“I know,” he said. There were a few moments of silence, then he went on: “The Chief Eunuch kept me informed. I knew the French girl had saved you from the Pasha by giving you a dose of a certain medicine.
He supplied the medicine for her to give to you. “
“He told you that!”
“Yes. I had spoken of you. I had told him of our shipwreck … how we had been together that time on the island. He said it reminded him of his own experience. And … the French girl had been taken into the harem. I think because it was so similar and there was a chance for us, he wanted us to have it. He used to say, ” It will be the same story for you unless you get out of here. ” There seemed no hope.
Then this chance came. What fantastic good fortune we have had, Rosetta. “
“I can’t believe that we’re here together now. It seems from the start we have been looked after. First the ship … then the island, and now this.”
“We have had our opportunities and taken them. And now we must not turn away from them when they are offered to us.”
“I cannot leave you here.”
“Remember it was my original plan to get away from England. What would happen if I returned now?”
“You cannot stay here. They may look for you. What if they found you?
The penalty for escaping is. “
“They won’t find me.”
“We could prove you were innocent. Together we could do it.”
“No. It is not the time.”
“Will it ever be?”
“Perhaps not. But if I went back with you I should be arrested at once. I should be in the same position that I was in before I got out.”
“Perhaps you should never have gone.”
“Just think: if I hadn’t we should never have met. We should never have been on that island together. Looking back, it seems like a sort of paradise to me.”
“An uncomfortable paradise. Do you forget how hungry we were … how we longed for the sight of a ship?”
“And then we found we were in the hands of corsairs. No, I am not likely to forget.”
“The island was no paradise.”
“But we were together.”
“Yes,” I said.
“Together, and that is how we should stay.”
He shook his head.
“This is your chance, Rosetta. You have to take it.
I am going to make you take it. “
“But I want so much to stay with you, Simon. More than anything I want that.”
“And I want you to be safe. It will be so easy for you.”
“No, it will be the hardest thing I ever did.”
“You are letting your emotions of the moment get the better of your good sense. Tomorrow you would regret it. There will be a bed for you at the Embassy. There will be sympathetic listening to your story and all the help necessary to get you comfortably home.”
“And leave you behind!”
“Yes,” he said shortly.
“Now I will take you to the Embassy. Oh, Rosetta, don’t look like that. It’s the best for you. That is what I want. It’s a great opportunity … such as comes once in a lifetime.
You must not fail to take it. You are emotionally overwrought. You do not understand your true feelings. Later you will be able to assess them. Now you must go. I ask it. I have to fend for myself. That will be difficult enough. But I shall manage . alone. “
“You mean I would be a burden.”
He hesitated and then looked at me steadily.
“Yes,” he said.
I knew then that I had to go.
“It is best for you, Rosetta,” he went on gently.
“I shall never forget you. One day perhaps …”
I did not speak. I thought: I shall never be happy again. We have been through too much . together.
He took both my hands in his and held me against him for a few moments.
Then, together, we left the Memorial Church and made our way to the gates of the Embassy.
Trecorn Manor
In a few days I had passed out of the fantastic unreal world into normality. I was amazed by the manner in which I had been received by the Embassy. It almost made me feel that for a girl to be shipwrecked and sold into a harem was not such an unusual occurrence as I had imagined it to be.
Piracy must have been abolished almost a century ago, but there were still some who continued to ply their evil trade on the high seas, and potentates still maintained their seraglios behind high walls guarded by eunuchs, as they had in days gone by. Certain acts might not be performed openly, but they still existed.
The Embassy was a small enclave-a little bit of England in a foreign land, and from the moment I entered its portals I felt that I had come home.
I was soon divested of my foreign garments and conventional clothes were found for me. I was questioned and I gave my account of what had happened. It was well known that the Atlantic Star had foundered and there had been few survivors. Immediate contact would be made with London. I told my story of our escape with the help of one of the crew hands, how we had reached the island, where we had been picked up by corsairs who had sold us into slavery. I knew that I must say nothing about Simon’s having escaped with me. My story was immediately accepted.
I was to stay in the Embassy for a while. I must try to relax, I was told, and to remember that I was now safe. I saw a doctor, an elderly Englishman, who was very kind and gentle. He asked me a few questions. I told him how I had been befriended and had been unmolested all the time I had been there. That seemed to give him great relief. He said I appeared to be in good health but I must take care. Such an ordeal as I had suffered could have had an effect on me which might not at first be discernible. If I wished to talk of it I was to do so; but if not, my wishes would be respected.
I was thinking a great deal about Simon, for naturally I could not get him out of my mind. This made me preoccupied and those about me probably thought I was brooding on the horror from which I had escaped.
Moreover, I could not help wondering what was happening at the seraglio and what Rani’s reaction had been when she had discovered that I had gone instead of Fatima. And what would have happened when Simon’s departure had been discovered? Fortunately the Chief Eunuch had been involved and he would doubtless see that there was as little fuss as possible. Rani would be very angry, I was sure. But even she had to bow to the Chief Eunuch.
I wondered about Nicole. Her debt was handsomely paid and I fervently hoped that she would be rewarded for all she had done for me and keep herself and Samir in high favour with the Pasha.
But I should never know. They had passed out of my life as suddenly as they had come into it.
Then I would be overcome by the wonder of freedom. I should soon be home. I should live the life of a normal English girl. I must never cease to be thankful that I had come safely through that ordeal except that, on achieving freedom, I had lost Simon.
Those days I spent in the Embassy seem vague to me now. I would wake in the morning for a few seconds believing I was on my divan. The terrible apprehension would come flooding back.
Will it be today that the summons will come? I had not realized until this time what a strain I had lived
