Читать книгу Deadline Yemen (The Elizabeth Darcy Series) - Peggy Hanson - Страница 13

CHAPTER 9

She thanked us for our poor wishes with a gratitude for the kindness of words alone, which one is apt to forget after an absence from Arabia, and went her ways uncomplaining, a sad and gentle soul.”

Freya Stark, A Winter in Arabia

Halima’s heart pounded in her chest after the call from Elizabeth. Had anyone heard? By “anyone,” she meant her father, or government wire-tappers.

Not that she feared her father. Sheikh Abdullah was, on the whole, the kindest of men, and someone who wanted equality for the women in his house. Since the death of Halima’s mother two years ago, the sheikh had been morose and had refused to marry again, though society—meaning the friends who came to chew qat with him every afternoon—had urged him to do so.

It had, as happens more often than one might think in an arranged-marriage situation, been a love match.

Zuheyla had answered the phone and was breathless with questions. “Who is Elizabeth? Is she your American friend? Do you think she can help us?” Zuheyla had an enormous vested interest in Ali’s affairs, as they were engaged to be married. And, perhaps because Ali had a role model like Sheikh Abdullah, they were also in love. As daughter of Abdullah’s younger brother, Zuheyla was the ideal bride for Ali. Tribal barriers need not be addressed in such a case.

But would such a wedding ever happen? The household lay under heavy apprehension that it would not. And the bigger question was, would Ali live to see his twentieth birthday?

“I must see Elizabeth as soon as possible,” Halima told Zuheyla. “She may be our only hope.”