But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch,
a Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!'
'I'll not believe it, no, no, I'll not believe it: damnable, bloody
demons! When I had power I spared all, all but----ah, me! ah, me! why
did I live?'
'Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been,
not of that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the
conqueror. I have made terms.'
'What are they, what can they be?'
'Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.'
'Be brief, be brief.'
'Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind
is wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men's opinions flit to and fro
with that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states.
None know what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are
doubted, authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success
by other than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the
fame of a fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which
they would gladly clear.
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