being a Couzin might take the liberty He had done without offending the Honour of a Maid Homais believed Him and was Appeased for she was not willing to Weep any longer but she wanted a Pretence to be satisfied Rostan had the most Wit and was the handsomest Man of any in the Kingdom few Women were able to resist his Passion when He had been Charmed with the Beauty of any One or that He seemed to be so for in Africa as well as else-where Men are very expert in those Cases and there is often more of Caprichio in their Amourous Designs than a real sence of Affection However Rostan was this time Smitten in good earnest and as there is no Crime but what must be Attoned for one time or other Love outrages perhaps against Him for so many Treacherous prancks as He had played him prepared to Revenge himself by Homais means He had heard much talk of this Illustrious Couzin and had likewise often wished that he knew Her but Ambition alone Influenced all her Desires and She had not the least design of Galantry Her Mother who had the folly of all those who have pretty Daughters had put it in her Head That she was only born for a King Insomuch that she considered this Couzen and wished to see Him for no other reason than that He might be a means of Raising Her to that High Degree of Fortune But Rostan only thought of Himself and Love is a Jewel we never care any one should share with us in He speaks he sighs he flatters he promises all this is kindly received but she requires of Rostan other proofs of his Passion He employs his Credit with the King in favour of the Father and obtain'd for him the Office of an Aga in the Divan under the pretence of being His Relation This procured him a great deal of Acknowledgment from the whole Family but was of little advantage to his Love Homais made no Account of the Honour and Riches that were heaped upon her Father and only thought her self obliged to People for what they did meerly for her The Title of Sultana would have pleased her Rostan who daily became more and more in Love forasmuch as that he found Resistance lets himself be surprised promises her that Title goes Cunningly to work and at length procures her it Thus was her Family loaded with Honour and Benefits and it seemed that Love had nothing more to desire for Homais being made Sultana was Arrived at the highest point of Glory she could reasonably Aspire to But who can content the Ambitious Heart of a Woman Homais only considered the Dignity of Sultana as a Degree towards the Royalty and was unwilling to content her self with that However she thought it the wisest Course not to discover yet a while her Design to Rostan for fear of frighting him at once and lest He shou'd prevent the Snare she laid for him she was something Complaisant and bestowed upon him some Favours so that if he was not altogether happy so neither had he altogether reason to Complain This State for a Lover who is not yet Advanced very far in the Favour of a Mistress has something very sensible in the beginning because it seems as if he had but one step more to make to Arrive at that Charming degree of Happiness wherein we have nothing more to desire but how Insupportable is it when we are stopped there too long We are tormented Night and Day with vexations impatiences and disgusts and it is almost better to be altogether Unhappy Rostan did nothing more than Languish and Complain of the heard hâ—â—â—tedness of Homais You love me said he to her or at least you say so but for my part I see no appearance of it How answered Homais to him so much eagerness that I dayly make appear to see and hear of you So much pleasure that you see I take in your Company are they not marks sufficient enough to prove my Affection No replyed that Lover all this is only a meer Amusement and to make our selves the better known in the beginning of a Passion but when we are or would be fully perswaded of the Affection we have for one another we not only proceed further but Consummate the business How replyed Homais is it nothing to love to that Excess that is so dangerous to a Maid What other danger do you run interrupted Rostan than that of losing and seeing me Dye if you do not take more pitty of me This Conversation had somethiâ—â— so tender as would have melted any other Heart in favour of Rostan but that of Homais did but the more Animate this Ambitious Woman in the Resolution of pursuing her Design seeing her Cozin so much in love with her as that he was no longer able to refuse her any thing Insomuch that Rostan one day more Passionate than ever haveing asked her If she desired his Death for a tryal of his Love She answered him No but that she still desired something of him that was above all He had yet done for Her That perhaps He would be surprised at it and find it a difficult Task That however She must necessarily obtain it of Him if it was true he loved her as much as he said he did and that her Heart was only to be given