Читать книгу Bought for the Harem - Anne Herries - Страница 8

Harriet was bending over her cousin, bathing her forehead with cool water when the cabin door opened behind her. She swung round, feeling a little shock when she saw the man who had purchased them.

‘What do you want?’ she asked sharply, her heart racing. He had told her they were purchased for the Caliph, but the sight of him made her nervous—supposing he had decided to keep Marguerite for himself?

‘I came to see how your cousin was faring,’ he said and frowned as he sensed her apprehension. ‘You have nothing to fear from me, mistress.’

‘She is still unwell. Her skin is hot and she is sweating.’

‘Did you give her the medicine?’

‘Yes. It eased her for a while, but then she was sick again.’

He walked to the bed and placed a hand on Marguerite’s forehead. ‘She is warm. Perhaps you should sponge her down with cool water. I have heard it helps with a fever. She may have taken a fever rather than eaten something unpleasant. I imagine you were kept in a hold before you reached Algiers?’

‘Yes. It smelled foul and the air was dreadful. Your people have much to answer for, sir!’

‘The corsairs are not my people,’ Kasim replied, his eyes dark with thought. ‘You are not the only ones who have suffered at their hands. You will find life very different where you are going, for you will have the best of everything.’

‘We shall not be free.’

‘Were you truly free at home, Lady Harriet? If so, you are a remarkable woman. Most English ladies I knew were constrained by the rules of society and their families.’

‘You have been to England?’ Her eyes narrowed. His skin had a deep tan, but there was something about his features that made her wonder. ‘Are you English? Why are you here?’

‘You ask too many questions,’ he replied as Marguerite moaned. ‘I will mix another preparation for you—and then I shall leave you so that you can bathe her.’

‘Thank you.’ Harriet bent over her cousin, smoothing a damp cloth over her brow. She put an arm under Marguerite’s head as he returned with the cup, lifting her. ‘Drink this, dearest. It may ease you.’

Marguerite swallowed and lay back against the pillows, her eyes closed.

‘It will be a day or two before we reach port,’ Kasim said. ‘On board this ship you are free to come on deck if you wish. If you jumped overboard my men would fetch you back. I would ask you not to waste their time by trying to escape.’

‘Marguerite cannot swim,’ Harriet replied. ‘I would have tried to swim for the shore when the pirates took us, but she would have been left behind. I cannot desert her.’

For a moment his eyes met hers and she saw an odd expression in their depths. ‘You may not always be able to protect her. She is a grown woman and one day must choose for herself.’

‘She was going to Spain to meet a man who had asked for her hand in marriage, but she begged me to go with her. I think she was afraid that she might be compelled to marry against her will, but her father loves her. He would have let her choose—but she was anxious and I thought I might travel, see something of the world.’

‘Perhaps you have seen more than you would have wished. This is the world as it is, whether you and I like it or not,’ Kasim said, walked to the door and went out.

Harriet bent over her cousin once more. She pulled back the covers, bathing her limbs one by one, then, turning her on to her stomach, she lifted the tunic and bathed Marguerite’s back. She pushed back the loose sleeves of the kaftan and bathed her arms, then her face and neck. After that it seemed that Marguerite was easier.

Harriet watched her for a while, then went to look out of the porthole. The sky was dark, lit only by a few stars. She sighed and felt the sting of tears, but brushed them away impatiently as she went to lie down beside her cousin. Marguerite was sleeping and she was tired … so very tired.

You are mine. You shall always belong to me. There is no escape for you other than death. I have claimed you and you shall be mine.

Harriet woke shivering and damp with sweat. She had never experienced quite such a terrible dream before and it left her feeling very much afraid, and aware of a sense of terrible loss.

For a moment she lay in the darkness, wondering where she was, then everything came flooding back and she realised that she was on a ship being taken to the Caliph’s palace somewhere in the Ottoman Empire.

