“Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which
could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a
number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly
inexperienced as I was. “The name of the old man was De Lacey. He was descended from a good family in
France, where he had lived for many years in affluence, respected by his
superiors and beloved by his equals. His son was bred in the service of his
country, and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the highest distinction. A few
months before my arrival they had lived in a large and luxurious city called
Paris, surrounded by friends and possessed of every enjoyment which virtue,
refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortune, could
afford. “The father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin. He was a Turkish
merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years, when, for some reason which I
could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government. He was seized and cast
into prison the very day that Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him. He
was tried and condemned to death. The injustice of his sentence was very
flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that his religion and
wealth rather than the crime alleged against him had been the cause of his
condemnation. “Felix had accidentally been present at the trial; his horror and indignation
were uncontrollable when he heard the decision of the court. He made, at that
moment, a solemn vow to deliver him and then looked around for the means. After
many fruitless attempts to gain admittance to the prison, he found a strongly
grated window in an unguarded part of the building, which lighted the dungeon
of the unfortunate Muhammadan, who, loaded with chains, waited in despair the
execution of the barbarous sentence. Felix visited the grate at night and made
known to the prisoner his intentions in his favour. The Turk, amazed and
delighted, endeavoured to kindle the zeal of his deliverer by promises of
reward and wealth. Felix rejected his offers with contempt, yet when he saw the
lovely Safie, who was allowed to visit her father and who by her gestures
expressed her lively gratitude, the youth could not help owning to his own mind
that the captive possessed a treasure which would fully reward his toil and
hazard. “The Turk quickly perceived the impression that his daughter had made on the
heart of Felix and endeavoured to secure him more entirely in his interests by
the promise of her hand in marriage so soon as he should be conveyed to a place
of safety. Felix was too delicate to accept this offer, yet he looked forward
to the probability of the event as to the consummation of his happiness. “During the ensuing days, while the preparations were going forward for the
escape of the merchant, the zeal of Felix was warmed by several letters that he
received from this lovely girl, who found means to express her thoughts in the
language of her lover by the aid of an old man, a servant of her father who
understood French. She thanked him in the most ardent terms for his intended
services towards her parent, and at the same time she gently deplored her own
fate. “I have copies of these letters, for I found means, during my residence in the
hovel, to procure the implements of writing; and the letters were often in the
hands of Felix or Agatha. Before I depart I will give them to you; they will
prove the truth of my tale; but at present, as the sun is already far declined,
I shall only have time to repeat the substance of them to you. “Safie related that her mother was a Christian Arab, seized and made a slave by
the Turks; recommended by her beauty, she had won the heart of the father of
Safie, who married her. The young girl spoke in high and enthusiastic terms of
her mother, who, born in freedom, spurned the bondage to which she was now
reduced. She instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion and taught
her to aspire to higher powers of intellect and an independence of spirit
forbidden to the female followers of Muhammad. This lady died, but her lessons
were indelibly impressed on the mind of Safie, who sickened at the prospect of
again returning to Asia and being immured within the walls of a harem, allowed
only to occupy herself with infantile amusements, ill-suited to the temper of
her soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation for virtue. The
prospect of marrying a Christian and remaining in a country where women were
allowed to take a rank in society was enchanting to her. “The day for the execution of the Turk was fixed, but on the night previous to
it he quitted his prison and before morning was distant many leagues from
Paris. Felix had procured passports in the name of his father, sister, and
himself. He had previously communicated his plan to the former, who aided the
deceit by quitting his house, under the pretence of a journey and concealed
himself, with his daughter, in an obscure part of Paris. “Felix conducted the fugitives through France to Lyons and across Mont Cenis to
Leghorn, where the merchant had decided to wait a favourable opportunity of
