unapproachable, incapable of passionate, self-forgetting devotion? Was
there no way of lighting up in her the sacred fire which burnt in him?
He was tormented by many doubts and a bitter feeling of disappointment,
and a crowd of suspicions forced themselves upon him, which would never
have troubled him if only he had seen her once more, had heard her happy
words of love, and felt his lips consecrated by his mistress' first kiss.

He was out of spirits, indeed out of temper, as he entered the Arab
general's dwelling. In the anteroom he was met by rejected petitioners,
and he said to himself, with a bitter smile, that he had just been sent
about his business in the same unsatisfied mood--yes, sent about his
business--and by whom?

He was announced, and his spirits rose a little when he was at once
admitted and led past many, who were left waiting, into the Arab
governor's presence-chamber. He was received with paternal warmth; and,
when Amru heard that Orion and the patriarch had come to high words, he
jumped up and holding out both his hands exclaimed:

"My right hand on that, my friend; come over to Islam, and with my left I
will appoint you your father's successor, in the Khaliff's name, in spite
of your youth. Away with hesitation! Clasp hands; at once, quickly! I
cannot bear to quit Egypt and know that there is no governor at Memphis!"

The blood tingled in the young man's veins. His father's successor!
He, the new Mukaukas! How it flattered his ambition, what a way to all
activity it opened out to him! It dazzled his vision, and moved him
strongly to grasp the right hand which his generous patron still held out
to him. But suddenly his excited fancy showed him the image of the
Redeemer with whom he had entered into a silent covenant in the church,