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Updated: June 25, 2025
"Oh! dearest mother, if thou canst accomplish this," exclaimed Aischa, her countenance becoming animated with joy and her heart palpitating with hope, "thou wouldst render me happy indeed." "Trust to me, daughter," replied the Sultana Valida. "In the meantime seek not to learn my intentions; but, on thy return home, send me by some trusty slave thy pass-key to the harem.
In the meantime the Princess Aischa, the now neglected wife of the grand vizier, had repaired to the imperial seraglio to obtain an interview with her brother, Solyman the Magnificent. The sultan, as the reader has already learnt, was deeply attached to Aischa. Their mother, the sultana, or empress mother, who was still alive, occupied apartments in the seraglio.
"Cease these reproaches, Aischa," exclaimed Ibrahim, who had listened impatiently to her long address, "or I will give thee less of my company than heretofore. See that the next time I visit thee my reception may be with smiles instead of tears with sweet words instead of reproaches."
Thou hast doubtless heard that among my numerous sisters, there is one of such unrivaled beauty such peerless loveliness, that the world hath not seen her equal. Happy may the man deem himself on whom the fair Aischa shall be bestowed; and thou art that happy man, Ibrahim and Aischa is thine."
And, oh, so beauteous, so ravishingly lovely did she appear, as that smile revealed teeth whiter than the Oriental pearls, which she wore, and as a slight flush on her damask cheek and the bright flashing of her eyes betrayed the joy and triumph which filled her heart so elegant and graceful was her faultless form, which the gorgeous Ottoman garb so admirably became, that Ibrahim forgot all his recent compunction lost sight of home and friends remembered not the awful apostasy of which he had been guilty but fell upon his knees in adoration of that charming creature, while the sultan with a smile which showed that he was no stranger to the mysteries of the past, exclaimed in a benignant tone, "Vizier Azem! receive the hand of my well-beloved sister Aischa!"
A grand marble staircase led from the hall to the two floors containing the apartments of the ladies of the harem; and thus, though Aischa dwelt in the same wing as those females, her own abode was as distinct from theirs as if she were the tenant of a separate house altogether.
To the three black slaves did the Sultana Valida issue her commands; and to the eldest she intrusted Solyman's signet-ring and the pass-key which Aischa had sent her. The slaves bowed three times to the empress mother laid their hands on their heads to imply that they would deserve decapitation if they neglected the orders they had received and then withdrew.
At length, half regretting that she had taken the present step, Aischa slowly revealed her various causes of complaint against the grand vizier. "By Allah!" exclaimed the sultan, "the ungrateful Ibrahim shall not thus spurn and neglect the costly gift which I, his master, condescended to bestow upon him!
These opened from a spacious marble hall; and at the folding-doors leading into them, were stationed two black dwarfs, who were deaf and dumb. Their presence was not in any way derogatory to the character of Aischa, but actually denoted the superior rank of the lady who occupied those apartments in respect to the numerous females who tenanted the rooms above.
"Fear not, my dearly beloved son," answered the Sultana Valida, concealing the ring in her bosom. "And now, Aischa, do you return to the palace of your haughty husband, who ere twelve hours be passed, shall sue for pardon at thy feet."
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