Astarte had signified to Tancred her wish that he should approach her,
while Keferinis at some distance was engaged in earnest conversation
with Fakredeen, with whom he had not had previously the opportunity of
being alone. His report of all that had transpired in his absence was
highly favourable. The minister had taken the opportunity of the absence
of the Emir and his friend to converse often and amply about them with
the Queen. The idea of an united Syria was pleasing to the imagination
of the young sovereign. The suggestion was eminently practicable. It
required no extravagant combinations, no hazardous chances of fortune,
nor fine expedients of political skill. A union between Fakredeen and
Astarte at once connected the most important interests of the mountains
without exciting the alarm or displeasure of other powers. The union was
as legitimate as it would ultimately prove irresistible. It ensured a
respectable revenue and a considerable force; and, with prudence and
vigilance, the occasion would soon offer to achieve all the rest. On the
next paroxysm in the dissolving empire of the Ottomans, the plain would
be occupied by a warlike population descending from the mountains that
commanded on one side the whole Syrian coast, and on the other all the
inland cities from Aleppo to Damascus.
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