Arethusa Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  Rustan stayed behind to shut the outer door, and Zoe felt that she wascarried as much as twenty paces forward and upwards before the bearersstood still at last. Then the sliding panel opened, letting in light,and a strange voice told her to get out. She turned inside thepalanquin and thrust out her naked feet. As she put them down,expecting to touch bare earth or a stone pavement, they rested on arough carpet; at the same instant she sat on the edge of the litterbending her head to get out of it and looking round curiously.

  Rustan was not there, and in his place she saw a huge young negresswith flaming red hair and rolling eyes, who roughly ordered theporters to take away the palanquin and at the same time caught Zoe'swrist, whether to help her to stand upright or to secure her person itwas hard to say. The girl was much more fearless than Omobono, theVenetian secretary, and she was not frightened by the gigantic woman'sappearance, as he had been. In getting out she had managed to gatherthe cloak round her, so that the men should not see her in her rags;for there was light in the large room where she found herself, and nowthat she could look about her she saw a dozen or more girls and youngwomen standing in small groups a few paces behind the negress. Theysurveyed the new arrival curiously, but with different expressions.Some seemed to pity her, others smiled as if to welcome her; onegood-looking girl had noticed that she had no shoes, and her lipcurled contemptuously at such a proof of abject poverty, for sheherself was the daughter of a prosperous Caucasian horse-thief who hadbrought her up in plenty and ease in order that she might fetch a highprice. The bearers had now left the room and there were no menpresent. Zoe vaguely wished that they would come back, even the blackbearers of the litter, for she felt a very womanly woman's distrust ofher own sex, where so many who were strangers, and possibly notwell-disposed to her, were gathered together to look at her.

  The negress surveyed her critically by the light of the large bronzelamp that stood on a stand beside her, and showed her sharp teeth inan approving smile that made her thick upper lip roll upwards onitself. She took the cloak from Zoe's shoulders and scrutinised herhalf-clad figure, till she blushed red. Then the daughter of theCaucasian horse-thief laughed rudely, and some of the others titteredwhile the negress gently pinched Zoe's bare arms and neck to judge oftheir firmness and of her general condition. Apparently theexamination was tolerably satisfactory, for the woman nodded andgrinned again. As yet not a word had been spoken since she haddismissed the bearers, but now she turned towards the other girls andcalled two of them.

  'Lucilla and Yulia, you shall wait on her,' she said in Greek. 'Therest of you, to bed! It is already three hours of the night.'

  Two dark-skinned girls in coarse blue linen clothes came forward withalacrity, evidently much pleased at being chosen for the office. Theywere ordinary slave-girls of fourteen or fifteen years, who would besold for house-work, and had no pretensions to good looks. Theirtightly plaited black hair was compressed into the smallest possiblespace at the backs of their heads, and they wore small red caps,coarsely embroidered, but neat and fresh. Their faces were much alikethough they were not sisters. Zoe saw instantly that they werechildren of slaves of nondescript breed with a small admixture ofAfrican blood, of the race that swarmed in Constantinople.

  'Go to bed, I say!' cried the negress to the others, seeing that someof them were inclined to linger. 'Be off!'

  They saw her hand move towards the whip in her girdle and they ran forthe door, crowding on each other like sheep at the gate when the dogsdrive them into the fold. Having produced this desired result, thenegress turned to Zoe again, and her manner suddenly became caressingand almost fawning.

  'You are mistress here, Kokona,' she said. 'These two girls shall waiton you while our humble roof is honoured by your presence. If you havethe slightest cause of discontent with their service, only tell me,and they shall be taught their duty.'

  Again her hand went significantly to her girdle, and she rolled herterrible eyes. The two maids shrank visibly at a threat of which theyhad already felt the meaning.

  Zoe was not so dull as to misunderstand the negress's manner. Thefavourite slave of some high and mighty personage, of the Emperorhimself, perhaps, would have power, if only for a time, and the wifeof Karaboghazji lost no time in making a bid for such patronage.

  'I am a slave, as these girls are,' Zoe answered, laying a kindly handon the shoulder of the one nearest to her.

  Both maids gazed up into her face with a sort of wondering gratitude.

