Ironhand

by Hilary Green

  'Well, then. Do you think she knows?'

  'She would have to be blind and stupid not to – and my sister is neither of those things.'

  'And do you think she … might she feel the same for me?'

  Firouz stepped closer and laid a hand on his arm. 'You must ask her that yourself.'

  'I have never had the chance. Can you arrange for me to spend some time alone with her?'

  Firouz smiled. 'You'll dine with us this evening?'

  'Of course, if I'm invited.'

  'You will be. Leave it all to me.'

  After dinner, when Mariam had excused herself to see to some necessary matter in the kitchen, Firouz said, 'Ranulph, you remember when you were here last you started to teach me the names of the constellations? Come up on the roof and we'll see how many I can recall.'

  They emerged onto the roof under a sky dense and milky with stars. For a moment Ranulph thought they were alone. Then he saw a dark figure half concealed behind a palm tree planted in a tub to give shade in the daytime. Firouz touched his arm and tilted his head to the far side of the space.

  'I'll be over there.'

  He walked away and leaned on the balustrade with his back to them. Ranulph moved forward and the shadowy figure detached itself and came to meet him. In the starlight Mariam's face was the colour of pale honey and her eyes were shadowed, unreadable. She had taken off the stiffened cap with its metallic fringe and her hair was loose under a simple veil. Ranulph's pulse was beating far faster than the climb up the short staircase could account for and he had to swallow and clear his throat before he could speak.

  'Mariam,' his voice was hoarse, as if he had just come from the desert, 'I think you must know why I have asked to speak to you.'

  'Yes.' The one word, spoken without her usual self-possession.

  'What I want to ask you is not an easy thing. If you were to agree, it would mean leaving your home and your friends and coming to a foreign country. But I can promise you a fine home in a beautiful city, and you would soon find that you had many new friends. You would never want for anything. All I have would be yours, my goods, my body, my soul, my undying love …' he realised he was babbling and fell silent.

  She said, 'If I were to agree …?'

  'Yes.'

  'Agree to what?'

  'God help me! What a fool I am! To marry me. That is what I am asking. Will you marry me, even if it means forsaking all this for a strange land?'

  'You are sure of this? We know so little of each other. After all, we have only met on your visits here.'

  'Mariam, when I first came here you were almost a child, and every year since then I have seen you grow more beautiful. But it is not just that. Every year I have felt your soul reach out to mine, as if we were part of the same being, only complete when we are together.'

  She moved a little closer to him, her face lifted towards him so that he saw the stars reflected in her eyes. 'Then, you must know that ever since that first year I have lived for your next visit. If you want me, I will follow you to the ends of the earth, and beyond.'

  He kissed her then and felt her lips warm and tremulous, yielding a little hesitantly to the pressure of his own, and knew that she had never been kissed by a man before. The knowledge flooded him with tenderness. He caressed her hair and kissed her eyes and her cheeks and then her lips again, and this time the kiss prolonged itself until fire ran through his veins.

  From behind him Firouz's voice said quietly, 'I think it is time we went down again.'

  Ranulph loosened his hold and stepped back. 'I will speak to your father tomorrow. Until then, goodnight, my dearest love.'

  'Goodnight,' she whispered. 'Goodnight, my love.'

  Next day he sought out Dmitri, not at his home but in his counting house, a room in the corner of the warehouse where he kept his stock. There was a large desk, with a chair, and in front of it a stool, and on the wall behind him hung strips of silk, samples of what he had it stock. Dmitri put down his quill and looked up, surprised.

  'Ranulph? I thought we had concluded out business. Is there a problem?'

  'No problem,' Ranulph assured him. 'But I have a very important request to make.'

  'What is it? You know I will help in any way I can.'

  'I think you must be aware that I … that I am very attracted to your daughter.'

  Dmitri lowered his eyes to the page in front of him and sighed. 'I have been half expecting this. It is regrettable.'

  'Regrettable? Why?'

