CHAPTER XII

PARVATI

During our absence a little Princess had been born in the Palace of Golconda.

Alemguir, overflowing with joy, brought her to show me, in her baby robes of lace.

What a darling she was! How pretty, and fragile.... She was like a Flower!

Her little hand held a golden rattle, and round her neck was a string of great pearls that looked like drops of frozen milk.

They had called her _Parvati_, which is the name of a Goddess. I was filled with deep emotion at the sight of her. My heart beat violently.... But I could only express my feelings by awkwardly shuffling from one foot to the other.

Saphire-of-Heaven had been at the point of death, and they had concealed from her the reverses of the army, and the defeat and capture of her husband, the Prince. She had learned at one and the same time of the dangers he had encountered, and of his present safety. And the anticipation of seeing her husband so soon had aided her convalescence.

When she learned the part I had played in his escape, she came solemnly to thank me. To my great embarrassment she knelt before me, and did me homage, as they had done in Siam. Then she declared that, as my poor Mahout had been killed in battle, I should never have another, but should only be waited on by servants, having shown an intelligence so superior as to make it unnecessary to exercise control over me.

I was hereafter to be allowed complete liberty, in the Park, and throughout the Domain, both in the city and in the country, whenever I chose to walk out by myself.

Then began for me a most delightful existence. I felt as if I had been elevated to the dignity of a human being! And the sense of responsibility attached to this new condition inspired me with the resolve to avoid at all times giving trouble, or creating disturbance--and of proving myself worthy of the trust reposed in me.

Oh! what pleasure to leave the city, and go out into the fields and on to the forest!--and to roam freely under its branches, treading the underbrush, pulling up the young trees, as of old, without being obliged to consider and restrain my motions, as I was forced to do so often in surroundings that were too small for my stature.

I was able now to use some of my extra strength, and this rested and soothed me delightfully....

But after a few hours I began to feel how impossible it would be for me to endure the former solitude--how superior to myself I had become; and how entirely weaned from savage life.

A restlessness would seize me, a desire to see my Masters--my Friends, rather!... A fear of being lost, abandoned--of not being able to find my way back came upon me.

I would hasten towards the city, relieved as soon as I saw the walls of Golconda--its domes, the colour of snow--its slender minarets, more beautiful than the palms of the forest! Once inside the walls, I loitered about the streets, sauntering through the bazaars, where everyone took pains to offer me something good.

Then I would enter the Palace, and my first thought was always to seek the little Princess Parvati. I would find her surrounded by her nurses and maid-servants, among gardens of jasmine and roses, and I would stand and watch her from a distance, absorbed in delighted admiration.

Slowly I watched her bloom, from day to day, from month to month; soon she was able to roll about on the flowery lawn, and walk, on hands and feet, like a young animal; then she stood up and began to take her first steps among out-stretched arms....