Kondjé-Gul

“ Kondjé-Gul is a Circassian by race. Her name in Turkish signifies a variety of rose which we are not acquainted with in France; she was brought when quite a child to Constantinople by her mother, attached to the service of a cadine of the Sultan. She is now eighteen. Imagine the Caucasian type in the flower of its beauty, tall, with the figure of a young goddess, an expression of natural indolence which appears to indicate a consciousness of her sovereign beauty, and a fine head crowned with thick chestnut hair falling down to her waist. ”

“ The feridjié fell down, and I recognised Kondjé-Gul, who threw herself on to my neck and seized me in her arms with signs of the deepest despair.
"Good gracious!" I said, "is that you? You come here?"
Breathless and suffocated with tears, she could not answer me. I guessed, rather than heard, these words:
"I have run away! I have come to die with you!"
"But you are mad, dear, quite mad!" I exclaimed. "Why should you die? What has happened then?"
"Oh, we know all!" she continued. "Barbassou-Pasha has returned. He is a terrible man. He is going to kill you; us also; Mohammed also!" ”

“ The choice of instruments was a matter of small importance to a man of his nature, the incompleteness of whose education had left him scarcely half-civilized. Accustomed to have all his own way, he made straight for his object, rushing like a bull at every obstacle. The suppleness of his Slavonic character displayed itself in this desperate game, in which, the happiness of his life was at stake. He loved Kondjé-Gul, as I knew full well, with that blind love which admitted no compromise with reason. ”

“ She felt as if in a dream. We spoke in Turkish; and the puzzled shop-keepers gazed in astonishment upon this strange display of Asiatic charms, which they had evidently met with for the first time. All this amused us; and it is unnecessary to add that I quitted these haunts of temptation with a considerably lighter purse than when I entered them.
We have already had several of these little sprees, and nothing can be more fascinating than Kondjé-Gul's childish delight; everything is new to her. ”

“ In his European disguise Mohammed maintains that expression of serene dignity which so excellently suits his part of a father escorting his three daughters. There is, in short, nothing about the latter to excite attention. If a dark pair of eyes is sometimes distinguishable through the embroidered veils, the fashion, at any rate, permits the features to be sufficiently disguised to conceal the beauty of my sultanas from over-bold glances.
Of course poor Kondjé-Gul, still living away from the others, does not take part in these frolics; but we thus gain some hours of liberty. ”

“ I knew Hadidjé's character too well to place an implicit belief in the whole of this account; still it was important to put an end to such escapades. The happiness of my household, which had hitherto been so peaceful, was endangered if I failed to act like a just but strict husband. After this outrage committed by Kondjé-Gul, my houris, in their indignation, insisted upon a signal vengeance, and demanded forthwith that I should deliver her up to the cadi. ”

“ The end of all these arrangements would be the abandonment of Kondjé-Gul.
I was dismayed by this unexpected revelation. The plan of my marriage with Anna had remained a family secret, known only to my uncle, to herself, to my aunt, and to me. How had it got to Madame Murrah's ears? I was unable to conceal my uneasiness.
"But this marriage is true then?" continued my poor Kondjé with an anxious look in my face.
"Nothing is true but our love!" I replied, distressed by her fears; "nothing is true but this, that I mean to love you always, and always to live with you as I do now." ”

“ Zouhra and Nazli followed us. As I went out by the verandah, I passed close to Kondjé-Gul; she drew back with a superb air of dignity, as if she feared lest her dress should be ruffled by me. Then darting a look of withering scorn at Hadidjé, she wrapped herself up in her veil and leant against the balustrade, watching us go off. It was a delicious autumn evening, the air was soft and the sky clear and starry. Under our feet the dry leaves crackled. Hadidjé wanted to have a row in the boat, so we went towards the lake. ”

