He came, however, early next morning to the Envoy with a very different
countenance, and evidently deeply affected. "What injustice have I
not done," said he, "to that excellent young man! He sent a secret
messenger to me last night; and when we met, ran to embrace me, and
after telling me the short tale of his captivity, sufferings, and
subsequent advancement, inquired in the most earnest manner after
his mother. He has not only given a hundred tomans to relieve her
immediate wants, but has settled that I am to be the Agent for future
remittances. He informed me that he recognised the friend of his youth,
and never had more difficulty than in the effort to appear a stranger;
but he explained his reasons for being so cautious: he is not only a
Mahomedan, but has married into a respectable family, and is a great
favourite with the Prince, and must, therefore, avoid any conduct
that could bring the least shade of suspicion on the sincerity of his
faith or allegiance. I shall make his mother very happy," continued
Blue-beard, who was evidently quite flattered by the personal attention
of the young Georgian, and the confidence reposed in him; "for I will,
when I send her the tomans, tell her my conviction, that her son,
whatever he may profess, is a Christian in his heart. Indeed he must be
so; for if he had been a true Mahomedan he would have acted like one,
and have disowned, not supported, his mother, whom he must consider an
infidel."
The Prince Regent of Fars, or Persia Proper, sent, soon after our
arrival at Abusheher, a young nobleman of his own tribe, Hassan Khan
Kajir, to attend the Elchee as Mehmandar. My intimacy, from old
acquaintance, with Jaffier Khan, Governor of Abusheher, led to his
showing me the letter he had received from his brother, the Prince's
vizier, regarding the reception of this personage. It is so good a
specimen of the minute attention the Persians give to forms that I
translated it. Its contents were as follows:--
"MY DEAR BROTHER,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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