upon that Condition Rostan who would have employed his life a thousand times for Her sake not believing there could possible be any thing but what he might do and being impatient to know the business He begged her to tell him without making Him Languish any longer What service what help what hazard what trouble and in what he might employ his Life for Her sake protesting to her already by way of Advance That there was nothing but what he would do to please her and make himself altogether worthy of her Heart Homais having got this assurance from him made no more difficulty to tell him what her Ambious Heart aspir'd to and that nothing but a Crown could content it and that he should be Master of every thing but that in case he procured it her and that then she would satisfy his Longings Sacrifice all things to him when ever he desired it Never did a Thunderbolt falling at the feet of a Man cause such an Effect upon a Heart as this Proposition of Homais did upon that of the amorous
the Queen But She knowing the Spirit and Humour of that Princess excused Her self from it and desired the King not to expose Her to be ill Received by the Queen with whom She was altogether unwilling to have the least Dispute and indeed the King did not think it Convenient She should Wherefore Rostan promising himself a great deal of Pleasure in thus spighting a Woman whom he had Reason to hate offered to present them himself either as from the Sultana or from the King But neither did Caragus approve of this design knowing the Aversion they had for one another and said He would Himself think of some other Means Then they fell to Discourse of the Affairs of Tripoli and Rostan being already Gained by the Sultana seconded Her Designs and made the King promise Her all manner of Succours and that he would forget all the Reasons of Complaint He had had against the Bashaw Her Husband Nothing of Importance was done in the Kingdom but what the Queen would have a share in and having had Notice as well as the King of the Sultana of Tripoli's Coming and of the Occasion of Her Embassy She resolved to Accompany the King to Mahometa that She might oppose or favour the Bashaw's Design according as the Sultana should Carry Her self to Her But She no sooner learnt of what Nature one of the Presents was that She had newly made Her Brother than that She fell into such a Passion against Her as promised no less than to Second the Designs of the Rebel that She might Revenge Her self on a Wretch thus She call'd the Sultana who came to Insult Her even in Her own House when She stood in most need of Her Caragus would willingly have Concealed this Intrigue from the Queen But the Beauty of those two Slaves had at their first Coming made so much Noise at Court that it was impossible to keep the Queen long in ignorance and having People about the King who were wholly at Her Disposal and who gave Her account of all His Actions She was quickly informed of what passed at the Sultana's She fell into a Rage against the King and besides what She called Him in Her Fury She added Threatnings against His Sister who going to justify Her self and endeavour to appease Her was refused Entrance into Her Tent. This too sensible Affront for a Person of the Sultana's Rank and Spirit having put Her likewise into an angry Humour all the Court was soon Divided and both having their Partizans and Incendiaries a great Disorder was upon the point of happening for the Sake of those two Women The Peace was at length made and the Articles were That the Sultana should carry Her two Slaves back with Her and that the Queen should desire Her to come and see Her that She might repair the Injury She had done Her Rostan Enraged at all this could have wished the King would once have made use of His Authority with the Queen His Wife and that the Slaves as was Reasonable should have stayed in spight of all Her Power But Caragus a peaceful Man if ever there was one chose rather to deprive Himself of that Pleasure than to see Dissention in His House The two Princesses continued to see one another but not without Coldness which rendered the Feasts and Divertisements the less agreeable that the King had prepared for His Sister The Queen not being able to be at Rest as long as She saw those two Slaves in Her Court gave the Sultana as little Reason to be pleased as She could and indeed She found there but little Divertisement being obliged to pay Civilities to an Imperious Woman and whom She had Reason to hate so that having obtained of Her Brother what She desired and having nothing more to do at Mahometa She was very impatient to return to Tripoly Insomuch that the Wind was no sooner Fair for that Voyage than that She took leave of the King who did all He could to stay Her some time longer But She alleadged to Him so many Reasons as well upon the account of the Bashaw Her Husband who doubtless expected Her with great Impatience to know the Succeâ—s of Her