Chapter 7

The Force of JEALOUSY.

The Misfortunes that attended _Zadig_ proceeded, in a great Measure,
from his Preferment; but more from his intrinsic Merit. Every Day he
had familiar Converse with the King, his Royal Master, and his
august Consort, _Astarte_. And the Pleasure arising from thence was
greatly enhanc'd from an innate Ambition of pleasing, which, in
regard to Wit, is the same, as Dress is to Beauty. His Youth, and
graceful Deportment, had a greater Influence on _Astarte_, than she
was at first aware of. Tho' her Affection for him daily encreas'd;
yet she was perfectly innocent. _Astarte_ would say, without the
least Reserve or Apprehension of Fear, that she was extreamly
pleas'd with the Company of one, who was, not only a Favourite of
her Husband, but the Darling of the whole Empire. She was
continually speaking in his Commendation before the King: He was the
Subject of her whole Discourse amongst her Ladies of Honour, who
were as lavish of their Praises as herself. Such repeated
Discourses, however innocent, made a deeper Impression on her Heart,
than she at that Time apprehended. She would every now and then send
_Zadig_ some little Present or another; which he construed as the
Result of a greater Value for him than she intended. She said no
more of him, as she thought, than a Queen might innocently do, who
was perfectly assur'd of his Attachment to her Husband; sometimes,
indeed, she would express her self with an Air of Tenderness and
Affection.

_Astarte_ was much handsomer than either his Mistress _Semira_, who
had such a natural Antipathy to a one-eyed Lord, or _Azora_, his
late loving Spouse, that would innocently have cut his Nose off. The
Freedoms which _Astarte_ took, her tender Expressions, at which she
began to blush, the Glances of her Eye, which she would turn away,
if perceiv'd, and which she fix'd upon his, kindled in the Heart of
_Zadig_ a Fire, which struck him with Amazement. He did all he could
to smother it; he call'd up all the Philosophy he was Master of to
his Aid; but all in vain, for no Consolation arose from those
Reflections.

Duty, Gratitude, and an injur'd Monarch, presented themselves before
his Eyes, as avenging Deities: He bravely struggled; he triumph'd
indeed; but this Conquest over his Passions, which he was oblig'd to
check every Moment, cost him many a deep Sigh and Tear. He durst not
talk with the Queen any more, with that Freedom which was too
engaging on both Sides; his Eyes were obnubilated; his Discourse was
forc'd and unconnected; he turn'd his Eyes another Way; and when,
against his Inclination, they met with those of the Queen, he found,
that tho' drown'd in Tears, they darted Flames of Fire: They seem'd
in Silence to intimate,