"Slay me not, sahib! My throat is sore enough with screeching to deaf ears. Soul of Govind, let go!"
Bad news can be told with scant breath. It did not take Jai Singh long to acquaint them with the dire intelligence that Nur Mahal, although received in great state by Jahangir, had openly defied him. She charged him with the murder of her gallant husband, and, woman-like, even unfairly taunted him with his cowardice in destroying by a trick one whom he dared not encounter in fair fight.
Lashed to rage by her scorn, Jahangir gave instant orders that she should be sewn in a sack and thrown to the crocodiles. But even in that servile court there lingered memories of Akbar"s justice, and the infuriated tyrant was compelled to rescind his cruel mandate before it could be executed.
Some subtle instinct of statecraft told him the better way. He boldly declared that Nur Mahal"s late husband had conspired with others to slay Kutub-ud-din, whilst Sher Afghan had himself fallen a victim to an intrigue between his wife and the Englishman, Mowbray. Ibrahim, Chief Eunuch, proved that his royal master was absolutely in ignorance of the facts until he (Ibrahim) told him certain things he had discovered. Here was actually a receipt showing that Nur Mahal had given the Feringhi jewels worth a lakh and a half of rupees. It was evident that her motive in returning to Agra was to stir up disaffection on the one hand and to purge herself of crime in the eyes of the public on the other. What better excuse could Oriental monarch devise to clear his own reputation and to confiscate the estates of Sher Afghan and the late Diwan? A royal _hukm_[L] was drawn up forthwith, and one of the richest heiresses in India became a pauper, while pensions were conferred on the relatives of those who had been unjustly slain for partic.i.p.ating in the attack on Sher Afghan.
[Footnote L: Order.]
But remorse is an invisible snake whose fangs cannot be drawn, and its venom tortured Jahangir during the few hours each day that his brain was clear of wine fumes. The prize he had so dearly bought was now within his power, yet he affected to take no notice of her. Nur Mahal was allotted a mean apartment in the seraglio. She was appointed an attendant on the king"s mother at a salary of one rupee a day, and the Dowager Queen Mariam was forbidden to show her any favor whatever.
Though this ordinance was not strictly fulfilled, Jai Singh, when he, after much difficulty and with grave peril, obtained an interview with Nur Mahal, found her doing needlework and painting silk, in which arts she excelled, to support herself and the few devoted women who refused to leave her.
Jai Singh delivered this budget in an unconcerned way that did not escape Mowbray"s ear, for, in the gloom, he could not see the Rajput"s face.
"Nur Mahal knows that we are marching to Agra with the Portuguese captives?" he asked, when Jai Singh seemed to invite questions rather than continue his recital.
"a.s.suredly, sahib. How else could I explain my presence there?"
"Did it need explanation? Was there no knowledge of Jahangir"s intent to capture me?"
The other hesitated, and Mowbray cried bitterly:--
"Tell all thy tale, Jai Singh, or else leave me in peace."
"Hush, sahib! Not so loud. I swear by Khuda I am party to no device against your Excellency. If I look through gla.s.s I can see what is beyond, but if I look into a woman"s mind I peer at the reflection of my own conceits. I can only tell you of things as they are. When I seek to fathom Nur Mahal"s thoughts I am gazing into a mirror."
"Forgive my haste, Jai Singh, and speak on."
"My story is nearly ended, sahib. At dawn you march to the next camping-ground, which will surely be on the south side of a big nullah fourteen miles ahead. While perched in the tree I noted the lie of the camp, and, doubtless, it is the same each night. At the eleventh hour I and threescore followers will cross the nullah. Be ready! Strike fearlessly when you hear an owl hoot three times. If the commotion starts in the center they will think the devil has broken loose when the real attack comes from the flank. There will be led horses in plenty once we ford the nullah, provided you tell me now how many will escape with you."
"And then?"
"Then we ride to the east and back to the south."
"Whither bound?"
"To Burdwan. Nowhere else can we obtain shelter until we make our next move."
"The plan is Nur Mahal"s?"
"You forget, sahib, it is your own."
"But she approves. What of her? Does she bide in Agra?"
"She bides there, sahib, if that be your wish."
"Ah! Was that her word to you?"
"Nothing could be clearer, sahib. If you choose to help her she will escape from the palace and join you at an agreed place. If your only desire is to make for the sea I am pledged to her on Ganges water to aid you with money and life."
"But she is poor, you said, obliged to adorn others not worthy to adjust her gown if beauty were alone to wait on the most beautiful?"
"There is money in plenty for the removal of Jahangir," was the laconic answer.
"Hearest thou, Roger?" said Mowbray, reaching out to touch his comrade"s arm in the dark.
"Aye, lad, I hear," came the giant"s low growl. ""Tis a pity affairs are ordered differently, else we should see some pretty fighting."
