The day wore on; and it may be imagined that the anxieties of the lady
Lurlee and the fair Zyna were not diminished by the continued absence
of the Khan and his son. As the former had left his wife, he had
requested her to have a "kichéri" of a particular kind, with kabobs,
prepared for him when he arrived. "He should be hungry," he said,
"after his ride so early, and Fazil too. It was a soldier's dish, and
would put him in mind of old days in the field, and--Lurlee could dress
it so capitally." We may remember a slight bandying of words between
the Khan and his lady before he went out; and he had ordered this dish
as a propitiatory meal at her hands, for he knew by experience that the
result would be satisfactory: the little acerbity would disappear, and
the planets, perhaps, would be forgotten.
Nothing could have been devised more soothing to the lady
Lurlee's temper--nothing more certain of dispelling any clouds of
dissatisfaction or disappointment--than this appeal to her affections
through her kitchen. Even in these intellectual days, a similar result
is not unfrequently attainable; proving that the motives and springs of
poor human nature, and its tempers, show but little difference at the
time of our history and among ourselves; and did we permit ourselves
to moralize after the fashion of the day, we might possibly deliver a
pretty lecture upon the subject.
But--and we may as well avow it once for all--we feel ourselves bound
to relate our story without any moralizing digressions whatever,
further than what may form part of its action; and therefore we will
not follow the changes of the lady's mind, from its first expectant
and interested condition after the mixing of the materials by her own
fair hands (for on such occasions she suffered no one to interfere),
to the setting them on the fire to be done exactly as her lord wished.
With the Khan's loving order, had come a flood of pleasant memories
to her--of old camp days, hard fights too, in which her lord--safe,
generally victorious, and restored to her prayers--found his wife
busy with some favourite dish; and they loved each other, in a homely
fashion, better for the cooking and the eating of it.
Now, as the lady sat over her private brazier, on which were her own
silver cooking-vessels, the Khan's special gift, she told Zyna of many
an old time and scene--of many a narrow escape--many a rough march
which she had shared with the old soldier, and done her part in binding
up his wounds if he were hurt, or cooking for him if he were hungry.
"Your mother was not of our rough Dekhani sort, daughter," she said;
"people tell me she never went out with the army: she was a weak,
fragile thing, I have heard, but very beautiful. Peace be with her,
for thy father loved her much, and hath never loved me as her. But
no children have come, Zyna--no children, that is it,"--and the lady
sighed, and perhaps tears gathered in her eyes, for she wiped them
hastily with the corner of her muslin scarf. "Well, it is God's will,
daughter; and though I could never understand it properly, there was
something wrong in the horoscope which they cast when I was betrothed.
You see, Zyna, my planet was then Mars, which represented water--no, it
was fire;--no, that's a male planet, and so it must have been Earth.
Yes, I think it was--Earth; and then he was Venus--no, that could not
be either; it must have been Saturn, and that's for air. So you see,
fire and air--no, let me see--air and water? no. What did I tell thee,
Zyna? Was it Earth?"
"I do not understand it, mother; how can I tell?" said Zyna demurely.
"But you are not listening, girl; ah, wait till your own time comes.
I'll warrant you anxious and curious enough to know whether you are
fire or earth, or air or water; and whether he is air, or water, or
whatever he may be. Now about myself. You see I was fire; no I am
wrong. 'Humul,' 'Sowr,' 'Jowza' (Aries, Taurus, Gemini)," continued the
lady Lurlee, telling off all the signs of the zodiac, in Arabic, upon
the ends of her fingers, and then the planets in succession, "'Mars,'
'Venus,' 'Mercury;' and now look, Zyna, if the house of the Lion is on
this middle finger, and the planet Mercury comes to it, you see Mercury
is in conjunction with--with the Crab. Did not I say the Crab, child?
Now attend, else I shall lose all my reckoning. 'Humul,' 'Sowr'----"
"Alas, mother, but I do not understand it, and I can never remember the
names of the planets or their houses,--indeed I cannot," said Zyna,
piteously. "But ah, mother, look, it is burning!"
And so it was. In her astrological involvement, Lurlee Khánum had
forgotten the kichéri, which, as the bottom of the pan became too hot,
sent up a most unsavoury odour, and brown smoke issued from under the
lid.
"God forgive me my neglect, daughter," exclaimed the lady, sorrowfully,
as she examined the pan: "it is surely quite spoiled, and thy father
is so particular. The least idea of burnt kichéri is enough to set him
mad, and I could not look at him for a day or more. And he will be
expecting this to be all ready." "Protection of the Prophet!" exclaimed
the lady suddenly, "there he is. What shall I do?--what shall I do?"