No wonder her dream had been so terrifying, because it was all happening, just as she had dreamed that night before they left England. This time she could recall that she had been a prisoner of the man who had said those terrifying words—and that man was the one who had bought them from the slave market. What had he called himself—Kasim? Yes, that was his name. He was a high official in the Caliph’s household and he had bought them for the harem.

The lantern had gone out while she slept and she had no means of lighting it again. Leaving the bed, she went round to the other side, bending over Marguerite to touch her forehead. Thankfully, she was cooler and seemed to be sleeping well.

Taking the lantern from its hook near the door, Harriet opened the cabin door and went out. She could see a faint light near the steps that led up to the deck and walked towards it, intending to see if there was sufficient candle left in the lantern to re-kindle it.

‘What are you doing? There will be a watchman on deck if you were thinking of escape.’

Harriet swung round. A shiver went through her as she saw that he was wearing a long loose white kaftan, his feet bare. Now he looked exactly as he had in her dream!

‘I told you that I would never leave Marguerite. The lantern went out as I slept. I was going to try to light it.’

‘Let me see …’ He took the lantern and opened the glass panel, then frowned. ‘It has burned down. Take this one instead and I will replace this.’ He handed her the lantern that had been hanging near the steps. ‘How is your cousin now? Has the medicine worked for her?’

‘Yes, I believe it has. She is sleeping peacefully.’ Harriet’s moment of fear had passed. In her dream he had been fierce and passionate, but standing close to her like this in what resembled a nightgown to her English eyes, he seemed no more frightening than her brother. ‘You were thoughtful to come and enquire, sir. I thank you for your kindness.’

‘It would be foolish to lose my investment, would it not?’

His words were like a slap in the face. For a moment Harriet had felt a closeness, almost a kinship with him. She looked into his face and, seeing that he was determined to go ahead with his plans for her and Marguerite, her heart sank.

She suspected that he had once been English and a gentleman, but it seemed he had forgotten his past and owed allegiance only to the Caliph. She had been foolish to imagine that he might change his mind and take them back to England.

Kasim frowned as he returned to his own cabin. He was not sure what had woken him earlier, but he thought he must have been dreaming of something he had long ago driven from his mind. Waking with a start, he had thought immediately of the two English women and gone in search of them. For a moment as he saw the dark-haired woman he had thought she was trying to escape and for some reason his stomach spasmed with sudden fear. Surely she would not throw her life away by jumping overboard? In the dark she could be lost. He felt a curious ache inside for a moment, but it faded swiftly as she explained about the lantern.

Usually, Kasim slept well, but this night he had been unable to rest. He tried to tell himself that it had nothing to do with the women he had purchased. They were not the only ones to experience the distress of being bought and sold as slaves. Here in this part of the world it was an accepted custom and worked to advantage in many cases. It was true that some masters were cruel and treated their slaves worse than beasts of burden, but others were no worse than the men who owned great estates in England and Europe. The workers might not be called slaves, but were often treated no better. Justice was often summary and brutal. Men languished and died in the Queen’s dungeons, and many were put to the torture of hot irons and the rack.

In the Caliph’s household the slaves were treated fairly and some might earn their freedom in time; indeed, many men and women sold themselves into slavery rather than die of starvation on the streets. Kasim himself had learned how fair the system could be. He was now a wealthy man in his own right, most of his fortune earned from trading and importing goods from other lands. He trusted his captain to obey his orders, and thus far his trust had been repaid. Perhaps one day he might leave the Northern Territories and push the boundaries of his empire, but for the moment he was content to live at the palace and give his loyalty to the Caliph. He owed everything to the man who called him his son—and indeed, he loved Kahlid as a benevolent friend. His son, Prince Hassan was his brother in all but blood.

Kasim thrust thoughts of giving in to Lady Harriet’s demands to return her to her family away. To go against the wishes of his friend and master would be to betray all the promises he had given … the trust that had built up between them would be destroyed. He would be a fool to throw away all he had worked for these several years.