passing into some part of the Turkish dominions. “Safie resolved to remain with her father until the moment of his departure,
before which time the Turk renewed his promise that she should be united to his
deliverer; and Felix remained with them in expectation of that event; and in
the meantime he enjoyed the society of the Arabian, who exhibited towards him
the simplest and tenderest affection. They conversed with one another through
the means of an interpreter, and sometimes with the interpretation of looks;
and Safie sang to him the divine airs of her native country. “The Turk allowed this intimacy to take place and encouraged the hopes of the
youthful lovers, while in his heart he had formed far other plans. He loathed
the idea that his daughter should be united to a Christian, but he feared the
resentment of Felix if he should appear lukewarm, for he knew that he was still
in the power of his deliverer if he should choose to betray him to the Italian
state which they inhabited. He revolved a thousand plans by which he should be
enabled to prolong the deceit until it might be no longer necessary, and
secretly to take his daughter with him when he departed. His plans were
facilitated by the news which arrived from Paris. “The government of France were greatly enraged at the escape of their victim
and spared no pains to detect and punish his deliverer. The plot of Felix was
quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison. The news
reached Felix and roused him from his dream of pleasure. His blind and aged
father and his gentle sister lay in a noisome dungeon while he enjoyed the free
air and the society of her whom he loved. This idea was torture to him. He
quickly arranged with the Turk that if the latter should find a favourable
opportunity for escape before Felix could return to Italy, Safie should remain
as a boarder at a convent at Leghorn; and then, quitting the lovely Arabian, he
hastened to Paris and delivered himself up to the vengeance of the law, hoping
to free De Lacey and Agatha by this proceeding. “He did not succeed. They remained confined for five months before the trial
took place, the result of which deprived them of their fortune and condemned
them to a perpetual exile from their native country. “They found a miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany, where I discovered
them. Felix soon learned that the treacherous Turk, for whom he and his family
endured such unheard-of oppression, on discovering that his deliverer was thus
reduced to poverty and ruin, became a traitor to good feeling and honour and
had quitted Italy with his daughter, insultingly sending Felix a pittance of
money to aid him, as he said, in some plan of future maintenance. “Such were the events that preyed on the heart of Felix and rendered him, when
I first saw him, the most miserable of his family. He could have endured
poverty, and while this distress had been the meed of his virtue, he gloried in
it; but the ingratitude of the Turk and the loss of his beloved Safie were
misfortunes more bitter and irreparable. The arrival of the Arabian now infused
new life into his soul. “When the news reached Leghorn that Felix was deprived of his wealth and rank,
the merchant commanded his daughter to think no more of her lover, but to
prepare to return to her native country. The generous nature of Safie was
outraged by this command; she attempted to expostulate with her father, but he
left her angrily, reiterating his tyrannical mandate. “A few days after, the Turk entered his daughter’s apartment and told her
hastily that he had reason to believe that his residence at Leghorn had been
divulged and that he should speedily be delivered up to the French government;
he had consequently hired a vessel to convey him to Constantinople, for which
city he should sail in a few hours. He intended to leave his daughter under the
care of a confidential servant, to follow at her leisure with the greater part
of his property, which had not yet arrived at Leghorn. “When alone, Safie resolved in her own mind the plan of conduct that it would
become her to pursue in this emergency. A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to
her; her religion and her feelings were alike averse to it. By some papers of
her father which fell into her hands she heard of the exile of her lover and
learnt the name of the spot where he then resided. She hesitated some time, but
at length she formed her determination. Taking with her some jewels that
belonged to her and a sum of money, she quitted Italy with an attendant, a
native of Leghorn, but who understood the common language of Turkey, and
departed for Germany. “She arrived in safety at a town about twenty leagues from the cottage of De
Lacey, when her attendant fell dangerously ill. Safie nursed her with the most
devoted affection, but the poor girl died, and the Arabian was left alone,
unacquainted with the language of the country and utterly ignorant of the
customs of the world. She fell, however, into good hands. The Italian had
mentioned the name of the spot for which they were bound, and after her death
the woman of the house in which they had lived took care that Safie should
arrive in safety at the cottage of her lover.”