That which had startled Lurlee was the arrival of the Khan's escort,
and the beating of their kettle-drums in the outer court; and as
she listened, and stood up, ladle in hand, expecting her lord's
entrance, she was perhaps relieved by the appearance of Goolab who,
as the general outdoor scout, brought tidings from the courtyard of
occurrences of all kinds.
"They are not coming, lady," said the nurse. "They are gone to the
Kótwal's, and will stay there. That's the news brought by Peer Khan,
and a host of them. And there's Bulwunt Rao as good as dead; and he's
to be put into the private apartments, and the King's doctor is to be
sent for; and I must go and see to a bed for him, and a soft mattress,
and pillows and sheets; and then they'll all be spoilt with his blood.
His blood, indeed!"
"A blister on thy tongue, O prating woman!" cried Lurlee. "My lord
taken to the Kótwal's? _My_ lord! O Zyna! O girl, what is the world
come to? Thy father taken to that man of blood, Jehándar Beg; and those
cowards, the Paigah, have come here without him? O girl--what is it?
speak, hast thou no sense?"
Indeed, Zyna had very little; the mention of that dreaded name, the
certainty that if her father could have returned he would, and the fact
of Bulwunt Rao being dangerously wounded, all combined to terrify, and
Lurlee herself was no calmer.
"Was there no message, Goolab?" asked Zyna.
"O yes; that the Khan remains at the Kótwal's, and will eat his
breakfast there. He has business, and will stay. That is all, and that
Meah Sahib is well."
"That is all!" exclaimed Lurlee. "That is all! To have my lord in the
Kótwallee, and that dish of kichéri dressed in vain! O woman of little
grace that I am! why did I deserve this? what have I done? what have I
done?"
"But it was spoiled, mother," said Zyna innocently; "do not care about
it. Only thank God they are safe. O, I vow a Fateha----"
"Not care, child? and would it not have been the same had it been, as
it was, dressed like food for the Peris? would it not have been the
same? Would he have come to eat it? he, thy father? Why order it? why
affront me by leaving it here to be spoiled? why did he not come long
ago? This is not as it used to be of old. O, Afzool Khan! am I less
than dirt in thine eyes? am I--I--I----"
Now, the lady Lurlee, like all other Mahomedan ladies, only mentioned
her husband's name on very solemn occasions, or when excitement got
the better of discretion; and here was an instance of it. She sat down
upon the stool before her brazier, and, after rocking herself to and
fro for a while, burst into an uncontrollable fit of sobbing. It was
difficult to say, perhaps, what had most particularly affected her;
but undoubtedly the burning of the kichéri was at the bottom of all.
It had been so good. Then she knew how his face would have expanded
under its influence as he ate; it would have reminded him of some old
scene, whose history would have come out between the mouthfuls--he
might even have caressed her. Ah, all was now gone--her trouble, her
expectation of a loving greeting, all gone: and the sense of neglect
and indifference under which she habitually existed, had for the time
taken its place. But gradually the sobbing was soothed, and Lurlee,
laying her head against Zyna's bosom, seemed lost in thought.
"There must be unfavourable conjunctions among the planets to-day,
depend upon it, daughter," she said at length, rousing herself, and
drying her eyes, "else all this would not have happened. Now, let me
look steadily into it: perhaps we may learn something for our guidance."
"Look!" continued the lady after a pause, and a brief examination of
an astrological table, which she usually carried about her, "look
here. Ah, graceless and unfortunate that I am, I should have foreseen
all that has happened, and he should never have gone out at all. Why,
here is Saturn in the ascendant till the first watch of the day,
and then follows the Sun, and that's what spoilt my cooking. Let me
see--Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer," she continued, counting the signs
of the zodiac, as before, on her fingers, "Aries, Taurus--why, God be
merciful! here follows Mars, and he's an executioner--and they are in
the Kótwallee--the Prophet's mercy be on them! Yet, stay, Mars will
last for only three hours; then comes, let me see--Mars, Jupiter,
Mercury, Moon--no, Venus, Jupiter, Moon. Yes, I am right now, girl.
That means messenger, and Venus is propitious. Ah, yes, don't you see
it all, Zyna? Don't you understand? Look, first the Moon, that's we
ourselves, as messengers; and then Venus will save them, if we can get
past Mars. Of course it is quite plain. Don't you see?"