Yet even as he changed into the clothes he found more comfortable than the dress of an English gentleman, lacing the leggings beneath his white tunic and tying the red sash about his waist, he could not quite banish the pleading look he had seen in those eyes.

‘How are you this morning, dearest?’ Harriet asked when her cousin woke and stared up at her from the tumbled sheets. ‘I think the second medicine that he gave you helped the sickness. You seemed to sleep peacefully after you drank it.’

‘I thought it was all a nightmare, but it is real, isn’t it?’ Marguerite pushed herself up against the pillows. ‘We are slaves, aren’t we? He said we belong to the Caliph …’ She gave a little sob of despair. ‘What are we going to do, Harry?’

‘We must bear it as best we can,’ Harriet told her. She saw tears well in Marguerite’s eyes and moved towards the bed, reaching for her hand. ‘Perhaps it will not be as bad as we fear, love. Kasim said the Caliph was a better man than the one who tried to buy us. He said we were lucky he was there.’

‘Lucky to be slaves?’ Marguerite brushed a hand over her eyes. ‘I would rather be dead.’

‘You should think carefully, dearest,’ Harriet said. ‘Would you rather be dead, truly? If we live, we may be rescued one day—I may manage to find someone who will let us be ransomed. If we die, that is the finish. We shall never see our homes or the people we love.’

Marguerite looked at her in silence. ‘I think …’ She shook her head. ‘You will think me foolish—but I believe I was falling in love with Captain Richardson and he with me.’

‘I do not think you foolish. He is young and handsome and he clearly liked you. Had you been given time to get to know him you might have loved him, Marguerite.’

‘Do you think he is still alive? Would the pirates have killed him—and my father? I do not think they would have surrendered easily.’

‘No, I am perfectly certain they would not, for they were trying to give us time to get away. It is a pity that the pirates saw what was happening and sent men after us.’ Harriet shivered. ‘Had we reached the shore, Don Sebastien Gonzales would have helped us I am certain.’

‘I wish he had never asked for me,’ Marguerite said suddenly angry. ‘If Papa had not been flattered by the proposal, we should still be in England.’

‘Yes, though I was thinking of travelling …’

‘I should never have left my home if I had guessed what could happen.’

Harriet sat on the bed beside her, reaching for her hand. ‘There is no point in wishing that we had not left home, dearest. We are here and must make the best of it.’

‘I do not know how you can be so cheerful.’

‘Weeping will not help. I am going on deck for some fresh air. Why don’t you wash your face and join me? There are some clean clothes for you to put on. Captain Kasim has been thoughtful enough to send water and these garments, also some fruit. The grapes are delicious.’

‘I want my own clothes …’ Marguerite pulled a face.

‘Some of these are quite pretty,’ Harriet said. ‘I chose white again, because I thought you might like the pink. If you do not wish to come, I shall go on deck for a little air.’

‘Are we not prisoners, then?’

‘We are free to go on deck. There is no escape, Marguerite. Even if you jumped into the sea they would come after you. Be sensible and wait until we are at the palace. I shall ask to speak to the Caliph and perhaps he will listen.’

Harriet left her cousin to decide whether she would get up or stay in bed. She climbed the small iron ladder to the deck above and hesitated as she stood looking about her. She had seen very little of the corsairs’ ship, because it had been dark when they were taken on board and she saw little shut away in the hold. This ship was very like an English ship, though most of the crew were Arab or perhaps Turkish. They glanced her way, but turned back to their work as the captain spoke to them in a language she did not understand.

He came to her then, looking at her oddly. ‘You should have used the veil to cover your hair, my lady.

It makes the men curious when they see you without a covering.’

‘Forgive me. I did not realise.’ Harriet’s cheeks were pink—she had known what the fine shawl was for, but had deliberately ignored it. ‘I was just admiring the ship—is it yours?’

‘What makes you think it is mine?’

