Ibrahim threw himself on a sofa, and gave some hasty instructions to the slave, who immediately retired. In about a quarter of an hour he came back, conducting into the anteroom a lady veiled from head to foot. The slave then withdrew altogether; and Ibrahim approached the lady, saying, "Calanthe--beauteous Calanthe! welcome to my palace." She removed her veil; and Ibrahim fixed his eager eyes upon the countenance thus disclosed to him; but he was immediately struck by the marvelous resemblance existing between his page Constantine, and the charming Calanthe. It will be remembered that when he called, in a mean disguise, at the abode of Demetrius, he saw Calanthe for the first time, and only for a short period; and though he was even then struck by her beauty, yet the impression it made was but momentary: and he had so far forgotten Calanthe as never to behold in Constantine the least resemblance to any one whom he had seen before. But now that Calanthe's countenance burst upon him in all the glory of its superb Greek beauty, that resemblance struck him with all the force of a new idea; and he was about to express his astonishment that so wondrous a likeness should subsist between brother and sister, when the maiden sunk at his feet, exclaiming, "Pardon me, great vizier; but Constantine and Calanthe are one and the same thing." "Methought the brother pleaded with marvelous eloquence on behalf of his sister," said Ibrahim, with a smile; and raising Calanthe from her suppliant posture, he led her to a seat, gazing on her the while with eyes expressive of intense passion. "Your highness," observed the maiden, after a short pause, "has heard from my own lips how profound is the attachment which I have dared to conceive for you--how great is the admiration which I entertain for the brilliant powers of your intellect. To be with thee, great Ibrahim, will I abandon my country, friends--ay, and even creed, shouldst thou demand that concession; for in thee--and in thee only--are all my hopes of happiness now centered!" "And those hopes shall not be disappointed, dearest Calanthe!" exclaimed Ibrahim, clasping her in his arms. "But a few minutes before you entered this room a hundred women--the choicest flowers of all climes--were gathered here; and yet I value one smile on thy lips more than all the tender endearments that those purchased houris could bestow. For thy love was unbought--it was a love that prompted thee to attach thyself to me in a menial capacity----" The impassioned language of the grand vizier was suddenly interrupted by the opening of the door, and three black slaves glided into the anteroom--half crouching as they stole along--and fixing on the beauteous Calanthe eyes, the dark pupils of which seemed to glare horribly from the whites in which they were set. "Dogs! what signifies this intrusion?" exclaimed Ibrahim Pasha, starting from the sofa, and grasping the handle of his scimiter.