Hakeem
Mehndee was as anxious as Aga Meer had been to keep the King
estranged from his imperious mother, and the only sure way was to
make him persist in repudiating the boy or postponing his claim to
the succession.
Mulika Zumanee's influence over the king had, however, been eclipsed,
first, by Miss Walters, Mokuddera Ouleea, whose history has already
been given; secondly, by the beautiful Taj Mahal; and, thirdly, by
the Kuduseea Begum. She entered the palace as a waiting-woman to
Mulika Zumanee, and, on the 17th of December, 1831, the King married
her; and from that day till her death, on the 21st of August, 1834,
she reigned supreme in the palace and in the King's affections.
On the King's paying a visit of ceremony to Mulika Zumanee one
evening, he asked for water, and it was brought to him in a gold cup,
on a silver tray, by the Kuduseea Begum, then one of the women in
waiting. Her face was partially unveiled; and the King, after
drinking, threw the last few drops from the cup over her veil in
play. In return, she threw the few drops that had been spilled on the
salver upon the King's robe, or vest. He pretended to be angry, and
asked her, with a frown, how she could dare to besprinkle her
sovereign; she replied--"When children play together there is no
distinction between the prince and the peasant." The King was charmed
with her half-veiled beauty and spirit, and he paid a second visit
the next day, and again asked for water.
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