Voyage as upon the account of the Queen who did not Treat Her altogether with that Honour that was Her due that at length He let Her go and having accompanied Her to Her Ship He took His Leave with a very tender Regret Roston ever a declared Enemy of the Queen and more concerned than any in the servile Complaisances the King had for Her seeing the Sultana thus depart with those two Charming Slaves He reproached Him severely with his faint-heartedness and irresolution The Power he had always had over Him made Him take that Liberty And the King seeing He was in the Right and that indeed He ought not to let Himself be thus Governed by a Woman suffered all this very patiently The Court returned to Tunis where the haughty Queen entred as in Triumph taking a Pride and valuing Her self highly every where that She had got the better of the fair Sultana of Tripoli and of proud Roston for thus she called them out of Contempt But the Bashaw being a Person that never Pardoned any thing could not long neglect to Revenge Himself He knew Her had studied Her and was not ignorant that though Her Heart contained a vast deal of Ambition it had likewise at length a great deal of Love And this was what He waited for as a certain means to ruin Her She was Obliged to Him for what she was 't was He who made Her Queen and being to recompence this Service with her Affection she had only repayed it with Ingratitude But to be Regular it is requisite that I enlarge something more upon this part of the Story that will be very satisfactory to the Readers Curiosity Homais was the Daughter of an Eastern Turk of a very Noble and Antient Family Her Person Abounded in the Gifts of Nature but wanted those of Fortune Rostan being a Knight Adventurer and having heard talk of Her Beauty long'd extreamly for a sight of Her which was not difficult for Him to Procure For besides that She was something Related to Him which was a pretence sufficient enough to make a Visit to the Father the Title of a Princes Favorite is such a Pasport as will make Him who possesses it be every where welcome where He has a mind to go Whereupon he went one Day to Her House and as Fortune would have it the Father was gon out and though the Laws of the Country do not suffer a Man to enter a house when the Master is not at home yet it is long since Favourites have put themselves above all Laws insomuch that the Porter knowing Him and not daring to refuse Him entrance He went in to the first Apartment where as Fortune would still have it He met with Homais She would have run away at first as the Custome is being the Honour
pretty Woman especially when she makes use of Complaisance Homais did not fail to observe the Effect that Her seeming opposing of Ibrahims coming into Her Apartment had had upon his Spirit and that he was too young to be able to unravel Her real Designes but she was in hopes of making him return to her very quickly and be at her disposal The employ this Favorite had near the King in the Wardrobe and all that concerned his Person gave her opportunities enough being often all alone in her Apartment Insomuch that she took delight at those hours to come up to him and ask him very often useless questions which served her for a pretext to take and indeavour to reduce him All this however was not yet Powerful enough the Spirit of the haughty Ibrahim was too prepossess'd against her for him to yield to such weak Baites on the contrary the more Advances she made of that Nature the more aversion he seemed to have for her for Ibrahim without being wanting in the respect he owed her seemed to be very hard-hearted Nothing stings so much the haughtyness of a Beauty as Resistance It often netled her to the very Soul and she would sometimes have willingy been angry had she not feared to spoile all Insomuch that she wholly employed her mind in Stratagems and ingaging Artifices to soften the savage humour of this handsome young Fellow sometimes she suffered her self to be surprized at the hours she knew he was to come in postures that were capable of inflaming with Love the most insensible hearts in the World and somtimes she imployed him to dress her and sometimes to undress her under different pretexts wherein she did not at all manage her self that he might see Beauties that are the true Poyson of the eyes there is not a man whose heart is proof against these kind of Assaults Ibrahim blushed and sometimes grew pale on those Occasions and when she asked him what he ailed he knew not what answer to make but Sighed Things were much in this posture when news came of the Sultana of Tripoli's voyage and that the Court went to Mahometa but Ibrahim did not go having had some business that stayed him at Tunis The Queen being extream uneasy by reason of his absence impatiently longed to see him but to see him in private counting all the rest for nothing Rostan had of late observed that Ibrahim was no longer so exact in giving him an