The Captive

by Виктория Холт

  “He is too young,” I said.

  “Children are sharper than you think. They listen. There is little they miss. Sometimes they put the wrong construction on things … but Samir will know something is wrong. He will sense danger.”

  “I will look after him. You must not worry about him … and when you think he should come to see you, I am sure they will allow it.”

  “Oh yes. They do not want me to die. The Pasha would ask questions. He would wonder how well Rani was looking after us. She might be

  replaced. That is always in her mind. He would remember me because I am the mother of his boy.”

  “And what of Fatima? She also is the mother of his boy.”

  “He never really liked Fatima. She is a fool. She always was. She is the mother of Feisal, true. But that is all. Feisal is a good-looking boy, but that does not mean Fatima will be kept in favour because of that if she is a menace in the harem. I did not have a knife. She was the one who produced it. She might have killed me. It was what she intended to do. As it is … I have lost a lot of blood. The wound is deep. It is going to take a long time to heal.”

  The next day I took Samir to her.

  He leaped on to the divan and they hugged each other. I felt the tears in my eyes as I watched them. The child’s joy was great. She was there. She was still ill, he knew, but she was there.

  He sat beside her and she asked what he was doing? How was the boat going?

  “The pirates nearly took her,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, but I saved her in time.”

  “That is good news.”

  “When are you getting up?”

  “Very soon.”

  “Today?”

  “Well, not today.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “We’ll have to see.” There it was again. Samir sighed, recognizing the vagueness of the reply.

  “You’ve got Rosetta,” she told him.

  He turned and smiled at me and held out his hand. Nicole was biting her lip and lowering her ey s. She was as touched as I was and in that moment I was sure she felt as great an affection for me as I did for her.

  The next day when I was with her. Rani brought in the Chief Eunuch.

  Nicole spoke to him in French. She told him what I had done and that it was my prompt action which had saved Samir.

  “I owe Samir’s life to her,” she said.

  “I must repay her for what she has done for me.”

  He nodded and I believe the look which passed between them was one of love.

  The tragedy of their lives was brought home to me more vividly than ever. But for that one incident which had befallen them, everything could have been so different for them. In my imagination I saw the ship. I could picture the meetings . the friendship which sprang up as it can on board ship where people see each other every day if they wish. Relationships blossom in such an atmosphere. And that was how it would have been with those two young people. What would have happened if they had been al lowed to stay together? I pictured them at sea . warm evenings, sitting on deck, the starlit sky, the gentle swishing of the calm sea as they drifted along. Romance in the air. And then . shipwreck . sold into slavery and the end of a love-story which had only just begun.

  Could I not understand better than anyone? Had it not happened to me?

  And poor Nicole! Cruelly separated, yet to live not far apart.

  Actually to see each other often: she the member of a harem to bear a child to an imperious master; he to lose his manhood because he was tall and strong and could be of use to that ruthless man. How dared some people inflict such horror on others! How dared they take us from a civilized world and submit us to their barbarous way of life! But they did dare. They had the opportunity and for the moment the upper hand and with it they tampered with our lives.

  Nicole was getting better. She was exceptionally healthy and Rani was a skilled nurse. She knew exactly how to treat the wounds. I wondered how much practice she had had in a community where very idleness bred violence?

  I took Samir to see Nicole every day. He was happier now. He was no longer afraid. His mother was ill for a while but she was there, he could see her, and I was a fair substitute.

  One day she said to me: “The Chief Eunuch has just been to see me. He tells me much. They are eager to get this matter settled before the Pasha returns. Then he need not be told.”

  “What of Fatima?”

  “Rani will let it be known that she had to be sent away … back to her family. For some time she has been complaining of her conduct. It might even be said that she threatened me with a knife. If there are scars there would need to be an explanation. So much depends. There will be time to decide. But Fatima will be sent away.”

  “What of Feisal?”

  “He will remain. He is the Pasha’s son. He cannot leave.”

  “Oh … poor child.”

  “He will be better off here than with his foolish mother.”

  “Who will care for him?”

  “The other women will. No one has any quarrel with Feisal. He cannot help having such a mother. Fatima will remain locked up for the time being. Quite right, too. She is a wild animal.”

  “But what a terrible punishment for the child.”

  “Fatima deserves to lose her life. She would have taken Samir’s. Every time I think of that, I remember how much I owe you. I do not care to owe. I have spoken to Jean … to the Chief Eunuch. He understands it may be that he can help. Yes … I think he will help.”

  My heart started to beat so fast that I could scarcely speak.

  “How …” I stammered.

  “The Pasha has been delayed. He will not be back for two more weeks.

  It must be done before then. “

  “Yes?”

  “I told you, Fatima will be sent away. A carriage will come to take her. The Chief Eunuch will unlock the gates. The carriage will be waiting outside. It is to take her back to her family. Her presence is no longer required in the harem.”

  “Does that happen often?”

  Nicole shook her head.

  “It is the ultimate disgrace. If she had killed me it would have been death. It may be that she will decide to kill herself,” she added with relish.

