page 41

...he looked fully  at the scene before him,  he patted his horse before giving him a kick , a few minutes later he had entered tge city center,  the dusk  descended on the gomati  declaring  it was dark  spreading out,  masjid  announced azan  and from akbar darwaza onwards  on the shops qandeel rows lit up, amidst this noise and chaos shaukat mirza  git down from his horse to walk towards the local inn

March 1817 evening  proved quite important  in several ways for shaukat mirza, his head lowered he kept on walking forward,  surrounded with   noisy hustle,  , surprise filled his eyes  and his manner of  staring at the illuminated  shops  suggested he was a complete stranger 

Reaching  the inn of Rahim khan  he  put an asharfi coin in the hand of the caretaker woman,  the horse was taken care of  and  tied up  , shaukat mirza was given a place to relax,  the woman brought water and he washed his face and hands,  meantime his bed was made,  

Shaukat asked her  her name 

In a most delicate humble manner she spoke her name  norin  , she  for ages was serving wealthy people like him for her living, 

He carefully looked at her,  she looked younger than her real age,  muddy complexion  , bkack shining hair,  her eyes  outlined  with black  kajal

Can you tell me  if I  could  see nawab hashmat Jung 

Startled  nooran looked at shaukat  once from head to toe  then in a strange voice said harbor nowadays are you 

Of course  how do you know 

I can read the hidden contents inside of closed envelopes