‘Because it is unlike the corsairs’ vessel. I thought perhaps it was an English ship and I thought you might …’

Kasim did not smile as his eyes met hers. ‘Even if it were my ship I could not change course and take you home, Lady Harriet.’

‘May I ask why you owe such loyalty to the Caliph?’

‘He has been like a second father to me and his son is a younger brother.’ ‘I see.’

‘Clearly you do not,’ he said. ‘But we shall not argue. Will it content you if I promise to tell the Caliph of your request to be ransomed?’

‘Would you do that for us?’

‘For you, yes,’ Kasim said. ‘I fear it would not be possible to do the same for your cousin.’

‘Then I cannot leave her.’

For a moment hope had flared bright in her, but it was dashed as she saw this was his final word on the matter.

‘Then you have made your choice. Please feel free to enjoy the air on deck whenever you wish.’

He tipped his head to her and walked away to speak to his crew. Harriet bit her lip, watching from a distance as he gave orders the men jumped to obey. He was clearly in his element, a powerful man.

Why must he be so stubborn? Why could he not accept her offer of a ransom and set them both free? He had offered to ask the Caliph if she could be ransomed, she supposed because she was not beautiful enough to attract the Caliph’s attention—but Marguerite would have been left behind.

Harriet would not leave her. If they wanted to part them, she would hold on until they tore them apart.

Marguerite was better the next morning, but nothing could raise her spirits. However, she had ceased to weep at last. They had been treated well, given food and wine to drink and water to wash, also more clean clothes from which she had picked something to suit her colouring.

Since Harriet’s brief visit to the deck, they had seen little of the man who had bought them, though he had sent a young boy to ask if they were comfortable and had all they needed. She had recognised him as the slave master’s boy and asked if he too had been purchased for the Caliph.

‘The lord Kasim bought me for his own servant,’ Yuri told her with a grin. ‘I could have had my freedom had I wished, but where would I go? I shall be happy enough to serve my lord. He is an honest man and there are not many as generous as the lord Kasim.’

Harriet wondered why the lord Kasim did not come to the cabin himself, for it was surely his. He must be sleeping somewhere else for the time being. She had discovered things in the sea chest that must belong to him, and could not help wondering if he had deliberately been avoiding their company. Was he afraid she would ask again if he would ransom them?

Late in the afternoon on the second day, they reached what she believed must be the port of Istanbul. The buildings were strange and beautiful and Harriet stood entranced when she went up on deck to look.

‘It is a magnificent sight, is it not?’

Harriet turned to look at the man who had spoken. Unbidden, a smile came to her lips; her fear had somehow fled and she felt that she was on the verge of a great adventure.

‘I should have thought so had I come here as a visitor.’

‘Very few English ladies have come here as visitors, I imagine,’ he said. ‘I have heard of one or two bold spirits who adopted the life of their own free will. One woman in particular converted to the Muslim religion and was allowed to live here without being married or being a slave. I think she visited the court of the Sultan and talked to him of many things.’

‘She must have been an intrepid explorer. I should have enjoyed her life, I think.’

‘Indeed?’

‘My father and I travelled in Europe before he was taken ill some years ago. I always intended to see Constantinople one day …’

‘I am sorry it should be in this way, Lady Harriet.’

‘Are you?’ She arched her brows at him. ‘I am not impressed by words, sir. Actions would have spoken louder in your case.’

‘You asked too much. Please go below now. You will be sent for when we are ready to go ashore.’

‘Do you imagine I might dive into the sea? I see no point when I should be brought out and made to look foolish. I have told you before that I will not leave my cousin—until she is restored to her family. I shall not give up, sir. You and your master may do as you will, but I shall protect my cousin with my last breath.’

‘She is more fortunate than she knows.’

Kasim inclined his head to her, but not before she had seen a flash of doubt in those blue eyes. She was seething inside as she went below to wait for the order, but she said nothing to Marguerite. Her cousin was pale and wan, but she had stopped crying. Harriet thought that she must have accepted there was nothing to be done, at least for the moment.

