off in a fright and asked suspiciously, “Do you grudge me my prosperity, my dear Giulia? Why aren’t you glad? We have left all our anxieties behind us and I cannot imagine what is on your mind.” Giulia shook her head dejectedly and said, “No, no, dear Michael. Of course I am glad of all your success, but I’m afraid for you. With your usual credulity you’ve given yourself entirely into the power of that ambitious Ibrahim. He’s more dangerous than you suspect and I would rather see you halt in time than be swept to perilous heights by clinging to the skirts of his kaftan.”
I retorted hotly that the Grand Vizier was the noblest man and finest statesman I had ever met. It was a pleasure to serve him, not only for his munificence but also for his princely conduct and his brilliant eyes. Giulia’s face darkened still further and she vowed he had bewitched me as he had bewitched the Sultan-for in no other way could she explain the strong and sinister friendship that bound Suleiman to his slave.
Greatly discomposed I told her that she with her eyes of different colors would do well not to talk of witchcraft, whereupon she burst into bitter weeping, saying that never had I so deeply, so unforgivably wounded her. I was surprised at her susceptibility on this point, for it was long since she had deplored her eyes; she had come rather to regard them as an asset, which indeed they were.
“You know I love those eyes above everything,” I assured her. “The left one is a brilliant sapphire and the right a shining topaz. Why are you so irritable today?”
Stamping with rage she cried, “Fool! I know best what my eyes are worth. But I can’t forgive you for going behind my back and getting house and land from the Grand Vizier. The idea was mine from the beginning and you opposed it. I’ve already found a site and the needed building materials. I wanted to surprise you and show you what an exceptional wife you have. Now you’ve spoiled everything. Nothing you could have done could hurt me so deeply.”
In my tender mood I could well appreciate the bitterness of her disappointment. To the best of her feminine ability she had secured a home for us, though of course it could not be so fine and tasteful as the one I meant to build. I fell on my knees before her, begged forgiveness for my ill-considered behavior, thanked her for the sacrifices she had made, kissed her slender fingers, and assured her that I had thought only of our common good and had never meant to steal a march upon her.
“But,” I asked, “what is this place that you have chosen? Above all, how could you find the money for it, for I know that nothing costs so much as building.”
“It’s an excellent site,” said Giulia, “and need not be paid for until some convenient moment. For the materials I was able to borrow money on remarkably good terms. The wives of certain wealthy Greeks and Jews desire my friendship because of my connection with the Seraglio, and their husbands have been generous with their advice and with the loan of money, with your salary as security. I hoped that the house might be ready by your return, when you could have accepted it as a present from me with nothing to do but pay for it.”
I was aghast, but she looked at me with such artless pleasure that I had not the heart to reproach her. She pressed her face against me and said with a sob, “I’m glad you’re home, though you startled me so badly. Now you can help me in all my perplexities and see to these everlasting accounts. The house would have been finished by now but for the labor of clearing the ground, for the site is on the Marmara shore near the Fort of the Seven Towers, among the ruins of the ancient Greek monastery. That was how the Greeks were able to sell it without asking leave of the Sultan. No one has ever built there before because of the cost of clearing the site, and that was how I was able to buy it so cheaply.”
I dimly remembered having seen that dreary field of ruins, haunted since the fall of Constantinople by stray dogs alone. Her senseless action set me trembling in every limb as I strove in vain to master my feelings. Giulia stared at me wide eyed. Her face took on a greenish pallor and suddenly she rose and vomited, while tears ran down her cheeks. Forgetting all else in my concern I took her gently by the shoulders and said anxiously, “My dearest! My own wife! My most precious treasure! What is it-what ails you? Is it fever, or have you eaten too rashly of salad or raw fruit?”
Giulia moaned, “Don’t look at me now, Michael, when I’m so ugly. Nothing ails me-perhaps the worry of the house has been too much-and then you looked so stern. Pay no heed. Tell me I’m an extravagant wife sent to you by God for your sins.”