  “Oh no!” I cried.

  She laughed at me.

  “She must not, for if she did it would spoil our plans. Listen.”

  She paused for a few seconds. I could not hide my eagerness to hear more. Hope was suddenly surging up within me.

  “All women are heavily veiled when they go out. It is only the lower classes who are not. One woman, therefore, looks very like another.

  Oh, I shall miss you . for we are good friends, are we not? But it is what you want. You would never have been a true harem woman. You have too much esprit. You cannot forget your pride . your dignity . no, not for all the rubies in the world. “

  “Nicole, tell me what you mean. Don’t keep me in suspense. You have been such a good friend to me. I don’t forget that you saved me once with that potion you gave me.”

  “And made you most uncomfortable for a while.”

  “It didn’t matter. It saved me. It gave me a respite.”

  “A bagatelle. Did you not save Samir for me?”

  “We have helped each other. Now … please … please, tell me what you have to say.”

  “The Chief Eunuch will help … if it can be done.”

  “How? What?”

  “He will come to take Fatima away. She would be heavily cloaked and wearing a yashmak … and if behind those concealing garments it was not Fatima but Rosetta … why? What of that?”

  “Is it… possible?” I breathed.

  “It might be. He would take you through the gates. Nobody would have any idea that it was not Fatima but you. Everyone will have heard she is going back to her family.”

  “And where is Fatima to be at this time?”

  “In her room. She is to be ready at a certain t
ime, but the carriage will come half an hour early. It makes no difference, the Chief Eunuch will say, and he is the one who makes the arrangement. He will come to see me. You will be here in this room … ready waiting. He will walk out with you and if anyone sees you … a few might dare to but they will be warned to stay in and not pry on Fatima’s shame … they will think you are Fatima. The Chief Eunuch will unlock the gates and you will walk through with him. He will then lock the gates and you will get into the carriage which is waiting outside. It will all go according to plan, except that you will be the one who leaves instead of Fatima.”

  “Where would he take me?”

  “To the British Embassy. You will tell your story. They will send you home. You cannot give the name of the Pasha because you do not know it. Besides, a foreign country cannot interfere in the affairs of another. The duty of the Embassy would be solely to get you home.”

  “I can’t believe it. It sounds too easy.”

  “It is not easy. It is clever and well planned. The Chief Eunuch is a very clever man.”

  “And when it is found out what he has done … what will happen then?”

  “It was a natural mistake. Everyone knew of your reluctance. You managed to pose as Fatima. He came to get a woman from the harem. The only one who could make trouble would be Rani and she will not be so foolish as to quarrel with the Chief Eunuch. She may suspect what she will, but she can do nothing. It is not as though the Pasha knows of your existence. You were to be a surprise for him. So there is no difficulty on that score. He will probably be told that there was trouble in the harem, and that Fatima attacked me with a knife. In the circumstances it seemed wise in the eyes of the Chief Eunuch and Rani to send her to her home. Depend upon it, very soon after you have gone, Fatima will be sent off.”

  “Oh, Nicole, I can’t believe this. For so long I have hoped and tried to think of possibilities. And now … you and the Chief Eunuch are planning to do this for me. I’m not dreaming, am I?”

  “As far as I know you are wide awake.”

  “The Chief Eunuch is risking such a lot for me.”

  “No,” she said softly.

  “For me.”

  “Nicole, what can I say to you? That you should do this for me …”

  “I like to pay my debts. This has to work … or I shall not have done so.”

  “You owe me nothing. Anything I did …”

  “I know what you mean. But you have done so much for me and it is my joy to give you what you most want.”

  “Your escape could have been arranged.”

  “There are times in life when it is too late and that time for me is now. It is too late for … us … but not for you. Now… be prepared. Betray nothing. If it is going to work, the utmost caution is necessary.

  “I know. I just want to think of what I have to do. You have surprised me. Just now I feel bemused.”

  “Think about it,” she said.

  “You will have to go very carefully. It is very important that this should work.”

  I could not sleep. I could not eat. I went over and over the plan in my mind. To be free once more! Not to have this terrible fear hanging over me . it was a relief too great to be realized at first. To be mistress of my own destiny once more, an individual who made her own decisions, no longer a minion depending on the whim of a master who could command my presence and submission at any time he thought fit.

  I thought of Simon. How was he faring? When I was free I must let it be known what had happened to him. He must be rescued. People could not be sold into slavery. That had been abolished. There should be no slaves in the civilized world. Oh . but I had forgotten. Simon did not want to be found. He was in hiding. He might be working as a slave in the Pasha’s garden, but at least he was not on trial for a crime he had not committed.

  And what of Lucas? What had happened to him?

  But I must not think beyond escape. I must remember that this was for what I had longed and prayed and that it was now about to happen.

  Miraculously, I had acquired powerful friends and they were in a position to help me and would do so.

  It would be hazardous, I knew, but I must not allow my mind to be sidetracked. I must hold myself in complete readiness for when the moment came.

  A few days passed. Then Nicole said to me: “Tomorrow is the day.

