Lost Love Found (58 page)

“
Four
eunuchs? Why four?” Esther Kira demanded.

“I do not know. I was afraid to ask, for it really has nothing to do with me, and although he never dared to accuse me, I sense that my husband’s grand eunuch, Hammid, always suspected my part in Incili’s escape.”

“Hammid dared not accuse you, for then he would have implicated himself,” Esther Kira said. “He will never tell the vizier, my princess, for to admit his own culpability would destroy him, particularly so because your husband forgave him his
negligence
in the matter. Indeed, you are more of a threat to Hammid than he is to you, so you need not fear him.

“But tell me more. Three of your husband’s favorites and four eunuchs, eh? Are they still there?”

“Aye, they are,” Lateefa Sultan said.

“Other than the women, who are important to your husband, are the eunuchs upon the island of any import?”

“One is,” the princess replied. “Shakir is Hammid’s special pet. I think Hammid grooms him for the day he is too old to do his duties, although I suspect he will not relinquish his power until he is on his deathbed. Hammid lifted Shakir from virtual obscurity, and Shakir adores him.”

“Does the vizier go to the island, my princess?”

“He did not go when the others did, but now he goes three and four times a week, remaining all night. In the beginning, my lord Cica returned in quite a good mood, but of late I notice he returns more angry than content.”

“It must be!” Esther Kira said with certainty. “She is there, I know it!”

“What is it, Esther? Who is there? I do not understand.”

“Forgive me, my princess. I have been oblique with you. How can you understand what I have not yet explained? I will begin.” Esther then told Lateefa Sultan about Lady Valentina Barrows, and explained the circumstances of her kidnapping. She concluded by saying, “The sultan has appointed your husband to find Lady Barrows, yet there has been no trace of the Englishwoman. Forgive me, my princess, but I suspect that the reason there has been no trace of Lady Barrows is that she is in the hands of the vizier. The afternoon that he met her here with me, her rebuff of him was absolute, and you know how much Cicalazade Pasha has always loved a challenge. It is said that since Incili, no woman has held his interest, that the women of his harem grow fat with boredom and neglect.”

Lateefa Sultan pondered for several minutes. Finally she said, “I have never known your instinct to fail you, Esther, and certainly another woman on the island would account for the fourth eunuch, for my husband’s moodiness, for a good deal.”

“It would also explain why no trace has been found of Lady Barrows,” replied the matriarch. “Lateefa, my child, I
must
know! You love your husband and you would not betray him. I do not ask you to do so. I ask you to save him from his folly, for if he has kidnapped Lady Barrows, he is risking everything he has worked so hard to build over the years.

“This woman is no slave, nor even a woman captured and sold into slavery. She is a visitor in our city, and she has great favor with the Valide Safiye and with her own queen. The wives of my great-grandsons ply our trade within the royal harem, my princess, and they have heard talk on several occasions over the last months of the valide berating the sultan over this scandalous matter.

“Valentina is not simply an Englishwoman of high birth. I am told the old queen quite dotes on Lady Barrows.

“You know how important the friendship of that queen is to the Valide Safiye, my princess. I myself was in the Yeni Serai the day the English queen’s gifts to the Valide Safiye were presented by the English ambassador. Such gifts! A golden picture frame set with rubies and diamonds! A portrait of the English queen! Three silver-gilt chargers, ten garments of cloth of gold, a rosewood case with Venetian crystal bottles set in silver and gilt, two pieces of fine Holland! Then there is the magnificent organ sent to the sultan by the English queen, and set up by her own organ master, who personally taught the sultan to play.

“You have visited the valide and seen those gifts displayed proudly for all to see. There is not a visitor who comes for the first time to visit with the sultan’s mother that Safiye does not parade the gifts before them. The valide is mortified that one of the English queen’s subjects has been snatched from our streets. I must learn, dear child, if your husband has been the culprit in this matter. If his passions have overruled his common sense, will you help?”

“If Cica is guilty of this dreadful indiscretion, Esther Kira, will not the sultan and the valide wreak their vengeance upon him for embarrassing them? How can I do such a thing to my husband?” The princess was torn between her sense of decency and her deep love for her husband.