I could only beg her forgiveness from the bottom of my heart. I bathed her forehead with cold wet cloths and gave her vinegar to inhale until the color returned to her cheeks. The best tonic, however, was my saddle bag, from which I now produced all the presents I had bought for her in Buda-necklaces, earrings, and a most beautiful Venetian mirror whose handle was formed by the consummate art of the silversmith into a likeness of Leda and the Swan. I was not so strict a Moslem as to shun representations of animals and men; and in any case Giulia was a Christian.
So at last we achieved perfect harmony, and Alberto hastily prepared for us a savory Italian meal. He served me attentively and showed me every mark of respect, but although in my present mood I desired to be in charity with all the world, some little thorn seemed to have lodged in my heart and I could not be reconciled to this man who hovered about us continually and with his queer, pale eyes noted every expression of my face. What vexed me most was Giulia’s invitation to him to sit with us on the floor and share our meal. Fortunately he had the grace to retire to a corner and content himself with what we left. When at last he took the plates away for the cats and the deaf-mute to lick clean I could remain silent no longer and announced with some heat that I did not care to dine with my slave, and in any case could not endure the way this repulsive man padded and slunk about me.
Giulia, deeply offended, said, “But Michael, he’s a Christian like myself. Would you deprive me of the pleasure of conversing now and then in my own language with a fellow countryman? You have your brother Andrew; you talk together in your mother tongue so that I can’t understand a word you say. Why grudge me this little consolation in my loneliness?”
I was moved by Giulia’s innocence of heart in this matter, when as a rule she was so shrewd and experienced. I said gently, “Dear Giulia, don’t misunderstand what I am going to say. Not in my wildest dreams could I ever suspect you of unfaithfulness. Yet as a husband I find it irksome in the extreme to share my house with a young man, and one whom simple-minded people might consider good looking. I know that I can trust you, but it’s my duty to safeguard your good name. I could endure him better if he were a eunuch-and indeed,” I went on, fired by the idea, “it’s not too late to make him one; he’s still fairly young. Though at one time I thought the risk of financial loss too great, because of the frequent fatality of the operation, I saw many in Buda-some of them older than Alberto-who were none the worse for it. Let us see to this immediately. Then neither I nor anyone else can have the least objection to his living in the house.”
Giulia gazed at me very searchingly as if wondering whether I were in earnest. Then a queer smile overspread her face and without a word she clapped her hands to summon Alberto. When he came she said to him, “Alberto, your master suspects that your presence here is harmful to my reputation and wishes to make a eunuch of you. He declares that the operation will not injure your health. What have you to say to this?”
Alberto’s dark face paled a little, perhaps, and he glanced at me as if judging the size of my neck. Then he turned to Giulia with an expressionless smile and answered meekly, “Madam, if I must choose between gelding and the galleys, you know what my answer will be. I don’t pretend to look forward to so disagreeable an ordeal, but my consolation is my utter indifference to women. My one desire is to devote my life to your service, and if I can please my master by submitting to this operation I will seek out a competent surgeon without delay.”
The noble candor o? this speech made me ashamed of my meditated brutality. At the same time a great weight was lifted from my heart, for if he was indeed as indifferent to women as he averred I had nothing to fear on Giulia’s account. Giulia, narrowly watching my face, said, “Well, Michael, I hope you’re properly ashamed? Is a slave to teach you nobility of conduct? You see now that there are still unselfish and loyal people in the world, and that everyone is not as ill natured as yourself. Make a eunuch of him if you like, but if you do I will never set eyes upon you again, so despicable would you then appear to me.”
By this time I was feeling like some unnatural monster, but seeing my indecision Alberto fell on his knees before me in tears and cried, “No, no, my dear master! Don’t listen to her, but have me castrated at once, for I cannot bear your distrust. I swear I shall lose nothing by it; to me women are no more than sticks and stones. The good God has given me the heart of a eunuch, for all my beard.”
They worked on me together until to my own surprise I found myself begging Giulia not to treat this selfless man so harshly. She wept and agreed to let all be as before, provided I never mentioned the matter again or insulted her faithful servant with my base suspicions. She further reminded me that if the Sultan could eat with his slave, so could I, and that Alberto was no scullion but a major-domo, such as was found in the most distinguished