  'I am here to be sold, just as you are,' Zoe added, returning theirlook. The negress laughed loudly, for she was evidently in a goodhumour.

  'Also the noble peacock and the sparrow are both birds, though thefeathers are different!' she cried. 'But the Kokona is hungry andcold,' she continued, in a tone of servile anxiety for Zoe's comfort.'Will she not perhaps take a bath and change her clothes beforesupper? Everything is ready.'

  'I have supped,' answered Zoe, who had eaten a piece of black bread,'but as for clothes, I should like to put on the cloak again, for Ifeel cold.'

  She had hardly spoken before the two maids had wrapped her in the warmmantle.

  'Thank you,' she said to them, and she turned to the negress. 'Youseem to be mistress here. May I go to bed now?'

  'Yes, I am the mistress,' answered the African woman, all her teethgleaming in the lamplight. 'I am Rustan Karaboghazji's wife, Kokona.'

  Zoe could not repress a movement of surprise. The negress laughed.

  'Rustan is a wise man,' she said with a tremendous grin. 'It ischeaper to marry one woman with a strong hand than to keep a couple ofsmooth-faced thieves for gaolers, as most of the people in ourbusiness do. If the Kokona will please to follow me I will show herthe room I have prepared.'

  Zoe bent her head and followed, for the negress was already leadingthe way. They entered a room of fair dimensions which had evidentlybeen got ready with considerable care, for it contained everythingthat a woman accustomed to comfort could require. A good Persiancarpet covered the floor; a narrow, but handsomely chiselled bronzebedstead was furnished with two mattresses, spotless linen, and a warmcoverlet of silk and wool; on a marble table stood a little mirror ofpolished metal, before which lay two ivory combs and a number of ivoryand silver hairpins and other little things needful for a woman'stoilet; there stood also a gilt lamp with three beaks, which shed apleasant light upon everything; a low curtained door at the end of theroom gave access to the small bathroom, where another little lamp wasburning. The negress drew the curtain back and showed the place toZoe, who had certainly not expected to spend her first night ofslavery in such luxurious quarters. Rustan's wife opened a largewardrobe, too, and showed her a plentiful supply of fine linen andclothes, neatly folded and lying on shelves. In the middle of the rooma round table was prepared with three dishes, one containing somesmall cold birds, another a salad, and a third mixed sweetmeats, andthere was also wine and water in small silver flagons, and one silverdrinking-cup. It was long indeed since Zoe had seen anything likethis, and her eyes smarted suddenly when she realised that theslave-dealer's prison reminded her faintly of her old home. For it wasa prison after all; she guessed that beyond the shutters of the closedwindow there were stout iron bars, and as she had entered she had seena big key in the lock on the outside of the door.

  'It is late,' said the negress, when she had shown everything. 'Thegirls will sleep on the floor, for the carpet is good and there aretwo blankets for them, there in the corner. Good-night, Kokona. Bywhat name shall I call the Kokona? The Kokona will excuse herservant's ignorance!'

  Zoe hesitated a moment. She had not thought of changing her name, butnow she felt all at once that as a slave she must cut off allconnection with her former life. What if the personage who was to buyher should turn out to have known her mother, and even herself, andshould recognise her by her name? A resemblance of face could beexplained away, but her face and her name together would certainlybetray her. It was not so much that she feared the open shame of be
ingrecognised as Michael Rhangabe's adopted daughter; she had grown usedto the meaning of the word slavery during those last desperate days.But people would not fail to say that Kyria Agatha had sold heradopted daughter into slavery in order to save herself and her ownchildren from misery. Zoe could prevent that, and she onlyhesitated long enough to choose the name by which she was to be known.

  'Call me Arethusa,' she said.

  Her thoughts had flown back to the deed of justice she meant to do ifshe should ever be near the Emperor Andronicus; and if Arete had comelater to mean virtue, it had meant courage first, manly, unflinchingcourage; and as Zoe was only a Greek girl and not a German professor,she naturally supposed that Arete was the very word from whichArethusa was derived.

  'It is a fine name,' observed her gaoler obsequiously.

  'And what shall I call you?' asked Zoe.

  'I am Kyria Karaboghazji.' The negress tossed her flaming head andsmiled with satisfied vanity. 'My husband calls me Zoe,' she added,with an amazing smirk, and some affectation of shyness.