Jai Singh, too, leaned forward. He thought they were agreeing that he had planned most excellently. Already he could sniff the sacking of Agra fort, in which the acc.u.mulated treasure was so great, when Akbar had an inventory made, that four hundred pairs of scales were kept at work five months weighing silver, gold, and precious stones. His breath came thick and fast. His voice gurgled just as it did under the pressure of Mowbray"s hands on his windpipe. A revolt now, properly handled, would mean the loot of a century.
""Twill soon be sunrise, sahiba," he said. "I must be going. Remember, the eleventh hour--three hoots--"
"Stay, Jai Singh," said Walter, quietly. "There must be no attempt at a rescue. If any attack be made on the column, Sainton-sahib and I will strike hard for Fateh Mohammed. We have given our bond to accompany him to the very presence of Jahangir. G.o.d helping us we will maintain our honor in this matter as in all others. Go you, and tell Nur Mahal what I have said. There is no other way. We are pledged to meet the Emperor face to face as his prisoners, and he must do with us what he wills, or, rather, what G.o.d wills."
"Sahib, you know not what you are refusing."
"Go, nevertheless, Jai Singh, and tell Nur Mahal that I have refused.
Perchance, now, she may hasten alone to Burdwan."
"Hear me, sahib, I beseech you. She rode to Agra meaning to marry Jahangir, but her gorge rose at the sight of him. Do not hold her guilty of deceiving you. It was your memory which forced bitter words from her lips when the Emperor expected her kisses."
"It may be so. But when you gave your oath by the sacred Ganges you meant to keep it?"
"Until death, sahib."
"Know then, Jai Singh, that Sainton-sahib and I have given our word to Fateh Mohammed. An Englishman"s word is strong as any vow by holy river.
You have discharged your trust most faithfully--would that I could reward you! But I am penniless. Even certain diamonds, concerning which Jahangir was rightly informed, are part of my bond. Leave us, good friend, and warn Nur Mahal that we are, perhaps, less able to help her than she to help us."
CHAPTER XVI
"And when a lady"s in the case, You know all other things give place."
_Gay_, "The Hare and Many Friends."
Fateh Mohammed, whose name, literally translated, meant "The Victorious and Praised," intended to halt his cohort a short day"s ride from Agra, in order to patch its way-worn aspect into some semblance of dignity ere he entered the presence of the King of Kings. Had he ever heard of Falstaff he might well have cried with Sir John: "No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I"ll not march through Coventry with them, that"s flat." The wear and tear of seven hundred miles had pressed so heavily on the resources of guards and prisoners alike that their clothes and accouterments did, indeed, require some furbishing. In this ragged regiment the Englishmen and their Rajputs alone presented a reputable appearance.
But, stout though he was, and otherwise much resembling plump Jack in his rascally tastes, Fateh Mohammed possessed a fair share of Eastern wiliness, so he took good care to apprise Jahangir beforehand of the curious conditions under which he was bringing to the capital the two men whose presence there was so greatly desired by his imperial master.
The recital naturally showed that the fat man was a model of zeal and discretion. If the Conqueror of the World regarded the Giaours as malefactors, here they were, ready to be bound and dealt with according to the King"s command, but, should it happen to please the Planet-born to treat them as friends, naught had been done to give ground for other supposition, save in such slight and easily arranged matters as disarming them and holding certain valuable securities for their observance of the pact agreed upon.
Hence, Fateh Mohammed felt neither "victorious" nor "praised" when a high official, accompanied by a glittering retinue, rode out from Agra and greeted Mowbray and Sainton with much deference, inviting them to return with him forthwith and accept the Emperor"s hospitality! They had gone through so many vicissitudes of late that this bewildering att.i.tude on the part of the Mogul monarch left them outwardly unmoved though inwardly amazed. No one could be more surprised than Mowbray, the too successful prophet of the royal intent. Yet he bowed his polite acceptance of the proffered honors, and his manner was discretion itself when Fateh Mohammed, jelly-like in agitation, expressing his regrets with the spluttering haste of water poured from a narrow-necked bottle, hastened to restore not only the cedar box with its contents intact, but also the swords and daggers stolen from the Englishmen while they slept.
Mowbray did not know then that the court official had curtly told Fateh Mohammed he was in grave peril of being hanged on the nearest tree if Jahangir had reason to complain of his treatment of the strangers. It was in vain that the fat man pleaded the Emperor"s written instructions, which were ambiguous certainly, but which must be interpreted by his Majesty"s anxiety to secure the presence of the two Feringhis at Agra.
"If you interpret a King"s wishes you run the risk of making a false translation," was the chilling response, so Fateh Mohammed was left alternately thanking the Prophet that he had not obeyed his inclinations and slain the Giaours when he learnt how they had hoodwinked him, and shivering with fear lest, after all, Jahangir might find cause to be displeased with him.
Therefore, he groveled before Mowbray, and, like Prince Henry"s sack-loving companion, wished "it were bedtime and all well."