‘Ah, yes, you were on a job. A job entitled “the seduction of a prince”. You naturally wouldn’t want to tell Mr Marks about that.’
‘There was nothing to tell. You may recall that there was no seduction-’
‘Yes, you slipped out when my back was turned,’ he said grimly.
‘So you did know I’d gone,’ she said triumphantly. ‘That story of yours about not coming back was just to fool me.’
He regarded her coldly, and she guessed he was furious with himself for the slip.
‘It seems we’ve both been playing a game of delusion,’ he said at last, in a voice harsher than she’d ever heard him use before. ‘You set out to trick me into thinking you were a true woman with a heart to offer, and you were very convincing, for a while.’
‘Was it my heart you wanted, Ali? I wonder. Maybe we both played games at first, but we weren’t playing for hearts.’
‘Yes, I know the prize you were after,’ he said grimly. ‘Not a heart but a scoop for your paper. And I taught you that I’m not a man to be played with. Now tell me about this man who plans to marry you. What kind of man is he who permits you to take such risks?’
‘Howard doesn’t permit or not permit. He understands that I’m my own woman, not subject to his orders.’ Furious indignation made her say the next words. ‘It will be a great relief to get back to him.’
Ali drew a sharp breath. ‘Do you think I’m going to let you return to the west with the secrets you’ve discovered?’
‘What secrets? I’ve learned about your charities, not your national security.’
He didn’t answer in words, but he gave her a burning stare that told her his true meaning. Facts and figures weren’t the only secrets. There were also the secrets of a man’s heart that could be learned only in his arms, in his bed, when two eager bodies became one in the life of true passion. These were the secrets that lived in the night, in the incoherent words of love too deep to be spoken. They were secrets a man might turn away from by day because they confronted him with a self that he feared. But they couldn’t be denied, and his eyes told her that he would kill them both before letting her expose them to a derisive world.
But how could he know her so little, she wondered wildly, as not to understand that he could trust her with these things, because for her too they were sacred?
‘Even you must know by now that you can’t keep me here for ever,’ she said.
‘But I can, and I will. My mother says that I have compromised you, and so deprived you of a good marriage. Very well. Then I have a duty towards you. I will replace a good marriage with a better one. As my wife you will have nothing to complain of.’
‘Your wife?’ she echoed, aghast.
‘Our marriage will take place immediately.’
‘Our marriage will never take place,’ she flung at him. ‘I won’t stay with a man who informs me of our wedding as though he’s doing me a favour.’
‘You will stay,’ Ali said, ‘and you will become my wife. The truth that is between us will prevail and make our marriage a happy one. I shall give instructions immediately, and the ceremony will take place in three days’ time.’
‘My mind is made up. There is nothing further to discuss,’ he said calmly, and walked out.
Marriage, for a ruler of Kamar, was a complex business. Officially it was a secular state. Three of the world’s great religions lived peacefully side by side, with no one religion predominating.
So there would be, in effect, four weddings. The first was a civil ceremony, conducted in a small room in the palace. Then the ruler and his bride would present themselves at each of the three main religious headquarters in the city for the pronouncement of a blessing. These were riotous occasions, with the public thronging the entrances, clapping and cheering.
If this had been a normal wedding Fran would have enjoyed the buzz of preparation. From dawn to dusk she was engulfed in the making of a new wardrobe, and the selection of adornments for her state rooms. Instead, she floated through it all in an unhappy dream, wondering how she could be so miserable when her life was about to be joined to that of the man she loved. No, she amended that. The man she could have loved. For he seemed bent on destroying her feelings for him.
Elise had said the right woman could make Ali listen, but he showed no sign of listening. And in this tyranny Fran saw an ominous portent for their future.
Two days before the wedding Ali departed on a flying visit to the north of his little country, stating that he would return the following day. Elise came to spend the evening with her future daughter-in-law.
‘You’ll be glad to know that Yasir will not trouble you again,’ she said. ‘His wound is superficial and healing well, and he will have left the country before your wedding. Ali has banned him from returning in less than five years.’
‘That’s good,’ Fran said.
Elise observed her critically. ‘You don’t look like a happy bride preparing for her big day.’
‘Don’t I?’ Fran asked listlessly.
‘Anyone would think you were going to your execution instead of your wedding.’
‘Well, it feels like the end of my life.’
‘How ungrateful you are! Ali will make you the princess of a wealthy country. You’ll never have to lift a finger again.’
‘Is that why you married?’ Fran asked, regarding Elise levelly.
It fascinated her to observe that even now the mention of her late husband could bring a faint blush to Elise’s cheek.
‘I married the man I loved more than anything in life,’ Elise said. ‘And I knew that he loved me the same way.’
‘You’re lucky it was that easy for you,’ Fran said wistfully.
Elise gave her rich laugh. ‘It wasn’t easy at all. We had terrible fights, especially in the first year. But we survived them all, because we knew that we couldn’t bear to be apart. Whatever happened, we
She fell silent, leaving the implication hanging in the air. Fran met her eyes.
‘Is that how you love my son?’ Elise asked at last.
‘I don’t know,’ Fran said desperately. ‘How can I know when he’s forcing me into this wedding? Because he knows his own feelings he thinks that’s all that matters.’
‘But what makes you think he knows his own feelings?’ Elise asked.
‘Well, he’s certainly acting like a man who knows.’
‘Nonsense. He’s acting like a man in the depths of confusion. Does he really love you? Or does he only want you? Even he doesn’t know. But he thinks if he acts firmly the confusion will sort itself out by magic. He’s wrong, of course. He’s merely ensuring that he’ll never know the truth. And neither will you if this ridiculous marriage is allowed to go ahead.’
‘I thought you approved of me,’ Fran said.
‘But I do. I think you’re extremely good for him. You’ve got him not knowing whether he’s coming or going, and he needs some uncertainty. He’s had things all his own way for far too long. I want to see you married to Ali, but, oh, Fran, my dear-not like this.’
‘Have you said all this to him?’
‘Of course I have, and I might as well have been talking to a brick wall. The men of this family have always been distinguished for their stubbornness, and their inability to see beyond the ends of their noses. I’m sorry to say that my son is a chip off several unfortunate old blocks. Your sons will probably be the same.’
‘You mean-my sons with Ali? Will they ever exist, I wonder?’
‘They will if we act sensibly. You say you don’t know how much you love Ali. But do you love him enough to leave him?’
A bleakness settled over Fran’s heart. To leave him, perhaps for ever, never to ride beside him, never again to lie in his arms?