  'Zoe!' The high-born girl repeated her own name in genuineastonishment.

  'Yes,' replied the negress. 'Rustan is very affectionate. He says that I am his Zoe, his "life," because he would surely die of starvation without me!']

  'Yes,' replied the negress. 'Rustan is very affectionate. He says thatI am his Zoe, his "life," because he would surely die of starvationwithout me!'

  'I see,' said the Greek girl.

  She would not have believed that before lying down in her prison thatnight she would be forced to make an effort to suppress a laugh.

  'And now it is growing late,' said the negress again, 'and Rustan iswondering why I do not come to comb his beard and smooth his pillow,and prepare his drink for the night. Good-night, Kokona Arethusa! MayHoly Charalambos send you dreams of delight!'

  'And to you also, Kyria Karaboghazji,' Zoe answered, though the formof the woman's salutation was new to her.

  The negress went out, still much pleased with herself, and swaying hermassive hips as she walked. She shut the door, and Zoe heard the bigkey move in the lock.

  The two slave-girls had stood at a respectful distance throughout theconversation, their hands crossed submissively and their eyes bent onthe floor, for Rustan's wife had already taught them manners in orderto improve their price. But she was no sooner gone than they looked ateach other, and their lips began to twitch nervously; in anothermoment they were both seized with a convulsion of silent laughter.They shook from head to foot, they held their sides, they bent andswayed, and twisted their hands together, but not a sound escapedtheir lips. Beyond this, they could not control their mirth, and whilethey laughed they looked anxiously at Zoe.

  She herself could not help smiling when she thought of the negress'senormous self-satisfaction, but presently she shook her head at thegirls and laid her finger on her lips. Their amusement subsidedquickly, for though she seemed kind, they knew what they had to expectif one word from her should expose them to the negress's displeasure.

  Zoe was very tired, now that the great sacrifice was made, and she letthe slave-girls help her as much as they would. They even made her eatsomething and drink a little water. Now and then, when they looked upat her, she patted them on the shoulder and smiled faintly, but herthoughts were far away in the ruined house in the beggars' quarter.When the girls had helped her in the bath and had dried her feet thathad been stained with mud and blue with the cold, they chafed themwith their hands and kissed them.

  'They are like two little white mice!' said Yulia, laughing softly.

  'No, they are like young doves!' said Lucilla.

  And they each slipped one of her feet into a slipper of deerskin; andthen they clothed her for the night, in fine dry linen and a smallgreen silk jacket. They were skilful with their hands though they werestill so young, and she let them do what they thought she needed, andlay down at last, to be covered and tucked in as warmly andcomfortably as when Kyria Agatha used to put her to bed, before theboys had been born and had taken her place.

  In a few minutes the little maids had put out the lamp, leaving onlythe small light in the bath; then they noiselessly devoured all thesweetmeats left on the table, after which they curled themselves uponthe carpet under their blankets and were asleep in a moment, likeyoung animals.

  For a few moments Zoe still tried to think; tired though she was, shehated herself for being able to rest in such comfort while KyriaAgatha was perhaps awake under her pile of rags, and Nectaria washugging the straw to keep a little warmth in her old body. But thenshe thought of the morrow, and of all that Nectaria would do with thegold for the sick woman and the little boys, and in this soothingreflexion she was borne softly away out of this world of slavery,through the ivory gates to the infinite gardens of dreamland.

  She was waked by the sunshine streaming into the room through thewindow, and as she opened her eyes she saw the iron bars, andremembered where she was. She sighed, for she had been happy in hersleep. The girls were sitting cross-legged on the carpet, side byside, at a little distance, silently awaiting her pleasure. She turnedher head on the pillow and lay on one side, looking at their smalldark faces; but she did not speak to them yet. They were very muchalike, she thought, commonplace girls, differing so little fromthousands of other young slaves in the great city, that it would behard for her to recognise them, if she should not see them for a fewdays. They would be disposed of soon, of course, for there was alwaysa demand for healthy young house slaves who had been properly taught.She envied them their homely features, their coarse black hair, theirangular figures, their sallow cheeks, and their cunning little blackeyes. They could only be sold as workers. All her life Zoe had heardthe price of house-slaves discussed, even more freely than the priceof clothes or jewels, and she knew that neither of the girls was worthmore than five-and-twenty ducats. She wondered what Rustan meant toask for herself; he would certainly not demand less than double thesum he had paid.

