The Captive

by Виктория Холт

  We went on for some little while before the carriage stopped abruptly and the Chief Eunuch descended from the driver’s seat. He signed for us to get out. He lifted his hand in a gesture which somehow signified that this was the end of his obligation.

  “We don’t know how to thank you,” said Simon in French.

  He nodded.

  “Embassy over there. Tall building. You see.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Go … go now. They may look for you.”

  Almost abruptly he climbed up into the driver’s seat.

  “Good luck,” he cried; and the carriage started back.

  Simon and I were alone in Constantinople.

  I felt a great elation. We were free . both of us. We only had to walk into the Embassy and tell our story and we should be kept in safety, our families informed of our whereabouts and then we should be sent home.

  I turned to Simon.

  “Can you … believe it!” I cried.

  “It’s hard to. I’ll take you to the Embassy. You’ll have to explain that you have escaped from a harem.”

  “It seems so incredible.”

  “They will believe you. They will know what goes on … particularly in the Turkish section.”

  “Let’s go, Simon. Let’s tell them. Soon … we’ll be on our way home.”

  He stood still and looked at me steadily.

  “I can’t go to the Embassy.”

  “What… ?”

  “Have you forgotten that I am escaping from English justice? They would send me back to . you can guess what. “

  I stared at him in dismay.

  “Do you mean you are going to stay here?”

  “Why not? For a while, perhaps, till I make plans. It’s as good a place as any for a fugitive from justice. But I think I shall try to make my way to Australia. I’ve had experience on a ship. I think that is the most likely place.”

  “Simon. I can’t go without you.”

  “Of course you can. You’ll be sensible … when you have thought about it.”

  “Oh no …”

  “Rosetta, I am going to take you to the Embassy right away. You’ll go in. You’ll explain. They’ll do everything possible to help you.

  They’ll get you home . soon. We were brought here to the Embassy for that purpose. “

  “For both of us,” I said.

  “Well, how were they to know that I could not take advantage of it?

  But you can. And you will be foolish beyond all reason not to . and without delay. In fact, I shall insist that you do. “

  “I could stay here with you. We’d find a way …”

  “Listen, Rosetta. We’ve had great good luck … the greatest in the world. You can’t turn your back on this chance now. It would be utter folly. We found valuable friends. Nicole for you, the Chief Eunuch for me. You were of service to her and I was lucky enough to strike up a friendship with him. Our cases were similar. It gave us something in common. He had been taken … the same as I was. We could talk in his language. When he knew that you and I were together, it seemed significant. He with the French girl … you with me. It gave us a fellow feeling. Don’t you see, it’s stupendous good fortune. We might have spent our lives in that place. You a slave girl at the Pasha’s command … me guarding the harem with the eunuchs … perhaps becoming one of them. It could have been like that, Rosetta. And we have escaped. Let us thank our guardian angels for taking such care of us. Now we have to make sure that it was not done for us in vain.”

  “I know. I know. But I can’t go without you, Simon.”

  He looked about us. We were close to a church, which, on closer inspection, proved to be an English one.

  There was a tablet on the wall. Simon drew me to it and we read that the church had been built as a dedication to those men who had fallen in the Crimean War.

  “Let’s go in,” said Simon.

  “There we can think and perhaps talk.”

  It was quiet in the church. Fortunately there was no one there. I should have looked incongruous in my Turkish garb. We sat in a pew near the door, ready to escape if necessary.

  “Now,” said Simon, ‘we have to be sensible. “

  “You keep saying that, but…”

  “It is so necessary to be.”

  “You can’t ask me to leave you, Simon.”

  “I shan’t forget you said that.”

  “It has been so long. I have wondered and wondered what was happening to you … and now that we are at last together…”

  “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 through.

  Then I would remember where I was and a feeling of relief would sweep over me . until I thought of Simon. How was he faring in that strange city? Had he been able to find a ship on which he could work his way to Australia? I supposed it was one of the best places he could go to in the circumstances. How could he survive? He was young and strong as well as resourceful. He would find a way. And one day when he was able to prove his innocence he would come home. Perhaps I should see him again and we could resume our friendship from where it had been cut off. He had hinted that he loved me. Did he mean in a special way or was it just that affection which naturally grows up between two people who had endured what we had together?

  Free to go home, back to the house in Bloomsbury. Or was the house still ours? What had happened to my parents? Were Mr. Dolland, Mrs. Harlow, Meg and Emily still in the kitchen? How could they be if my parents were not there? I had often pictured the scene, Mr. Dolland at the end of the table, his spectacles pushed up on to his forehead, telling them about the shipwreck. But if my parents had not returned, what would have happened to my friends in the kitchen?

