lurked a glee that she couldn’t conceal： The delight that her resentment had
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been recognized。 It was from this point of entry that your sharp…witted Esther
attempted to discover the reasons for and circumstances of Kalbiye’s anger。
It didn’t take long for Kalbiye to admit that she’d been upset with the late
Enishte Effendi due to the illustrated manuscript he was preparing。 She said
her husband； may he rest in peace； hadn’t agreed to work on the book for the
sake of a handful of extra silver coins； but because Enishte Effendi convinced
him the project was authorized by the Sultan。 However； when her late
husband became aware that the illuminations Enishte Effendi hired him to
gild were slowly evolving from simple ornamented pages into full…blown
illustrations； pictures moreover that bore the marks of Frankish blasphemy；
atheism and even heresy； he grew uneasy and began to lose sight of right and
wrong。 Being a much more reasonable and prudent person than Elegant
Effendi； she cautiously added that all these doubts arose gradually rather than
at once； and since poor Elegant Effendi never found anything that would be
considered blatant sacrilege； he was able to dismiss his worries as unfounded。
Besides； he forted himself by never missing a sermon given by Nusret Hoja
of Erzurum； and if