  'Because it is impossible for this – attraction to go any further.'

  Ranulph felt as if someone had slid a dagger of ice into his gut. 'I don't understand. Oh, I can see that you will not wish to let her go. It is a great deal to ask, I know. But I can promise that I will take care of her. She will lack for nothing. So surely it is not impossible.'

  'It is, because I have other plans for her.'

  'Plans? What plans?'

  'I agreed some years ago that she should marry Hamid bin Ismail.'

  'Bin Ismail? A Turk?'

  'One of the leading silk merchants in the city. By allying our two businesses we can have what amounts to a monopoly of the trade.'

  Ranulph stared at him. 'And for that you would force your daughter into a marriage with the infidel?'

  'He has agreed that she will be free to worship in her own faith, without any restriction.'

  'And children, if there were any?'

  Dmitri fiddled with his quill. 'That is something that can be discussed when the time comes.'

  'I don't believe you can contemplate this,' Ranulph exclaimed desperately. 'Do you really think he will keep his word? Can you imagine that he will allow Mariam to live the life she has been used to with you? A Moslem can have up to four wives. Do you wish to consign your daughter to a harem?'

  The older man looked up, anger overlying some other emotion in his face. 'And if I let her go with you? What is there in that for me? You will take her away and I shall never see her again. Here, at least, we shall be able to meet – and I shall see my grandchildren.'

  'I will bring her to visit you every year, when I come to trade. And you could come to Amalfi.'

  'You would commit her to the danger of the seas – and expect me to do likewise?'

  'There is no danger – well, very little. I have sailed these seas for years without harm. And at least she would be marrying a Christian.'

  'A Christian of a different faith from the one she was brought up in. And anyway, when were you last in a church? It has been noted that you never attend services here.'

  'That is immaterial,' Ranulph countered desperately. 'At least Mariam would live in a Christian city and her children would be baptised, instead of circumcised in the manner of the infidels.'

  Dmitri lowered his head. 'Whatever you say, it is too late. The deal has been made.'

  'Does Mariam know about this?'

  'Not yet.'

  'Do you have no concern for what she feels?'

  'She knows where her duty lies. A daughter does not choose for herself but as her father bids.'

  Ranulph leaned forward and placed his hands on the desk. 'I tell you, if you force her into this match, you will break her heart. Does that matter nothing to you?'

  'Pish! Break her heart? She is a sensible girl, not one of these characters in some romantic chanson.'

  'Dmitri, she loves me! She has told me so.'

  Dmitri looked him in the eye. 'You have spoken to her?'

  'Yes, last night.'

  'Without consulting me first?'

  Ranulph drew back. He knew he had made a bad mistake. 'Forgive me. I should have spoken to you. But I needed to know if she would even consider my proposal.'

  'But you did not ask whether I would consider it?'

  'You want to marry her for your own advantage in trade. Is there not advantage in an alliance between us? I have good contacts in Amalfi. I can get you top prices for your silk. We can both grow wealthy.' He thought he saw a fli
cker of interest in the merchant's eyes. 'Dmitri, I am offering your daughter a good life, a life where she will be respected as the wife of a successful man, not shut away in a Turk's harem. I know she loves me, and I love her. Will you not reconsider?'

  Dmitri was fidgeting with the quill again. 'It is difficult. I do not want Bin Ismail's enmity.'

  'You do not want my enmity, either. You are not the only man I can buy from in Antioch.' he paused to let that sink in. 'Will you, at least, speak to Mariam? Find out how she feels about the match. I cannot believe that you love her so little that you will force her against her will.'

  Slowly Dmitri raised his head. 'Very well. I will talk to the girl. But I make no promises. And you had better stay away from the house until I send you a message.'

  Ranulph spent the rest of the day in anguish. Had he made a fatal mistake in speaking to Mariam before discussing his proposal with her father? But surely it had strengthened his hand in their recent argument. Was it conceivable that Dmitri could be so venal that he would force her into this unwanted marriage? And if he insisted, what course was open to them? Would Mariam consent to run away with him? He wandered the streets of the city with these questions churning in his brain and then hurried back to the inn where he was staying in case there was a message for him.

