I'll none of him. To leave
one prison, and to be shut up in another,--why do you remind me of it?
No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.'
'An impossibility,' said Honain.
'My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
she began. You know what she was.'
Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
'The daughter of a bandit,' continued the Princess, 'who fought by the
side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. 'Tis in the
blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.'
'I have already cast your nativity. Your star is a comet.'
'That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish
I were a star,' added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a
pensive air; 'a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain,
Honain, the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.'
Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy,
and cast at him a scrutinising glance.
'What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!' exclaimed the Princess.
'The gazelle?' inquired the physician.
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