Page:Arabian Nights Entertainments (1728)-Vol. 4.djvu/54

carried them away again without paying for them; nay, without saying one Word, or giving me to know who ſhe was. I was aftoniſh’d, when I conſidered that at this Rate ſhe left me without any Security, of not being troubled if ſhe never came again, She has paid me, thinks I to my ſelf, a good round Sum; but ſhe leaves me in the lurch for another that runs much deeper. Sure, ſhe can’t be a Cheat; it is not poſſible ſhe can have any ſuch Deſign as to inveigle me to my Ruin: The Merchants do not know her; they’ll all come upon me. In ſhort, my Love was not ſo powerful as to guard off the Uneaſineſs I was under, when I reflected upon all Circumſtances: A whole Month paſſed before I heard any thing of my Lady again, and during that Time the Alarm grew higher and higher every Day. The Merchants were impatient for their Money, and to ſatisfy them, I was e’en going to ſell off all I had; when the Lady returned one Morning with the ſame Equipage as before.

Take your Weights, ſaid ſhe, and weigh the Gold I have brought you. Theſe Words diſpell’d my Fear, and inflamed my Love. Before we told down the Money, ſhe asked me ſeveral Queſtions, and particularly if I was married. I made anſwer, I never was. Then reaching out the Gold to the Eunuch, let’s have your Interpoſition, ſaid ſhe, to accommodate our Matters: Upon which the Eunuch fell a laughing and calling me aſide, made me weigh the Gold. While I was weighing the Gold, the Eunuch whiſpered in my Ear, I know by your Eyes you love this Lady, and I’m ſurprized to find that you have not the Aſſurance to diſcloſe your Love to her, She loves you more paſſionately than you do her. Do you imagine that ſhe has any real occaſion for your Stuffs? She only makes an Errand to come hither, becauſe you have inſpired her with a violent Paſſion. Do but ask her the Queſtion, it will be your own Fault only if you do not marry her. ’Tis true, ſaid I, I have had a Love for her from the firſt Moment that I caſt my Eyes upon her; but I durſt not aſpire to the Happineſs of thinking my Love acceptable, to her. I am entirely hers, and ſhall not fail to retain a grateful Senſe of your good Offices in that Matter.