account of the Queens carriage that he spoke of her with more Moderation than he used to do that he stayed longer than was requisite in her Apartment that he even passed whole Days there All this I say having caused him to make some Reflections he fancied he was none of the Cunningest and that so subtle a Woman as Homais might easily have Corrupted the Fidelity of such a young Man as Ibrahim He knew that though a Woman was Haughty she might not be insensible and that he ought not to Judge of her by her Carriage to himself that there are Hearts that love to stoop as others do to mount and that what he had not been able to Effect by his Services and his Love another might have brought to pass by his Youth and other Qualities that he had not that every Woman had her weak side and that the Secret was to find it out or rather to be made for it there being certainly Hearts that absoluetly depend on the Caprichio of the Stars He would have the Pleasure of clearing this Point he studied Ibrahim who was not upon his Guard not thinking he was so narrowly observed and he found at length what he sought for But he would make no noise of it till he had wherewith to convict those he would accuse well knowing that in these kind of things nothing ought to be done by halfes At the Courts return from Mahometa He fancied that the juncture would be favourable enough for him and that the Queen who had not seen her dear Ibrahim in a long time would not fail to seek for an oppertunity wherein indeed she was not mistaken for he was no sooner arrived than that she let him know by a Mooress who was their confident that she must absolutely see him that evening and that she was well assured the King would not lye in the Seraglio Ibrahim made Answer that he would not fail to come he knew the Hour and Place of Assignation those things having been long Regulated between them Rostan having only that Affair in his Head watched him Incessantly and perceiving he did all things in hast that Evening he did not doubt but that there was some Design of an Amorous Interview Insomuch that the King having a mind he should be of a Party that was to go Sup at the General of the Galleyes House he desired to be Dispenced with all having Affairs of great Importance to do not being willing to lose so fair an Opportunity as he fancied was then offered him And indeed she could not have escaped him had he not had to do with the most subtle Woman that Heaven ever Created and with the Blindest Prince that was ever upon the Earth He caused Ibrahim to be watched to know when he went into the Queens Apartment and having learnt that he was there he did not think of taking the ordinary way to surprize them well imagining that the Door would be shut and that Means would be found out to make the Gallant escape before it should be Opened and that this would only make a Noise and turn all to his own Confusion He had too much Experience in those kind of things to undertake them so indiscreetly The Queens Chamber joyned to a Terrass which indeed could not be got upon being it was Bordered by the Walls of the Castle and was so High that it was only to be Attained by a Ladder but from the Garret that was over Homais's Chamber one might come down by a Rope yet not without Pain and Hazard but when a Person is spurred on by Jealousy and the Revenge of an outraged Love he is willing to undergo all manner of Trouble and ready to attempt all Hazards provided he may bring to pass his Designs Our Lovers fancied themselves very secure not suspecting to be surprized on that side All the other wayes were Locked up the Terrass was a Place that was looked upon as inaccessible and they had not so much as thought of shutting the Door because there came a fresh Air from thence which in those Hot Countrys is something very Charming The Beautiful Queen and happy Ibrahim had not been long together when the enraged Rostan came down upon the Terrass His impatience did not permit him to wait till they had Wantoned and Toyed a little together they were only at the Preludiums of an Amorous Interview that are very sensible between two Lovers after more than a Fortnights Absence He was willing however to have the Complaisance of Listening to
