Sophronia, meanwhile,
was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she did not despair
of seeing the captain again.
She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring as the
attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, in order to
convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The intrepid Annis
commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing the sentinels and
wardens of the castle, but found her way to a postern gate, scarcely
known to any but herself. She arrived at Abdurachman's tent; the captain
was conversing with his friends about what the general intended to do on
the morrow. Annis desired to speak with him in private, to which he
consented. She then delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of
the fair writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the
following:--
"Adored Youth,
"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have been
frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore you beyond
measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not succeed; I engage
to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your hands, provided you
follow my instructions. I advise, that in the morning by sunrise, you
raise the siege and withdraw your whole army from the castle, and return
not again till you hear from _me_.
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