  It was late evening when Firouz knocked at his door, his expression unreadable. Ranulph seized him by the shoulders.

  'What? Tell me? In Christ's name, has he agreed?'

  'He wants to see you.'

  'Does that mean he is going to give us his blessing?'

  'I'm not sure. He has not said one way or the other.'

  'Has he spoken to Mariam?'

  'Yes.'

  'So, what happened?'

  'I could not hear all of it. They were in his study. I waited outside and the door was ajar. He told her that you had asked for her hand but that she was already promised to Bin Ismail, and that if he reneged on that promise it would be contrary to his honour. He said, too, that the marriage to the Turk would bring great advantages … he talked about merging the two businesses, cutting costs, freezing out the competition … you can imagine the sort of thing. Then he went on to say that if he went back on his promise the opposite would happen, that Bin Ismail would become an enemy and do anything he could to ruin us ...'

  'And Mariam had to listen to all this?'

  'Oh yes. She listened. In the end he said that in spite of all this he wished to know how she felt before he made a final decision.'

  'And she said …?

  'She knelt at his feet. She said that she understood her duty as his daughter, and if this marriage was so important to him that he insisted on going through with it she would obey.'

  'She said that?' The words came out in a strangled cry.

  'Wait! But, she said, before he came to a decision, he should know that if he forced her into this marriage he would be taking from her the one joyful hope she had cherished all her life; that he would be consigning her to a life of misery. She said that she had always loved him as the best of fathers and she believed that he loved her, but that, if he insisted on this match, although she would always be his dutiful daughter she would never again be able to care for him in the same way.' He looked at Ranulph and there were tears in his eyes. 'She spoke with such dignity, Ranulph. She didn't weep or howl but it was obvious that she meant every word.'

  'How did your father react?'

  'He said nothing at first. Then he took her hands and raised her to her feet and said that there was much to consider and he would speak to her again later. He sent her away, then he called me and told me to fetch you.'

  'Then let us go! He must be prepared to listen to my proposal. Come on!'

  Ranulph set a pace through the streets that Firouz, with his shorter legs, found hard to keep up with. By the time they reached the house they were both out of breath. In the hallway Ranulph stopped and forced himself to be calm. Mariam, he reminded himself, had known that the way to her father's heart was through quiet reason, not emotional bluster. He must use the same approach.

  Dmitri was waiting in his study. He sent a servant to summon Mariam and nobody spoke until she appeared. She was paler than Ranulph had ever seen her and her face was dominated by her eyes, which seemed larger and deeper than ever. She looked at Ranulph as she entered and he felt his bowels turn to water. With great difficulty he withdrew his gaze and turned to her father.

  Dmitri seemed to have aged in the few hours since he had last seen him. His face was drawn, the skin across his broad cheekbones stretched tight. He looked at Mariam.

  'You spoke earlier of the one great joyful hope you had entertained all your life. What is that?'

  'The hope that one day Ranulph would ask me to be his wife.' Her voice was very quiet, but steady.

  'Did he ever give you reason to hope that?'

  'No, not in words, until last night. But I felt … we both felt … I knew that there was something between us, something very precious.'

  Dmitri turned to Ranulph. 'You told me that you had watched Mariam growing up. When did you first think of her as a possible bride?'

  'Last summer, when I was here. But it was over the winter that I knew it for certain. I have thought of little else since then.'

  Dmitri sighed. 'Mariam, you are my daughter and I love you. Ranulph, over the years you have become a good friend. I wish you both to be happy. But I am concerned, not just because of the consequences of breaking my undertaking with Bin Ismail. Ranulph, you are only here for a few weeks each summer. Where you go and what you do for the rest of the time we only partly know. You say you have thought of little else apart from Mariam over the winter months, but for a young man of your wealth and accomplishments there must be many other possibilities. How can I be sure that you will be faithful to her?'

