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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 21:59:12 GMT -5
*Nadir felt again that strange foreboding at his friend's apparently harmless words, but he assented with good grace.* "Of course--excuse us, please," *he said to Shadi as he quitted the room with Xandros, going to his private study at the back of the house. Nadir threw his long, lean frame carelessly into a leather chair and gestured for his friend to sit as well before placing his hand over his eyes.* "What is wrong, friend?" *he asked, trying to keep his tone light.*
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Post by Parisa on Jan 31, 2007 22:01:17 GMT -5
((OHMIGOD))
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:05:51 GMT -5
"I would wonder," Alexander said quietly, "if it is your wedding night, why you look so vexed?"
"Even I was not so with Roxanne," he said.
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:12:04 GMT -5
"Was your wedding night interrupted?" *retorted Nadir drily.* "What do you want of me?"
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:17:42 GMT -5
Alexander grinned at him boldly.
"Yes, it was actually," he said calmly. Then he looked at Nadir.
"She...looks like you," he said hesitantly.
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:21:14 GMT -5
"She is a little tanned, I grant you, but she looks nothing like me. I find she resembles a woman I knew once, but--a beautiful woman cannot look like a aged cad like myself," *said Nadir, shaking his head and standing to wander over to the bar.* "Brandy?"
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:26:07 GMT -5
Alexander rolled his eyes.
"You forget how long I lived among your people. The girl is Persian...wait. Who is the woman she reminds you of?" he asked sharply.
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:28:44 GMT -5
*Nadir looked down at the decanter in his hands.* "Gita. A childhood friend from Persia. She's dead."
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:31:26 GMT -5
Alexander considered this.
"She was your lover?" he asked gently.
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:38:40 GMT -5
*Nadir hesitated, caught in his memories, and he knew if he tried to speak of the dead woman he idolized his voice would tremble. At last he said:* "Once. We had promised ourselves to one another. I wanted to come to Europe--educate myself, earn my fortune, make myself worthy of her--she was well-bred, higher-born than I was. My mother was equal to hers, but my father...you know that story. She came to me the night before I left. She was so young...I was so young. I thought I'd come back for her in a few months, send for her, have her join me here, perhaps. Her father had promised to pay for my education here. Now, as I understand it, he wanted me gone so he could wed her to another. A rich man, A year later, after having no answer to any of my letters, I heard she had drowned herself in her despair some time before."
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:41:05 GMT -5
Alexander shut his eyes, then opened them and touched Nadir's shoulder.
"I am truly sorry. Forgive me."
He looked at Nadir.
"Why then, do you wed yourself to a woman who so closely resembles her that she could be her daughter?"
"Why would you torment yourself so?"
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:43:57 GMT -5
"This one I shall keep," *said Nadir sharply.* "In place of the one that I left to her death." *He sighed, already regretting having spoken the truth so harshly.* "In truth, the girl's interest in me exceeds mine in her. I would have taken anyone who offered themselves when she happened upon me."
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:45:26 GMT -5
Alexander sighed.
"Nadir," he whispered, "you set yourself upon the threshold of pain, and you do so knowingly. Let the child go. She's young enough to BE yours, in any case."
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Post by Nadir on Jan 31, 2007 22:46:59 GMT -5
*Nadir snorted.* "Impossible. Gita and I were untried, both. No child was ever got in such a fumbling mess," *he said, his voice cracking on a dry bark of laughter.*
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Post by Alexander the Great on Jan 31, 2007 22:50:05 GMT -5
Alexander looked fiercely at him.
"I would not be so certain of that," he said in a low voice.
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