  While she was reflecting on these questions, and wishing all the timethat she might have news of Kyria Agatha during the day, the big keymoved in the Persian lock. The two girls sprang to their feet andstood in a respectful attitude, Zoe turned her eyes as she heard thesound, the door opened, and the negress's flaming head appeared in thesunlight. She saw that Zoe was awake, and she entered the room,shutting the door behind her. She greeted her valuable prisoner in thehalf-familiar, half-obsequious tone she had adopted from the first,asking her how she had slept, and whether the little maids had donetheir duty. The latter question was accompanied by a fierce look atthe two girls. Zoe answered that they were most skilful and wellbehaved. The negress looked at the remains of the supper on the table.

  'So the Kokona Arethusa is fond of sweetmeats,' she observed. 'Sheeats only a mouthful from one bird and all the sugar-plums!'

  Zoe was on the point of uttering an exclamation of surprised denial,when she met the terrified eyes of the two slave-girls and checkedherself with a smile.

  'I am very fond of sweets,' she answered carelessly.

  The black woman seemed satisfied and turned from the table. She openedthe wardrobe next, and selected what she considered the handsomest ofthe dresses that lay folded on the shelves within. Zoe watched hercuriously. She unfolded garments of apple-green silk, and one ofpeach-coloured Persian velvet embroidered with silver, with a sash ofplaited green silk and gold threads. The two girls took the thingsfrom her and laid them out.

  'Surely,' Zoe said, 'you do not wish me to wear those clothes!'

  'They are very good clothes,' observed the negress coaxingly. 'Look atthis velvet coat! There are even seed-pearls in the embroidery, and itis quite new and fresh. My husband bought it from the Blachernaepalace, when Handsome John was imprisoned. It belonged to one of thefavourite ladies. The slaves who ran away stole all the things andsold them.'

  'I would rather wear something plainer,' said Zoe; but at the mentionof the captive Emperor her brown eyes had grown very dark and hard,and h
er voice almost trembled.

  'Kokona Arethusa must look her best this morning,' objected Rustan'swife. 'She will receive a visit.'

  Zoe started a little, and instinctively drew the bed-clothes up to herchin.

  'Already!' she exclaimed in a low tone.

  The negress grinned from ear to ear.

  'The Kokona will perhaps not spend another night under our humbleroof,' she said. 'I do not know anything certainly as yet, because thecustomer has not seen you,' she continued more familiarly, 'but Rustanhas consulted the astrologer, who says that these are fortunate daysfor our buying and our selling. So I do not doubt but that thecustomer will be pleased with your looks, Kokona, for indeed, though Ido not wish to flatter you, we have not entertained such a beauty inour modest home for a long time!'

  All this was, of course, intended to put Zoe in a good humour, inorder that she might produce an agreeable impression on the expectedpurchaser. Rustan had once missed a very good bargain because themerchandise had burst into tears at the wrong moment.

  'What sort of person is the customer?' asked the girl. 'Do you knowwho he is?'

  She asked the question quietly, but she held her breath as she waitedfor the reply.

  'I forget his name,' answered the negress after a moment's thought.'He is a foreigner, a rich young merchant who lives in a fine house bythe Golden Horn.'

  'A Christian, then?' Zoe asked, controlling her voice.

  The other pretended to be shocked.

  'Does the Kokona Arethusa believe that Rustan would be so wicked as tosell a Christian maid to the Turks? Rustan is a very devout man,Kokona! He would not do such an irreligious thing!'

  Zoe remembered the allowance of three copper pennies daily, and how hehad driven her to sell herself for Kyria Agatha's sake; but she didnot care to impugn Rustan's piety.

  'So the astrologer says that I shall be sold to-day,' she observedwith an affectation of carelessness, though her heart was sinking, andshe felt a little sick. 'Is he a great astrologer?'

  'He is Rustan's friend, Gorlias Pietrogliant,' answered the negress,who was now turning over certain fine linen in the wardrobe. 'Yes, heis a good star-gazer, especially for merchants. He is very poor, butmany have grown rich through consulting him.'