point He chose rather to get her a Husband than deprive himself all together of the sight of so Lovely a Maid Wherefore he told her He would Marry her and that he would Endeavour to find some Christian that was a fit Match for her The Queen satisfied with this Assurance though it had been more safe for her Clarice had been sent back she only desired the King he would once keep his word with her and that for their Mutual Repose this affair might not be deferred to the end that Slave might leave the Seraglio as soon as possible Caragus promised her to do it and parting he went to Clarice's Apartment to acquaint her with this News and see how she would Receive it But she could not fail of being Surprized after the Obliging things he had said and the Promises he had made her to see so suddain and so great a Change She could not forbear shedding Tears and desired the King since it was left to her choise to Marry or to return to Tripoly she might have leave to go thither not being willing to redouble her unhappiness by Marrying a Man whose Fortune was as much to make as hers The King being moved with her Tears and Charmed more than ever with her Beauty was now much less willing than before to part from her But means were to be found to Appease the Queen or at least to stop her Furies for he Dreaded her violent Spirit and therefore had occasion for Rostan's Counsel The Queen had been so often deceived by the Promises the King had made her that she would have had Reason to fear he would have failed her again this time if she had known the Passion he had for that Slave but as the King had seldom seen her she fancied it was only a slight Amour which he would make no difficulty of Sacrificing to her Satisfaction Insomuch that she expected to see Clarice suddenly Married which she thought would put a stop to his budding Desires which might have been disadvantageous to her if she had not bethought her self betimes of preventing it for by removing that Creature out of the King's sight and Marrying her with a Christian was not only the means of making him slight her but forget her altogether the force of his Passion never Proceeding so far as to Love People long that were out of his sight She was expecting with great impatience the Conclusion of that Affair when she saw the King come into her Chamber who told her smilling That it was a thing Concluded on that she should be satisfied and that Clarice was going to Marry not a Christian but a Turk because there being in that Country only wretched Slaves of that Religion she chose rather to turn Turk than be Reduced to so miserable a Necessity The Queen after having thanked the King for his Complaisance and having declared to him through a Zeal of Religion the joy she had of that Conversion asked him Who it was he designed for her Husband The King made Answer That it was Ibrahim and that Clarice who had seen him two or three times by chance having found him to her Mind had made Choice of him her self and that he had given her his Word that she should have him The Sultana not expecting to be Attacked on that side was in an instant so full of Grief that she was not so much Mistress of her self as to prevent shewing it in her Looks She was even quite out of Countenance and notwithstanding all the boldness of her Spirit she remained mute and without reply The King whose Design was to observe her took great Delight to see her in that Perplexity and that he might quite Confound her I do not see Madam pursued he with a Rallying Tone which however was not usual to him how a fitter Husband for that Slave can be found She is Pritty Ibrahim is Handsome and I am sure all the Earth will approve of so Accomplisht a Match As for you Madam For me Sir Interrupted she I shall not Oppose it but I perceive your Design you would give that Slave to Ibrahim because that being Master of the Husband you might easily have the Wife at your disposal Thus you are willing enough to Consent to it because by this means you Dispose of her so as to see her with the more Conveniency But Alas All the Misfortune will fall upon me Ah! No Madam Interrupted the King Her If that Reason only makes you fear the Union of those two Persons For your Satisfaction I will send them both far from hence and I will go this very Instant to make them Consent to it The King who never knew how to Dissemble Acted his part so well this time that he deceived the Queen as subtle as she was for all he had said to her came purely from Rostan who knowing the weak side of the Lady better than the King had given him his Lesson being assured she would sooner Consent to all things than this Match And indeed the Queen Loved Ibrahim with such a Passion or rather such a Rage that there was nothing but what she would have done to have prevented losing him and the King had no sooner left her than that all Alarm'd she ran to her Closet to Write to that Dear Gallant which she did in these Terms in the Emotion and Trouble she was in WE are Ruined my Dear Ibrahim if I do not see thee immediately The King Designs to part Us and give thee to a wretched Slave Think but how great my Grief will be and thy Misfortune I should Dye of Regret and thou wouldst not have any great Satisfaction with her for it is not for thy sake that she is to be Married to thee The King is in Love with her and he knows that I Love thee He makes use of thee to Favour his Desires and Revenge himself on me at the same time Be upon thy Guard I fancy that thou hast that kindness for me as not to quit me for another But herein thou must shew Resulution and be assured that I will never abandon thee and that I will sooner lose my Life than lose thee Farewel I expect thee that we may take together the Measures that are necessary for the Triumphing over our Enemies This Letter was safely Delivered to the most Dear Ibrahim but came a Moment too late because that Rostan whose stirring Humour when any Malicious Prank was to be undertaken especially against the Queen had already prevented her He had spoke to Ibrahim and secured all Insomuch that the Answer he made Her was thus I Am the most Vnfortunate of all Men Madam for I see nothing but Death on all sides I am ordered to Marry a Slave and am Condemned to Dye if I do not Obey and yet how wretched shall I be if I Marry her I lose you and that is more than Dying Alas If I might at least see you one Moment and take my last Leave of