Somehow, she must manage to speak to the Caliph. She must make him understand that it was wrong to enslave women who had been accustomed to freedom.

Kasim watched as Harriet went below. He was surprised at the feeling of unease he was experiencing. According to the culture in which he lived he had done nothing wrong in buying the women. He had, in fact, saved them from a far worse fate. Yet the look in Harriet’s eyes was accusing and made him feel vaguely guilty. He had tried to stay away from her as much as possible during the voyage, because although he had made his decision, when she was near he was aware of mixed emotions. Had she agreed to accept his terms he would have spoken to Kahlid and was almost certain a ransom could have been arranged for her—but the beauty was exactly what Hassan needed for his first wife.

However, when they were went ashore a little later, he dismissed his doubts as he made all the arrangements for their journey. The women were taken up in litters with silken curtains to hide them from the public gaze, each carried by four strong men.

‘You will travel in privacy,’ he told Harriet. ‘The casacche you are wearing will protect you from prying eyes, but you must keep your face covered at all times.’

‘My cousin is weary. Must we travel on at once? Could we not rest here for a while?’

‘You will be able to rest once we reach the Caliph’s palace. If we stayed here your cousin might be noticed—and you would discover that there are worse fates than the one you fear. Even the Caliph must bow if the Sultan requests a woman be sent to him. You would have no place in his harem, while your cousin would become a houri to a man much older than herself—at least this way you will be together for a while longer.’

She threw him a look of dislike and he knew that the thin thread of trust that had begun to form between them had snapped. It was obvious that she had continued to hope he would relent and take them home. She was angry with him. He thought perhaps she hated him.

Kasim set his expression in grim lines. He did not like the way this English woman affected his sense of honour, reaching a part of him he had thought long dead. He was no longer an English gentleman and could never return to the life he had once known even if he wished. His life was here, but more than once he had been tempted to give way to her and do as she asked, but that would be weakness. He had given his word to the man who had been almost a second father to him and he would not break it for a woman he hardly knew—even if she was a rather special woman with the power to keep him awake at night.

Harriet bit her bottom lip. She had known that escape would be difficult even if it were feasible, but he was giving them no chances, making threats to deter them from trying. Yet even had they managed it, Harriet knew there was nowhere to go. They would be searched for and found, and then they might be punished—and looking about her at the men that passed by on the docks, she realised that she felt safer with their captor than if she were alone. Perhaps if there had been no Marguerite and it was his harem she was headed for she might not have minded so very much.

No, she would not allow herself to have such thoughts. He was a barbarian, a man without morals or honour. She would be foolish if she let herself like him, though he had been concerned for Marguerite when she was ill.

‘It would be foolish to lose my investment, would it not?’

Bitterness welled up inside her. He was only concerned that the woman he had paid so much money for should not die.

Yet something told her that wasn’t true. He had been concerned and he had offered to ask if Harriet could be ransomed. It would be stupid to make an enemy of him, because he might be the only one that could help them … if he would. Harriet could not help thinking that he might still have some of his old values left. Perhaps deep inside him there was a little voice that told him it was wrong to enslave others.

Harriet threw a speaking glance at him before climbing into her litter, but he was not looking her way.

Because it was impossible for them both to go in the same litter, she and Marguerite had been forced to part. Harriet was anxious lest it was a cunning way to separate them and she risked looking out of the curtains about her litter several times to make sure that her cousin was still with them.

It was mid-day when they stopped for refreshments. The sun was high and its heat felt fierce to Harriet as she and Marguerite took shelter under an olive tree. They were offered fruit, bread, cheese and water; all but the water was refused by Marguerite who still looked unwell, but Harriet ate hungrily, enjoying her meal.

They had paused at a stream where several palm trees were growing. After she had satisfied her hunger, Harriet got up and wandered to look at the trees curiously. She knew what they were for—she had seen drawings—but they were the first she had seen growing and she was interested in all that was new and different.