  She found what she wanted, and held up a beautifully embroideredgarment of linen as fine as a web.

  'And if you are so fortunate as to go to the rich merchant's house,'she added, 'you may win favour of him by telling him to consultGorlias about his affairs whenever he is in doubt.'

  'Gorlias.' Zoe repeated the name, for she had never heard it.

  'Gorlias Pietrogliant, who lives near the church of Saint Sergius andSaint Bacchus. Every one in that quarter knows him.'

  'I shall remember,' Zoe said.

  She understood at last why Rustan had been in the habit of going oftento that church, where she had been kneeling in a dark corner when hehad first seen her. Thence he had followed her to the ruined house.But she did not know that it was part of his regular business tofrequent the churches of the poorest quarters, because it was therethat starving girls were most often to be seen, praying to heaven forthe bread that so rarely came from that direction. Many a good bargainhad Rustan made by following a poor little ragged figure with a prettyface to a den of misery, and he was a perfect expert in doling outalms until his victim yielded or was forced to yield by her parents,for a handful of gold; nor has his method of conducting the businessgreatly changed, even in our own day, excepting that the slave-dealersthemselves are mostly women now.

  Having selected all the garments necessary for Zoe's costume, thenegress bade one of the slave-girls take away the remains of thesupper and bring what was already prepared for the morning. The maidobeyed, and was not gone two minutes. She brought in a bowl ofcherries, with white bread and butter and fresh water, all on apolished tray of chiselled brass.

  'Fruit is better for the health than sweetmeats at this time of day,'observed the mistress of the house. 'By and by, at dinner, the Kokonashall have all she wishes.'

  The little slaves looked at Zoe furtively and she smiled.

  'Yes,' she said, 'fruit is much better in the morning.'

  Rustan's wife came and stood beside the bed and scrutinised Zoe'sface.

  'I think,' she said critically, 'that as the customer is a foreigner,it will be better not to paint your eyes. The natural shadows underthem are not bad.'

  'I never painted my face in my life!' cried the girl, ratherindignantly.

  'And the Kokona is quite right!' answered the negress, anxious to keepher in a good humour. 'Besides,' she continued, fawning again, 'I amhere only to do your bidding and to wait on you to-day. Will it pleaseyou to bathe now? I shall wait on you myself.'

  'The little maids are very quick and clever,' objected Zoe, whohardly looked upon the strapping African as a woman.

  'No doubt, Kokona, but this is a part of our business, and I do itbetter than they.'

  'I would rather let them help me, if I must be helped,' said Zoe.'But, indeed, I am quite used to dressing myself.'

  'And pray,' argued the negress, grinning and growing familiar again,'how could Rustan give his customers a written guarantee, unless Iassured him, that there is no cause for complaint, no blemish, noscar, no hidden deformity, no ugly birthmark?'

  Zoe turned her face away on the pillow.

  'I had not thought of that,' she answered.

  'Heaven forbid that I should myself,' returned the woman, relapsinginto her obsequious manner again, 'if it were not to save the youngKokona from any trouble or annoyance with our customer! If it will butplease her to call herself my mistress and me her slave, she shall notbe disappointed. If I am rough or clumsy she shall box my earswhenever she pleases, and I shall not complain!'

  The little maids devoutly wished that Zoe would avail herself of theirtyrant's extraordinary offer, but they dared not smile. She stillturned her face away and was silent.

  'See!' coaxed the African. 'I take off my coat!' She suited the actionto the word and divested herself of her outer garment, which was thelong coat and skirt in one, worn only by free women. 'I cover my head,in the Kokona's presence!' She quickly flattened her wild red hairunder a kerchief which she knotted at the back of her neck. 'I roll upmy sleeves! Am I anything but a slave, a bath-woman? Why will thebeautiful Kokona not let me wait on her?'

  Zoe turned her eyes and saw the change, and suddenly her objectionvanished; for Rustan's wife looked precisely like the blackslave-women who used to attend the ladies in the Roman bath inRhangabe's palace. The association of ideas was so strong that theyoung girl could not help smiling faintly.

  'As you please,' she said, raising herself upon one hand and preparingto get up.