The chief of the eunuchs and his retinue being gone, Schemselnihar returned to the saloon, extremely concerned at the necessity she was under of sending back the prince of Persia sooner than she had intended.  She came up to him again with tears in her eyes, which heightened Ebn Thaher’s fear, who thought it no good omen.  “Madam,” said the prince to her, “I perceive you are come to tell me that we must part:  if there be nothing more to dread, I hope Heaven will give me the patience which is necessary to support your absence.”  “Alas!” replied the too tender Schemselnihar, “how happy do I think you, and how unhappy do I think myself, when I compare your lot with my sad destiny!  No doubt you will suffer by my absence, but that is all, and you may comfort yourself with hopes of seeing me again; but as for me, just Heaven! what a terrible trial am I brought to!  I must not only be deprived of the sight of the only person whom I love, but I must be tormented with the presence of one whom you have made hateful to me.  Will not the arrival of the caliph put me in mind of your departure?  And how can I, when I am taken up with your dear image, express to that prince the joy which he always observed in my eyes whenever he came to see me?  I shall have my mind perplexed when I speak to him, and the least complaisance which I shew to his love will stab me to the heart.  Can I relish his kind words and caresses?  Think, prince, to what torments I shall be exposed when I can see you no more.”  Her tears and sighs hindered her from going on, and the prince of Persia would have replied, but his own grief, and that of his mistress, deprived him of the power of speech.

Ebn Thaher, who only wished to get out of the palace, was obliged to comfort them, and to exhort them to have patience:  but the trusty slave again interrupted them.  “Madam,” said she to Schemselnihar, “you have no time to lose; the eunuchs begin to arrive, and you know the caliph will be here immediately.”  “O Heaven! how cruel is this separation!” cried the favourite.  “Make haste,” said she to the confidant, “take them both to the gallery which looks into the garden on the one side, and to the Tigris on the other; and when the night grows dark, let them out by the back gate, that they may retire with safety.”  Having spoken thus, she tenderly embraced the prince of Persia, without being able to say one word more, and went to meet the caliph in such disorder as cannot well be imagined.

In the mean time, the trusty slave conducted the prince and Ebn Thaher to the gallery, as Schemselnihar had appointed; and left them there, assuring them, as she closed the door upon them, that they had nothing to fear, and that she would come for them when it was time

When Schemselnihar’s trusty slave had left the prince of Persia and Ebn Thaher, they forgot she had assured them they had nothing to apprehend.  They examined the gallery, and were seized with extreme fear, because they knew no means of escape, if the caliph or any of his officers should happen to come there.