‘The fruit is not ripe,’ Kasim said as he came to join her. ‘I would not advise picking the dates. They would not taste like those you were offered.’

‘They were very good,’ she replied, ‘as was all the fruit and the cheese—though different from the cheese I am accustomed to at home.’

‘We eat cheese made from the milk of a sheep. It is different, as many of our foods are here, but you will become accustomed to them.’

‘Yes, I suppose we shall.’ Harriet frowned at him. ‘My cousin still feels unwell. Would it not be possible to rest somewhere for a few days before we go to the palace?’

‘You seek to delay the inevitable,’ Kasim told her, his mouth set hard. ‘Word has been sent to the palace of our arrival. It is too late to draw back now. However, my offer to you still stands.’ ‘You know my answer.’

‘And you know mine. You do not understand, Lady Harriet. I have given my word and I cannot break it even if I regretted …’

Harriet’s heart jerked as he hesitated, because something told her that he was having second thoughts. Perhaps she could persuade him to see things her way even yet.

‘I know you are not without honour, sir.’ She touched his arm, a look of appeal in her eyes. ‘I was wrong to abuse you, but I was distressed by what had happened to us. I believe you when you say we might have fared much worse, but can you not understand what the loss of freedom would mean to my cousin? There is someone she cares for.’

‘She was not married?’ Kasim asked. ‘Perhaps if there was some form of betrothal …’ His words were lost as they heard the sound of shouting. Harriet saw that his men were gesturing to the horizon and, as she looked in the direction they pointed out, she saw a group of horsemen riding towards them fast. ‘Put your casacche on at once—and tell your cousin to do the same. I am not sure who our visitors are.’

Harriet rushed to tell her cousin and they both hastily donned the heavy outer garments they had taken off as they ate because of the excessive heat. Kasim told them to go back inside their litters and they obeyed him. The noise of horses’ hooves and the cloud of dust had grown bigger as the group of riders drew nearer.

‘It will be all right,’ Harriet said, catching her cousin’s hand moments before they parted. ‘Kasim will protect us.’

She knew her cousin was terrified that they were to be attacked. Kasim and his men had all drawn their swords, as if they too feared an attack. As she sat in the litter with the curtains drawn, Harriet tried to control her own fear. Kasim would not let anyone take them. He would protect his investment—yet she believed that, moments before he saw the riders, he had been thinking of giving in to her pleas.

Suddenly, she heard a burst of cheering and risked a glance through the curtains. She saw at once that the mood had changed and Kasim’s men were greeting the newcomers with smiles and laughter.

One of the men seemed to be a leader for the others genuflected to him. He was younger than Kasim and handsome in a wild, fierce way. He looked towards the litters, as if he wished to discover who was inside, but Kasim placed a hand on his arm and said something to him. For a moment his expression was mutinous, but then he nodded and for a few minutes the two men talked eagerly together, obviously great friends.

Then Kasim came towards the litter where Harriet sat. She withdrew inside, holding it open just a little so that she could see him.

‘Who is it?’

‘Prince Hassan came with some of the Janissaries to escort us to the palace. There have been hill tribesmen seen in the area and he knew I had only a few men with me. It is a great honour to have the prince as our escort, Lady Harriet. He was concerned for our safety, but his father would not be pleased if he knew—he does not like the prince to risk his own life.’

‘You seemed pleased to see him?’

‘The prince is like a brother to me,’ Kasim told her. ‘He is young and handsome and soon now he will take a bride.’

‘Oh …’ Harriet was at a loss to know what to say. She had hoped that she could persuade Kasim to let them rest for a day or so before they reached the palace, but now that the prince had come to escort them himself it was impossible. ‘Thank you for explaining.’

‘You should not concern yourself overly for your cousin, Lady Harriet. The future may bring more happiness for you both than you imagine.’

Harriet made no reply. She sat back in her litter as the order to move off was given. How could either Marguerite or she be happy as prisoners of the Caliph’s harem?