Hawksworth turned to the mirror to discover that his beard had already disappeared, leaving him clean-faced.
At least I'll be in fashion back home, he thought, if I ever get back. Beards are passing from style.
But what's he doing now? By heaven, no . . .
The razor swept cleanly across Hawksworth's chest, leaving a swath of soft skin in its wake. It came down again, barely missing a nipple as he moved to rise.
"You must be still, Sahib. You will harm yourself."
"I told you I'll not have it." Hawksworth pushed the razor away.
"But it is our custom." The man seemed to plead. "Khan Sahib ordered that you be groomed as an honored guest."
There was a moment of silence. Then the turbaned man bowed, his face despondent.
He signaled the barber to rub a light coat of saffron-scented oil on Hawksworth's face and then to begin trimming Hawksworth's hair with the pair of silver scissors he had brought. The barber quickly snipped away the growth of the voyage, leaving the hair moderately cropped, in the Moghul fashion.
Damn if I wouldn't make a proper Cheapside dandy. Right in style. And I hate being in style.
Then the turbaned man produced a heavy lead comb and began to work it repeatedly through Hawksworth's hair. Hawksworth watched the mirror in confusion.
What's he doing? It's already been combed. And it's so short there's no point anyway.
Then he noticed the slight traces of gray around the sides beginning to darken, taking on the color of the lead.
"Please open your mouth." The turbaned man stood above him holding a dark piece of wood, frayed at the end and crooked. "And I will scrape your teeth with _nim_ root."
"But that's insane. Teeth are cleaned with a piece of cloth and a toothpick. Or rubbed with a bit of sugar and salt ash . . ."
The man was scrubbing away at Hawksworth's mouth-- tongue, gums, teeth-- using a dentifrice that tasted like burnt almond shells. Next he offered a mint-flavored mouth rinse to remove the debris.
The turbaned man then inspected Hawksworth critically from several sides, finally venturing to speak.
"If I may suggest, a bit of _collyrium_, castor oil darkened with lampblack, would render your eyes much more striking." Without waiting for confirmation, he applied a few quick strokes to Hawksworth's eyelids, much as an artist might touch up a canvas.