“We want Lady Barrows back, dear child, and that is all. We seek no retribution,” the old woman reassured the younger woman. She lowered her voice and spoke in a conspiratorial fashion. “You know these Christian women, Lateefa Sultan. Lady Barrows would sooner die than admit to having spent several months in carnal bondage to an
infidel
. Her betrothed husband is a fine man who is willing to overlook her misadventure. He and her party are ready to sail from Istanbul the moment she is safely returned. All the Valide Safiye need know is that Lady Barrows has been found and is on her way home.”

“You speak with great certainty, Esther Kira, but what if Lady Barrows complains to her queen despite her personal embarrassment? What if the English queen complains to the Valide Safiye?” Lateefa Sultan asked. “I love my husband, as you well know, and he both loves and respects me. There are our children and grandchildren to think about. If Cicalazade Pasha is disgraced, what will happen to us all?”

Lateefa Sultan could be very stubborn when she chose to be, and Esther Kira was well aware of that. Although it had been many years since she and the vizier had had any sort of physical relationship, the princess did love her husband and was very loyal to him and to their family. Once before, Lateefa Sultan had secretly aided Esther Kira in obtaining the release of a captive from her husband’s harem. The princess had done it because she truly understood the nature of love. Then, too, there had been the inescapable fact that the woman captive was her distant cousin. She and Incili had shared a heritage that could not be denied, and for the sake of that heritage, as well as Incili’s love for her husband, Lateefa Sultan had helped her escape from the harem of Cicalazade Pasha.

Esther Kira knew that she would need an additional weapon to break through Lateefa Sultan’s wall of loyalty to her husband. Asking Yahweh for his forgiveness, the old woman lied, saying, “You were just a girl when this happened, dear child, but almost twenty-three years ago, Sultan Murad took into his harem the widow of the Tatar prince, Javid Khan. The woman did not wish it. Indeed, she wished nothing more than to return to her own homeland. Perhaps because of that, Safiye became her friend, and although Sultan Murad favored the woman Marjallah greatly, Safiye remained loyal to her. Marjallah was equally loyal to Safiye.

“Marjallah continued to brood, and the overwrought woman attempted to stab Sultan Murad. The Sultan Valide, Nur-U-Banu, immediately ordered Marjallah’s execution, and she was sewn into a sack and tossed into the sea. She was, however, rescued, and Marjallah was returned to her homeland, where she was welcome by her family and married to a man of good name.

“Marjallah took with her, however, a most priceless gift from Sultan Murad. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time—even Marjallah—she was carrying the sultan’s child.
His
daughter, whom she named Valentina.
His
daughter, who disappeared off the streets of the Great Bazaar several months ago.
His
daughter, who is Sultan Mehmed’s sister.

“Now do you understand, Lateefa Sultan, why you must help me before it is known that the sultan’s dearest friend and confidant has stolen the sultan’s sister and made her his love slave?

“My own loyalty to the royal family will not allow me to keep silent in this matter unless I can solve the problem in another way. My love for you brings me to you as a supplicant. I beg you to help me before what has been a quiet scandal becomes an open one. Ambassador Lello, the English queen’s representative, has this day been to the Yeni Sarai once again to protest the lack of progress in this matter!”

After thinking all of this through carefully, Lateefa Sultan said, “I will help you, Esther Kira. But you must promise me that you will not let Cica be harmed.”

“If Lady Barrows is returned, my princess, what is there to say?” the matriarch answered, smiling.

“It will take me several days to learn what we need to know, Esther Kira. You know how difficult Cica can be, and it may be that I shall not approach him directly. Be patient and I will contact you when I am certain that your instincts have once again proved infallible.” She rose to leave. “I have come to love peace in my middle years, but being your friend brings an excitement into my life that I almost believe I enjoy. Farewell, Esther Kira, my old friend. We will meet again soon, I have no doubt.” There was a mischievous smile on her face as she left.

When the door to the matriarch’s apartments had closed behind the princess, Esther Kira said quietly, “You may come out now, Lord Burke.” Padraic emerged from behind a painted screen.

“Is she reliable?” he asked.