  Sometimes life here seemed as uncertain as it had within the walls of the seraglio.

  The Ambassador asked me to go and see him one day, which I did. He was tall, dignified with a ceremonial manner. He was very kind and gentle to me, as was everyone at the Embassy.

  He said: “I have news. Some good … some bad. The good news is that your father survived the shipwreck. He is at his home now in Bloomsbury. The bad news is that

  your mother was lost at sea. Your father has been informed of your safety and looks forward to your homecoming. Mr. and Mrs. Deardon are going home in a few days when their leave falls due. It seems a good idea and would be most convenient-if you travelled with them.”

  I was only half listening. My mother dead! I tried hard to remember her but could only think of her absentminded smile when her eyes alighted on me.

  “Ah … the child …” and “This is our daughter, Rosetta. You will find her somewhat untutored, I fear.” I could remember Felicity on that occasion far more distinctly. And now my mother was dead. That cruel ocean had claimed her. I had always thought of her and my father together and I wondered what he was like without her.

  Mrs. Deardon came to me. She was a plump, comfortably cosy woman who talked continually, which I often found a relief as I had no wish to say much myself.

  “My dear,” she cried.

  “What an ordeal you have suffered. All you have been through! Never mind. Jack and I will look after you. We shall take ship from Constantinople to Marseilles and then travel through France to Calais. What a journey! I always dread it. But there it is.

  Needs must. But you do know that every minute you are getting nearer home. “

  She was the sort of woman who gives you a summary of her life in five minutes or so. I learned that Jack had always been in the Service, that he and she had gone to school together, married when they were both twenty, had two children, Jack Junior who was now in the Foreign Office, and Martin who was still at university. He would assuredly go into one of the Services. It was a family tradition.

  I could see that she was going to relieve me of making conversation and perhaps saying something I might regret. My great fear at this time was that I might be led into being indiscreet which would involve Simon. I must at all costs respect his desire for secrecy. I must remember that if his is whereabouts were betrayed he would be brought back to face a death sentence.

  In Mrs. Deardon’s company I went out to buy some clothes. We sat side by side in the carriage while she chattered all the time. She and Jack had been in Constantinople for three years.

  “What a place! I was thrilled when Jack first heard of the posting .. now I’d do anything to get out. I’d like a nice cosy place … Paris Rome … somewhere like that. Not too far from home. This place is miles away and so foreign. My dear, the customs! And what goes on on the Turkish side! Heaven alone knows, you’d have experience of that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. My dear, I know how you feel. Do forgive me. Look! You can see across the water to Scutari. That was very much in evidence during the Crimean War when wonderful, wonderful F
lorence Nightingale took out her nurses. I do believe they played a bigger part in the eventual victory than people know. We’re on the north side of the Golden Horn, dear. The other side is quite sinister. Oh, there I go again … we’re not far from Galata, that’s the merchants’ quarter … founded by the Genoese centuries ago. Jack will tell you all about that. He’s interested in that sort of thing. Mind you, the streets are incredibly noisy and dirty. Our people wouldn’t risk going there. We’re in the best neighbourhood Pera, you know. Most of the embassies are there … the legations and the consulates. There are some fine houses too.”

  While she was talking, I would go into a kind of dream. Pictures of the island would flash in and out of my mind . of going off with Simon, leaving Lucas to watch for a sail . and then the arrival of the galley. On and on . and I would come back to the question: Where is he now? What will become of him? Shall I ever know?

  “Now here is a very good tailor. Let’s see what he can do. We have to get you presentable for home.”

  Her discourse went on. The great charm about it was that she did not expect replies.

  It seemed a long time before we sailed from Constantinople. To board the ship much smaller than the Atlantic Star to gaze across the Bosphorus at historic Scutari, where our men had suffered so much in that hospital which from a distance looked like a Moorish Palace, to look back at the towers and minarets of Constantinople, was an emotional experience.

  Mr. Deardon was a tall man with greying hair and a somewhat dignified manner. He was the archetypal English diplomat rather aloof, giving the impression that nothing could ruffle his composure or break through his reserve.

  The journey to Marseilles was, as Mrs. Deardon had predicted, uncomfortable. The Apollo, being many times smaller than the Atlantic Star, took a battering from the rough seas as severe as I had previously suffered, and there were times when it seemed like a dream and that it was going to start again. If the Atlantic Star had succumbed to the fury of the storm, I wondered how the frail Apollo could survive.