  'I swear …' Ranulph began but Dmitri silenced him with a gesture.

  'Oaths can be broken. You are asking me to break mine to Bin Ismael. Before I do that I need to be convinced that your love for Mariam, and hers for you, will endure. So this is what I offer. I will delay the proposed marriage to Bin Ismail for a year. If you return next summer, and you are still of the same mind, then I will not stand in the way of your happiness. Do you agree?'

  Ranulph looked from him to Mariam. For the first time he admitted to himself that he had hoped for a quick agreement and a speedy wedding that would allow him to take her with him when he left. Now he realised that that had always been an unrealistic dream. She met his eyes and he saw hope and relief and a steady determination. A year was a long time, but not too long to wait for something she had longed for for so many years. He turned back to her father.

  'I agree, and I thank from the bottom of my heart. I shall return next summer. You have no faith in oaths, but I promise you that I will make Mariam the happiest bride who ever pledged her troth and I will be faithful to her as long as I live.'

  Dmitri nodded and took his daughter's hand. 'So be it. I give you her hand in token of my pledge. Next summer she shall be yours.'

  He placed Mariam's hand in Ranulph's. It was trembling, but as he bent his head to kiss her, her eyes shone with a steady light.

  23.

  In the euphoria of the days that followed there was still one disturbing thought that nagged at the back of Ranulph's mind. One night, sleepless, he forced himself to confront it. Dmitri had queried his Christian faith and commented that he was never seen in church. Next year he would have to stand in front of a priest and pledge his faith to Mariam, but how could he do that in all honesty when he was, in the eyes of his own church, an unredeemed sinner. Somehow, he must make his peace with the past. But how that was to be accomplished seemed an insurmountable obstacle.

  In his quest for knowledge he had tended to avoid priests and religious thinkers, but there was one man he had encountered in Antioch, a priest attached to the church of St Peter, whom he had met in the company of various scholars and whose conversation he had always enjoyed.
The next morning he went to look for him and found him sitting in the shade of a mulberry tree at the entrance. The church was the most ancient in the city, carved out of the living rock on the flank of Mt Silpius and it was believed to mark the spot where St Peter himself had first preached the gospel of Christianity to the inhabitants of the city.

  They greeted each other and then the priest said, 'It is a long climb up to here. Have you come to pray, or is there some other reason?'

  Ranulph hesitated. It was hard, so very hard, to even contemplate speaking of what he had kept hidden for so long, but he thought of Mariam and his coming marriage and forced himself to go on.

  'Father, I am deeply troubled and I need advice. May I confide in you?'

  'Of course, my son.' The old man rose stiffly. 'Perhaps it would be more appropriate for us to speak inside.'

  Inside the cave it was very cool. The rock walls were decorated with frescoes and on the floor were mosaics worn to fragments by the feet of generations of worshippers and at the far end was a simple altar hewn out of the rock. The priest led Ranulph to a bench along one wall and they sat side by side.

  'Now,' said the gentle voice, 'tell me what troubles you.'

  Slowly, painfully, Ranulph related what had happened to him at the hands of Osric and its consequences. Then he told the priest about his fight with Dirk and how he had believed that he had killed him. Finally, he spoke of how his neglect had led to the capture and ultimately to the death of Rosa and Hildred.

  'And yet,' he concluded, 'at every time in my life when I have been at a loss, not knowing which way to turn, a new path has opened up for me and I have found good friends and good fortune. I do not know if God is lifting me up only to make my fall greater, or if I am being tempted by the devil into worse sin.'

  There were no sharp words of condemnation. Instead the priest sat silent for a moment. Then he said, 'Let us consider all these events one by one. When you were still a child you were subjected to cruel and wicked abuse. It is understandable that you should wish to take revenge. Tell me, when you untied the mooring ropes of that ship, did you intend Osric's death?'