her But as it was already Late and there being no Light in the Chamber she fancied she might perhaps avoid it and not be known She Rose gave her Hand to Rostan for this pretended Marriage and prepared her self no less than to Stab that Slave with a Ponyard she ever carried about her if for her sake she received any Affront as indeed she had like to have put it in Execution but she would have paid Dear for the Stroke Thereupon two Flambeus being brought in to give Light to this Fine Ceremony the King who till then had walked in the Room without saying a Word come near those that were to be Married seeing that the false Ibrahim hid himself under his Barnus that his Face might not be seen he bid one of the Guards take it from him being People were not used to be Married without being seen Insomuch that they then discovevered the fair Queen in Ibrahim's Cloaths who all of a suddain Transported with Motions of Rage Shame and Jealousy was going to Revenge her self with her Ponyard upon that poor Victime if he had not Cried Ah Madam What do you do It is Ibrahim At that Voice fixing her Eyes upon him she knew him and her Ponyard falling out of her Hands she had occasion for help to hold her up from falling upon the Floor being ready to Faint through such quite different Motions after the Risque that this Dear Lover had Run of Dying by her own Hands Rostan took a great Delight in all this Adventure but the King whose Nature was not so Cruel though most Concerned resolved to withdraw after having given Order that the Queen should be Lead to her Apartment and that Ibrahim should be kept more Narrowly than ever Rostan was extreamly Delighted with all this Encounter but it had only filled Ibrahim with Vexation and Grief yet as the King was one who laid not things much to Heart and besides the Treachery of Women being not of so great Consequence to Husbands in Africa where they are Acquainted with their Weaknesses as in Europe where they expect more Virtue though Women every where there needed no more than the sight of Clarice to put him in a better Humour To that intent he went to see her and passed some Hours with her with so much the more Joy as that he did not fear the Queen would come and disturb him This Visit Augmented his Passion more than ever He expressed it to Clarice in such passionate Terms that she was not altogether insensible And as there was to be a Feast the next day at a Country House of the General of the Gallyes who was desirous to Treat the King He desired her to be there or otherwise he would not go himself though he had given his word not being able to pass an Hour much less half a Day out of her sight without Trouble and Disquiet The fair Clarice consenting to it the King told her that the Chious of Tripoly's Wife would carry her thither a very Honorable employ for that Lady and which she acquitted her self of like a Woman of Wit and Courage The Entertainment was very Magnificent Rostan who considered that day as a day of Tryumph for him and the entire ruine of the Queen put all the Company in a way to divert themselves there was nothing but Joy and Pleasures The King was in the best Humour Imaginable and with Reason for it is said to be there that he first gave Proofs of his Passion to his Dear Clarice who appeared in a Pompous and Magnificent Dress The Desolate Queen did not pass her time so agreeably She was not only to bear the Grief of seeing her Ambition overturned and a Slave who had at length got the better of her but she was likewise to support the cruel Destiny of her Love Ibrahim was in Prison and she in fears of what would become of his Life But that which Grieved and Stung her most was the Remembrance of the Affront she had Received by the Prank that that Traitor Rostan had played her and which she would willingly have been Revenged of at the Peril of her Life In a word Glory Ambition Love all was Ruined in her and only Death could Comfort her in so much Affliction But she was not willing of her self to give that Triumph to her Enemies and she hoped that as long as she should Live she should be Powerful enough or at least Ingenuous enough to repay them sooner or later part of the Ills they made her Suffer In the mean time