“ The truth is that Hadidjé, Nazli, and Zouhra burst into transports of joy when Kondjé-Gul repeated to them my promise to be "faithful to all four of them."
My dear fellow, there is a great deal of the child remaining in these creatures, who seem to have been only created to expand their beauty, as flowers are to exhale their perfume. Cloistered in the life of the harem, their ideas do not reach beyond the horizon of the harem. Their hearts and their minds have only been cultivated by recitals of wonderful legends and of superstitious romances of love; they know nothing else. ”

“ There is a much more persuasive eloquence in the heart than in the vain deductions of logic. During this extraordinary scene, in which my poor Kondjé-Gul's mind was alarmed by the conflict going on between her own beliefs and what she knew of our society, I was quite sincere in my illusions concerning the moral compromise which, I fancied, was imposed upon me as an absolute duty. Singular as it may all appear to you, I had already been subjected too long to the influence of the harem not to have become gradually permeated by the Oriental ideas. ”

“ I exclaimed.
"Well, dear," added Kondjé-Gul, "you can easily understand what a thunderbolt this was to me! I felt it so painfully that I nearly swooned away. My mother was alarmed and called for Fanny. The next day, I attempted to prevail upon her to change her mind, declaring that it would kill me to be separated from you. I thought I had mollified her, for she kissed me and said that all she cared about was my happiness. But this evening, while we were in the carriage on our way to Suzannah's, she spoke again to me about Count Kiusko. ”

“ Can't you understand, you silly boy, that I am speaking to you about Kondjé-Gul because I can see how the land lies? It is quite clear to me that between you two there is some sort of secret understanding; now what is it? I know nothing about it, but however innocent this mystery may be, I see too much danger about it not to caution you. Mademoiselle Murrah is not one of those drawing-room dolls with whom it is safe for a man to risk a little of his heart in the game of flirtation; no, the man who once falls in love with her will love her for ever, body and soul, he will be bewitched. ”

“ Between ourselves, a duel would be an act of folly."
"Do you understand, at any rate," I retorted, "that I forbid your ever presenting yourself before Mademoiselle Kondjé-Gul Murrah again?"
"Fie! my dear fellow! What do you take me for? After such an astonishing confession on her part, I should prove myself deficient in the most ordinary discretion, if I did not henceforth spare her my presence; so you may set your mind at ease on that point." ”

“ I told you about my poor Kondjé-Gul's passing grief on account of her mother's foolish ideas. Reassured as to the future by my vows and promises, she was too amenable to my influence to refuse to submit to a trial which I was forced by duty to prepare her for. Proud at the thought that she was sacrificing her jealousy for me, sacrificing herself for my happiness, her tears having been dried up by my kisses, I found her the day after this cruel blow to her heart as expansive and confiding as if no cloud had darkened our sky. ”

“ So my aunt got to know all about it! My uncle, whom I had taken into my confidence, put them at once completely off the scent, by replying that I had started for Spain.
We are safe! Everything has been accomplished, as if by enchantment. For fifteen days past my Kondjé-Gul has been settled in a charming cottage at Ermont, in the middle of the forest, hidden away like a daisy in a field of standing corn. She has disappeared from view, leaving no more traces behind her than a bird in its flight through the air; and I am back in Paris, as if I had just returned from a journey. ”

“ The fact is that this necessity for dissimulation, these deceptions, and these clandestine interviews, have produced between Kondjé-Gul and me a sort of spring-tide of delightful expansion of the affections. You should see us in the daytime, both of us as stiff as starch in the presence of the others. You should see the manoeuvres we perform in order to exchange a sly smile or a shake of the hands out of sight. You should see also what pretty little airs of disdain she puts on for her rivals, who are slumbering in their paradise of illusion! ”

“ I can assure you they constitute quite an interesting romance. For a whole week Kondjé-Gul, who had been rather overawed at first and astonished at all her new surroundings, seemed to live like one dazed. She would not trust herself to speak, fearing to appear uncultivated; but she observed, and the results of her observations were most curious. After that I perceived that she was gradually trying her wings; for when she had been initiated a few days into her new life, she soon abandoned her reserve, and has by this time passed the first step in her emancipation. ”

