"But I want you to tell me why you threw the flowers at the Englishman," her husband demanded. He turned to me and asked, "Do you think it is nice for a woman to throw flowers at a strange man?"
Before I could reply, she calmly said, "It is not true."
"That you threw flowers at a man?"
She nodded.
"Did she or did she not?" he asked me.
"She did," I answered.
"You wretch!" Semmeya Hanoum cried. "I only threw a rose, and a rose is singular, not plural. Besides, how do you know that I threw it at the man? I might have just thrown it away—and it might have happened to strike his face by accident."
"I suppose you happened to kiss the rose by accident, too?" Sendi Bey inquired grimly.
"Why not? I often kiss roses." She looked at him with laughing defiance. "And now what will you do, my lord?"
"I should like to give you a good thrashing."
"You can't. It is forbidden by the Koran."
"I know it, and I am very sorry. But, Beauty, your actions are getting unbearable; and I am going to put a stop to them. For a month you are not to leave this house without my permission." With these words he marched out of the room.