“Quite,” came the reply. “She loves her husband above all people, even her children. She will do whatever is necessary to protect him. As you see, it became necessary for me to lie to her about Valentina’s parentage, though I was but taking a leaf from Safiye’s book in order to protect Valentina. Do not be fooled by the princess’s look of fragile beauty, my lord. Lateefa Sultan is a strong woman. More important, she is very clever.”

Esther Kira knew her ally well. The following day, the vizier received an invitation from his wife to join her that afternoon in her garden for refreshments. Lateefa Sultan knew that if her husband had been having difficulties of any sort, he would eventually confide them to her.

The garden of the vizier’s wife was a place of peace and elegance. Everything about it was calm and orderly, from the quiet rectangular reflecting pool to the neat, raked paths of fine white gravel, each of which was lined, every ten feet, with white marble benches. Behind each bench grew a row of perfectly pruned cypress trees. In late September, the square flower beds blushed with the last blooming of pale pink damask roses. At the end of the garden was a charming kiosk that looked out over the Bosporus. It was here that Lateefa Sultan led her husband for their afternoon visit.

After making him comfortable, she offered him a plate of his favorite pastries, delicate ones filled with finely chopped almonds, raisins, cinnamon, and honey. His blue-gray eyes were filled with appreciation. Lateefa Sultan accepted a delicate porcelain cup from the coffee maker, whom she then dismissed, then sugared the brew precisely as she knew her husband liked it and dropped two fat chips of ice into the cup before she handed it to him.

“If you were any other woman,” he said admiringly, “I would wonder what you wanted.”

“A little of your time only, my lord,” she answered with a warm smile. “When did I ever have to cajole you for anything, Cica? You have always anticipated my every wish. But it has been weeks since you have been able to take the time to be with me like this. My cousin, the sultan, has an excellent vizier in you, but you work far too hard, Cica! Even the women of your harem have been complaining of neglect these past few months. That is not like you, my lord,” she said, flattering him.

“So they have come to you with their little complaints, my sweet Lateefa?” His voice had a slight edge to it.

Lateefa Sultan pouted prettily, causing the vizier to recall their younger days. “To whom would they come if not to me, Cica? I am your wife, the mother of your children, the head of your women as long as you will have me be. I should not be a good wife if I did not listen and attempt to soothe their silly fears.”

“They are right to be fearful,” he said irritably. “Most of them bore me to death. With a few exceptions, I should have Hammid sell off the lot of them.”

“It might be kinder,” she agreed, her voice pleasantly soothing, “to sell them where they will be held in higher regard than to let them linger here, unwanted and unloved.” She put her hand on his and said gently, “Come, my lord, what has distressed you so? It is not like you to be like this.”

“Like what?” he grumbled, helping himself to another pastry and popping it into his mouth. Lateefa was the one constant in his life, and though he did not make love to her any longer, he loved her dearly. To his surprise, he suddenly realized they were best friends.

“Distracted,” she said softly. “Perhaps a bit despondent, and even just a little bit short of temper when no one has done you injury.” Lateefa Sultan chose her words carefully, for her husband was not loathe to punish physically a woman who irritated him.

The vizier sighed deeply, then looked into her beautiful eyes. “Ah, Lateefa, my dove, how well you know me! Aye, I am all of those things. Can you guess why?”

A smile played about the corners of her mouth. “A woman, my lord?” she said lightly, teasing.

“A woman,” he agreed. “A beautiful, irritating woman, who, for three months, has driven me mad with her refusal to yield to me!”

“I was not aware of any new woman in the harem,” Lateefa Sultan said innocently. “But tell me who she is, my lord, and I shall lecture her on her duty to you. She must be a foreigner, that she does not know how to conduct herself in the presence of her lord and master. With your permission, I shall train her in the rules of our etiquette. You should never have let such a thing go on for so long, my dear lord! Have you lost confidence in me, that you would not tell me of her behavior until you had spent a long summer suffering? Oh, Cica! It should not be!”

Her wounded tone, the open distress on her beautiful face, touched him. He caught her hands in his and kissed them. “My sweet Lateefa, I have not lost my well-placed confidence in you. I simply did not believe the girl would resist me for so long and cause me such irritation.