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'A boat! two! three! murmured my, father; 'four! He then arose, seizing his arms and priming his pistols. 'Vasiliki, said he to my mother, trembling perceptibly, 'the instant approaches which will decide everything. In the space of half an hour we shall know the emperor's answer.
On my return, Vasiliki and her daughter Haidee had disappeared. 'Did you know them? 'My intimacy with the pasha and his unlimited confidence had gained me an introduction to them, and I had seen them above twenty times. "'Have you any idea what became of them? 'Yes, sir; I heard they had fallen victims to their sorrow, and, perhaps, to their poverty.
She advanced some steps towards the staircase, and listened. 'They are approaching, said she; 'perhaps they bring us peace and liberty! 'What do you fear, Vasiliki? said Selim, in a voice at once so gentle and yet so proud. * The god of fruitfulness in Grecian mythology. In Crete he was supposed to be slain in winter with the decay of vegetation and to revive in the spring.
'I am Haidee, the daughter of Ali Tepelini, pasha of Yanina, and of Vasiliki, his beloved wife. "The blush of mingled pride and modesty which suddenly suffused the cheeks of the young woman, the brilliancy of her eye, and her highly important communication, produced an indescribable effect on the assembly.
"I could scarcely walk when my mother, who was called Vasiliki, which means royal," said the young girl, tossing her head proudly, "took me by the hand, and after putting in our purse all the money we possessed, we went out, both covered with veils, to solicit alms for the prisoners, saying, 'He who giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord. Then when our purse was full we returned to the palace, and without saying a word to my father, we sent it to the convent, where it was divided amongst the prisoners."
"Merely his daughter." "What? the daughter of Ali Pasha?" "Of Ali Pasha and the beautiful Vasiliki." "And your slave?" "Ma foi, yes." "But how did she become so?" "Why, simply from the circumstance of my having bought her one day, as I was passing through the market at Constantinople." "Wonderful!
"And why do you represent providence?" cried Mercedes. "Why do you remember when it forgets? What are Yanina and its vizier to you, Edmond? What injury his Fernand Mondego done you in betraying Ali Tepelini?" "Ah, madame," replied Monte Cristo, "all this is an affair between the French captain and the daughter of Vasiliki.
"One morning my father sent for us; my mother had been crying all the night, and was very wretched; we found the pasha calm, but paler than usual. 'Take courage, Vasiliki, said he; 'to-day arrives the firman of the master, and my fate will be decided.
I was present during his last moments. I know what is become of Vasiliki and Haidee. I am at the command of the committee, and even claim the honor of being heard. I shall be in the lobby when this note is delivered to you. "'And who is this witness, or rather this enemy? asked the count, in a tone in which there was a visible alteration. 'We shall know, sir, replied the president.
"'I, El-Kobbir, a slave-merchant, and purveyor of the harem of his highness, acknowledge having received for transmission to the sublime emperor, from the French lord, the Count of Monte Cristo, an emerald valued at eight hundred thousand francs; as the ransom of a young Christian slave of eleven years of age, named Haidee, the acknowledged daughter of the late lord Ali Tepelini, pasha of Yanina, and of Vasiliki, his favorite; she having been sold to me seven years previously, with her mother, who had died on arriving at Constantinople, by a French colonel in the service of the Vizier Ali Tepelini, named Fernand Mondego.
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