“ Ah, my dear fellow, our pleasure in life is only made up of such trifles, which our imagination generally provides for us. In those secret interviews I discovered in Kondjé-Gul, who was certainly endowed with a frank and straightforward mind, a number of graces which I had never been able to detect before during our intercourse in the harem. Nothing could be stranger or more fascinating than the love of this poor slave-sweetheart, still so humble and timid, and dazzled as it were by the brilliancy of her dream. ”

“ I have a secret intrigue with one of my wives. Kondjé-Gul plays her part of estrangement in a most curious fashion, with an affectation of melancholy, combined with haughtiness, and the silly creature is delighted with her efforts. After two or three days of seclusion, she reappeared, talked cynically of her approaching departure, and rejoiced over it. We treat each other like spouses definitely divorced from each other, who are nevertheless paying each other, as well-bred people should do, a final tribute of strict politeness after the irreparable breach. ”

“ I replied in a severe tone, "Allah could not command you to bring unhappiness to your daughter."
"As you are going to be married——"
"What matters my marriage?" I answered. "It cannot in any way affect Kondjé-Gul's happiness! She knows that I love her, and that she will always retain the first place in my affections."
Madame Murrah shook her head for a minute in an undecided manner. The argument which I had employed was a most simple one.
At last she said: "Your wife will be an infidel; and, according to your laws, she will be entitled to demand my daughter's dismissal." ”

“ With our habits and customs no secret, no mystery, is possible; for however loving or beloved a woman may be, her beauty is exposed to every eye. It is like the enjoyment of communal property. In my harem, on the contrary, the charms of Zouhra, Nazli, and Kondjé-Gul, concealed from all other eyes, have never excited any passions but mine; my tranquil possession is undisturbed by the anxious jealousies which recollections of a former rival always awaken. ”

“ Compare with this secret and charming bond of union which attaches me to Kondjé-Gul, the prosaic and vulgar character of those common intrigues which one cynically permits the whole world to observe, or of those illicit connections which the hypocritical remnant of virtue with us constrains us to conceal, like crimes, in the darkness. Deceptive frenzies they are, the enjoyment of which always involves of necessity the degradation of the woman and the contempt of the lover! ”

“ Nevertheless, well prepared as I was for such attempts, and fully expecting to witness them, I was very much affected by the news that Kiusko was my rival. It was impossible for me to doubt that his determination to marry Kondjé-Gul was the result of reflection as well as of love, and that it would be only strengthened by any obstacle. Of a calm and energetic nature, endowed with an iron will, and accustomed to see everything submit to his law, he had also preserved that freshness of the affections which would be intensified by the impulses of a first love. ”

“ Reared with a view to the harem, the young girl aims no higher in her ambitious fancy than to become the favourite and outshine her rivals; but never, never in the world, does she conceive the outlandish notion of becoming the sole object of the affections of lover, master, or husband. The ideal of girls like Zouhra, Nazli, Hadidjé, and Kondjé-Gul, is the life which I am now giving them; they abandon themselves to it, as to the realisation of their hopes. ”

“ My "little animals" have grown into women: this single word will convey to you the whole delicious significance of this story of mine, the secret of which you alone in the whole world possess.
As we had decided, Kondjé-Gul has been separated from her over-jealous companions. Hadidjé, Zouhra, and Nazli have taken this measure to be a confirmation of her disgrace, and knowing that she lives in a sequestered corner of the house, they fancy their triumph more assumed than ever. ”

“ The fact is that in the refined epoch, so-called, in which we live, every description of non-legitimized union in love becomes a libertinage, and the woman who abandons herself to it becomes a profane idol. Whether she be a duchess, or a foolish maid, you may write verses over her fall, but you cannot forget it. The worm is in the fruit. My love for Kondjé-Gul knows no such shame, and needs no guilty excuses. ”