"Alas, no, mother! I do not," said Zyna, innocently. "I see figures and
numbers, and angles and signs, but it is hopeless to ask me about them.
You are a wise woman, and this is a marvellous science. Surely, and
please God, you are right."
"O, I see exactly what to do; and it is well I can pick out a path
among these mysteries," cried Lurlee, brightening, "or we had all been
lost long ago. But we will eat first; I am sure some of the kichéri
is good, and at any rate there are the kabobs, and Jameela will have
bread. Come and eat, daughter, it will support thee; come, we have much
to do ere noon. I see now, and when thou hast eaten I will tell thee.
Jameela! O Jameela!" she cried to the cook, who, when her mistress came
to usurp her functions, discreetly kept out of the way. "Jameela, bring
some bread and some pickle; we must eat now."
"But you have the kichéri," said the dame. "Surely it is not burnt,"
she continued, sniffing into the pan with a cook's experienced nose.
"Begone, graceless!" cried Lurlee, who well knew the old woman was
rejoicing in her heart over her discomfiture; "begone and get the
bread."
"There is none but the men's bread, and it is coarse enough, for the
meal was not sifted," returned Jameela. "When _you_ take to cooking, of
course I am not expected to be mindful of other light bread, and such
things; but----"
"Begone, and do as you are bid," cried her mistress, sharply. A look
from Zyna also, deprecating further discussion, was understood at once
by the old dame.
"I will bring the best of it, Khánum," she said, "and there is some
quite hot; but I can bake a few of your own 'phoolkas,' if you like;
they will be good with the kabobs ... which seem savoury," she
continued, craning over to look into the pot on the fire, and sniffing
into it.
"Where is Goolab? Ah yes, do so, Jameela, and bring them quickly,"
replied her mistress; "thou art a jewel."
"I will send her, lady," said the cook, departing; "and I would bring
the men's bread, only it is not fit for the likes of ye."
"Now, what is to be done?" asked Zyna. "O mother, thou seemest to
understand everything, and art confident, and I am distracted with
apprehension. O my father! O my brother! God keep you safe. I vow
lights at Peer Sahib's tomb, and to feed a hundred Fakeers there
to-morrow, if they be safe!"
"We must go to the palace, and inquire why thy father is detained,"
replied Lurlee decisively. "Ah, Goolab, where wert thou? But never
mind," she continued, as the dame entered. "Lay out clothes for us;
we must go to the palace; and bid some one go and say we pray to see
the Bégum Sahiba, and order the palankeens and an escort to be ready.
Inshalla! daughter, we will see what this evil-minded and base-born
Kótwal can do."
"And the jewels, Khánum?" asked Goolab.
"Ah! I had forgotten. Well, a few."
"No, mother, no!" cried Zyna, "not so. With our hearts heavy and sad,
it surely is no time to put on jewels. Let us rather go with sober
garments, and prostrate ourselves before the Peer's shrine on our way."
"I tell thee the Peer cannot help us," returned the dame tartly; "it is
the stars and the Bégum. When they are safe, then do thy Fateha if thou
wilt. Come here, eat, for we have much to do. Ah! Jameela-bee;" for
Lurlee always added the respectful addition of _bee_, for lady,--when
she was in good humour, to her cook, who now entered with a tray of hot
bread and delicate phoolkas, and a white cloth over her arm: "thou hast
been quick, friend."
It must be confessed that the lady Lurlee's appetite, sharpened perhaps
by her unusual fast and the process of her own cookery, did ample
justice to the meal. Her confidence in the stars sustained her far
better than Zyna's faith in her saint--that is, if one might judge by
the resolute and satisfied features of the elder face as it bent over
its plate, eating heartily, and the distressed, anxious, and tearful
expression of the younger, endeavouring almost vainly to eat at all. It
was of no avail that Lurlee encouraged her daughter, and even picked
out tempting morsels from the kabobs, and set them before her, with the
hottest of the phoolkas, as they were sent in short relays from the
kitchen.
"Ah, daughter! he would have enjoyed this," said Lurlee, as she washed
her hands over the ewer brought her at the conclusion of the meal,
and sighed in a manner which plainly signified her regret not to be
able to eat more. "Yes, the kabob was good, but thou hast scarcely
tasted it; a trifle more pepper would have been better, perhaps; yet it
was good. And now, girl, I am ready to face the Kótwal or the Bégum,
or--the peace of God be on him--Adil Shah himself. Inshalla! we will
see who dares to detain my lord when I, Lurlee Khánum, have cooked his
breakfast."