Her
reason for not apprising him of their interview at Bethany, though not
easily impugnable, was not as satisfactory to his understanding as to
his ear. Again, his mind and heart were so absorbed at this moment by
the image of Tancred, and he was so entirely under the influence of his
own idealised conceptions of his new and latest friend, that, according
to his custom, no other being could interest him. Although he was
himself the sole cause of all the difficult and annoying circumstances
in which he found himself involved, the moment that his passions and his
interests alike required that Tancred should be free and uninjured,
he acted, and indeed felt, as if Amalek alone were responsible for the
capture and the detention of Lord Montacute.
The young Emir indeed was, at this moment, in one of those moods which
had often marred his popularity, but in which he had never indulged
towards Eva before. She had, throughout his life, been the commanding
influence of his being. He adored and feared her, and knew that she
loved, and rather despised him. But Eva had ceased to be the commanding
influence over Fakredeen. At this moment Fakredeen would have sacrificed
the whole family of Besso to secure the devotion of Tancred; and the
coarse and rude exclamation to which he had given vent, indicated the
current of his feelings and the general tenor of his mind.
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