  Fatima is now in a room alone, waiting to be taken away. She will be angry and very frightened. She will be sent home in disgrace. She will lose Feisal. Rani says she is lucky. She might have been punished by death. If Samir had died . if I had died . then it would have been murder. You saved her from that. She has been in the harem for several years. It is a terrible disgrace. She would kill herself if she could, I know. But enough of her. The Chief Eunuch will come as if to take her but he will take you instead. “

  “But she will be left here.”

  “Naturally. He cannot take you both. But the trick will not be detected until you are well away. It is the Chief Eunuch’s job to find the women and Rani’s to look after them and prepare them for him. What the Pasha does not know he cannot miss.”

  “But what of Rani? She has taken such pains.”

  “Oh, she will be angry, but she knows she must not make trouble with the Chief Eunuch. It may be that Fatima will stay after all. On the other hand they might decide to send her away. So, who knows? You may be doing her another good turn. I do not know how it will work out, but that is not your affair. There will be a lot of chatter … much gossip … but these women are too interested in themselves to think long of others.

  It will pass. “

  “And if Fatima stays after all, what of you and Samir?”

  “Even Fatima learns lessons sometimes. If she stays, she will be meek, never fear.

  She has come too near to disaster to court it again. “

  “I hope she stays. I hope for Feisal’s sake.”

  “You forget she would have murdered my son … me too, if she had had the chance.”

  “I know. But she did it for love of her son.”

  “And for herself. She so much wants to be First Lady.”

  “You will be that, Nicole.”

  “I intend to be. My Samir will one day be Pasha of that I am determined. But the important thing now is to make our plan work. It will, of course. The Chief Eunuch will see to that.”

  “Oh, Nicole, I wish you could come with me.” She shook her head.

  “I would not. if I could. My life is now here. Years ago, before Samir came, it would have been different. I have felt all you feel now .

  but fate was too much for me. There was nothing I could do and now

  this is my life. Samir is to be the Pasha. That is what I want now more than anything. That is what I pray for. “

  “And I pray that you will succeed.”

  She nodded fiercely.

  “I intend to,” she said.

  “You may think I have impossible ambitions. But it did happen once .. some time ago.

  There was a girl like myself. Her name was Aimee Dubucq de Rivery. She came from Martinique, as I did, and was on her way home from her school in France. She was shipwrecked and sold into a Sultan’s harem.

  I read of her long ago and it has often seemed to me that I am reliving her story. I knew how she felt . how desperate at first until she became reconciled, how she sublimated everything to her son’s future. She succeeded and he became Sultan. You see, her fate is so like mine. She succeeded and so will I. “

  “You will, Nicole,” I said.

  “I know you will.”

  The day had come.

  Ever since her injury, Nicole had had a small room to herself, apart from the dormitory. The clothes I was to wear had been smuggled into this room on those occasions when the Chief Eunuch had come to see how she was progressing.

  I dressed in them and then I looked like any other woman who might be encountered in the streets. I was a little tall, it was true, but I suppose some could be found who were
my height.

  The Chief Eunuch arrived. He saw that I was ready. He said: “We must be careful. Follow me.” I went with him out of the room, taking one last farewell of Nicole. No one was about. He had given orders that everyone must stay in the dormitory and there must be no prying. No one was to see the departure of the disgraced member of the community.

  It was simpler than I had dared hope. We went towards

  the gates together. I lowered my head, as though in humiliated sorrow.

  A guard unlocked the gates and we passed through, the Chief Eunuch ahead, I a pace or two behind. The carriage was waiting. The Chief Eunuch pushed me in and hurriedly got in beside me. The driver immediately whipped up the horse and we drove away.

  We came to the road and drove on for some minutes. Then the carriage pulled up.

  I wondered what was happening. Surely I was not going to be put out here, so close to the Pasha’s domain? I was too bewildered at this stage to think clearly, but I was filled with apprehension at the notion.

  The Chief Eunuch got out of the carriage and at the same time the driver leaped down from his seat. The Chief Eunuch immediately took his place and the driver got into the carriage beside me.

  I thought I was dreaming.

  “Simon!” I whispered.

  He just put his arms round me and we clung together.

  In those moments I felt I had awakened from a long nightmare. Not only was I free of all the fears which had beset me since my capture, but Simon was here.

  I heard myself say: “You … too!”

  “Oh, Rosetta,” he whispered.

  “There is so much to be thankful for.”

  “When … ? How …?” I began.

  He replied: “We’ll talk later. For the time … this is enough.”

  “Where is he taking us?”

  “We’ll see. He is giving us a chance.”

  We did not speak further. We just clasped hands tightly as though we feared we might be separated.

  It was not yet dark and through the carriage window I recognized some of the landmarks I had noticed on my journey to the Pasha’s domain. I glimpsed the Castle of the Seven Towers, the mosques, the tumbledown wooden houses.

  I felt a great relief when we crossed the bridge which I knew separated the Turkish from the Christian part of the city. We were then on the north side of the Golden Horn.