Gulchenrouz,
alarmed at the agitation of his cousin, said to her with a supplicating
accent:
"Let us be gone; the sky looks portentous, the tamarisks tremble more
than common, and the raw wind chills my very heart; come! let us be gone;
'tis a melancholy night!"
Then, taking hold of her hand, he drew it towards the path he besought
her to go. Nouronihar unconsciously followed the attraction, for a
thousand strange imaginations occupied her spirit; she passed the large
round of honeysuckles, her favourite resort, without ever vouchsafing it
a glance, yet Gulchenrouz could not help snatching off a few shoots in
his way, though he ran as if a wild beast were behind.
The young females seeing him approach in such haste, and according to
custom expecting a dance, instantly assembled in a circle, and took each
other by the hand; but Gulchenrouz, coming up out of breath, fell down at
once on the grass. This accident struck with consternation the whole of
this frolicsome party; whilst Nouronihar, half distracted, and overcome,
both by the violence of her exercise and the tumult of her thoughts, sunk
feebly down at his side, cherished his cold hands in her bosom, and
chafed his temples with a fragrant unguent.
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