Napoleon's Egypt: Invading The Middle East - Reenactor.ru

190 NAPOLEON’S EGYPTand a cape of the same fabric that covered their heads and obscured theirfaces. He said they reminded him of nothing so much as a line of penitents.He added, “I had difficulty choosing among the poor things, several of whomwere barefoot; they excited my compassion more than my desires.”He wrote that his curiosity gradually got the better of his self-respect, andhe began removing their veils one by one. They coquettishly made as if to resist.Then one slipped out of her clothes altogether and stood there with a big smileon her face, as if, he said, to mock his timidity and indecision. He was taken withher determined and wicked air, her large dark eyes, and above all, her fourteenyears. He paid a large sum for her and dismissed Sultan Ganash and his othergirls. He had his servants bathe the girl and see that she put on the clothes hehad bought for her, which wrought a remarkable transformation in her appearance.He praised her “allure” and comfortable bearing, the suppleness of herwaist, the “natural nobility of her gestures,” and above all “her air of being amischievous child.” He wrote, “Judge, my dear cousin, if after so long a privationI could have restrained my transports!” He said she initially defended herselffrom his advances with a marvelous tenderness and enjoyment that wouldmove even the hardest of hearts. At last, he delivered himself “to the deliciouspleasures that this beautiful child procured for me.”After making love, they had dinner. She was amazed at the spread on thetable, circling it several times. He thought her unaccustomed to chairs and sheseemed to him afraid of falling off hers. She refused all the dishes offered her,however, insisting on having a plate of ful mudammis (mashed broad beans inbutter), which he said it was easy to arrange for her. His servant must havetranslated for him her pronouncement on eating it with bread, that she hadeaten “as well as the great empress,” a reference to the senior wife of the Ottomansultan.Bernoyer shared the mansion with an officer, Lallemant, who also took agirl and proposed that she keep Bernoyer’s company. This arrangement, logicalas it might sound, led to disaster and Bernoyer’s first setback in his search for romancein Egypt. Bernoyer and Lallemant heard a ruckus, and rushed up thestairs. They found that Lallemant’s girl had become jealous of the nice clothesBernoyer had provided his own, and had thrown coffee on his girl. Bernoyer decidedthat he had to take his girl with him to Cairo rather than leaving her thereon the island. He took her to the yard below, but Lallemant’s girl was in wait.She threw a stone at her rival, striking her on the cheek below the eye and leavinga gash. Bernoyer took both girls to Cairo, delivering Lallemant’s to the Ottomansuperintendent of police to be imprisoned for fifteen days. Instead, he