she had not that command of her self but that the great Disorder there was in her heart troubling extreamly the good disposition of Her Body she fell sick and in a few dayes was reduced within an Ace of the Grave The King not knowing what it was to keep Resentment against his greatest Enemies could not preserve so much hatred against a Woman whom he had in some manner loved but that the pitty he had to know she was in that condition brought him back to her He was even so concerned at the sight of her and so moved with the sensible and pittyful things she said to him that if this unhappy Queen had asked him to have abandoned his dear Clarice he would without doubt have promise her he would but I know not if he would have kept his word Homais more discreetly asked him only If he would pardon what had past and live with her in the same good understanding as they did together for some time after their Marriage Which the King granted her with more Goodness than she could have hoped for and likewise declared to her in a very caressing manner how extreamly he was grieved and how sensible he was to see her so ill and how joyful he should be to see her recovered And this assurance was so great a Cordial to that poor afflicted One that since that Visit her Fevour as well as her Trouble of mind diminished every day The King came often to see her but that was of no disadvantage to Clarice On the contrary she continually augmented in Authority and Favour and though he had a great deal of Kindness for her before he possessed her intirely yet it seemed that since this Union his Love was become more ardent than ever Contrary to the custome of all other Lovers who are often sensible of the diminishing of their flames by the degrees they continue to enjoy what they love the Habit of Pleasures disgusting them from that of loving still the same thing This Prince I say who passed for the most fickle of all Lovers appeared now the most constant of all men his Cares his Assiduities his Eagernesses for the faire Clarice had no bounds and he still found some new Charme in her From thence may be concluded that this Maid with her little Aire of innocence was the most subtle Creature that ever was to have found the way to fix the Kings heart who nothing pleased but she This did not fail to make some envy and others jealous of her But the Power she had got over the King having insensibly made her haughty she came to have many Enemies for she despised those she was most obliged to she neglected Rostan to whom she owed all she had and having been made Sultana through the Intercession of the General of the Gallyes who was her particular Friend she fell out with him about a thing of small consequence which caused several Rumours to run of her which were not to her Advantage There was a report that the Admiral of Tripoly knew what stuff she was made of before he gave her to the Sultana that an Aga of the Bashawes had found her as kind as that Admiral had been and Rostan likewise had been payed for the pains he had taken in bringing her to Tunis yet all these Storyes and all the other Tempests which rose up against her blew over and rather turned to her Advantage The King had not those Delicacies of other Lovers He had declared more than once that in point Mistresses he loved them best at second hand and that he ever found enough for him to do that is to say he loved to have way made for him and to enjoy pleasure without pain It was the Queen who countenanced most these Rumours and fomented them by the means of her Creatures She did all she could to be reconciled with Rostan whom she knew had reason enough to complain of Clarice but she was never able to effect it Rostan was not to be pacified after that manner and he perceived what obliged the Queen to make those Advances she did Insomuch that this Princess having intirely lost that great favour she had formerly been in and the King never seeing her but out of Civility the World considering her but as the shadow of what she had been and having nothing more to comfort her either in poynt of Glory or in poynt of Love Clarice having obtained of the King that Ibrahim should be banished to Tripoly she asked her Husband leave to make a Voyage to Mecqua which he not being able to refuse her she took with her all the Jewels and most precious Movables she had and being imbarqued with some of her faithfullest Domesticks she accomplished her Pilgrimage After which instead of returning to Tunis she went directly to Constantinople where her beauty as well as her Amorous Intrigues having at first made a great noise the Chronicle sayes that the Mufti though notwithstanding his Character and the Religious Life he made Profession of was no Enemy to pretty Women fell in Love and made Court to her But the Memoires of this last Intrigue are not yet come to our hands Thus you must be satisfied with these I put forth as the most sincere that have been made Publick FINIS