The Pirate City, page 59 by Robert Michael Ballantyne
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rish houses, though, of course, not in size or luxury of detail.
Here the cadi himself met his guests, and conducted them to the suite of chambers on the second storey, which were devoted to the ladies. At the principal entrance to these they were received by the cadi's wife, and, with much display of friendliness and affection, were conducted into the harem--that mysterious retreat which, in a Mohammedan household, is never entered by mortal man, except the lord thereof.
It was Mrs Langley's first visit to such a scene, and, although she had been prepared for something magnificent, the gorgeous nature of everything far surpassed her expectations. The rooms, indeed, were small, being, like those of all Moorish dwellings, rather long and narrow, with recesses or antechambers. Some of these latter had dome-shaped roofs, with little coloured glass skylights, such as we have already described, and were delightfully snug retreats. The walls and ceilings of all the apartments were profusely ornamented, and the hangings and furniture were of the richest material.
On a silken couch, at the farther end of one of these small apartments, sat the bride, Zara, youngest daughter of the cadi, and a lovely girl of nineteen. Poor Zara! Her history--not by any means an uncommon one in that land--goes to prove that Mohammedan women, far more than English, have need of a "Women's Rights Society."
Zara was already a widow with two beautiful children! Her first husband, to whom she had been married without her inclination being consulted, had been strangled.
It was afterwards proved that he was innocent of the crime for which he had suffered, but that gave very little pain to the consciences of those who had strangled him, partly because their consciences were callous, and partly because they regarded the event as one of the decrees of "Fate."
After his death it became necessary that another husband should be found for Zara. She, poor creature, would have been thankful to have remained in a st