by Penny Jordan
She gathered her thoughts hurriedly, aware that her stepfather was still awaiting her reply. Something about the look in his eyes made her lift her head proudly and say, 'Isn't it true that he's betrothed to some poor girl who has to accept him in marriage whether she wants to or not; some girl who's most probably kept in ignorance of her fate, and the manner in which her prospective husband conducts himself?'
'You would condemn a man purely on the conviction of one other, who is known to be envious of him?' her stepfather asked mildly. 'I had thought better of you, Danielle.'
'It wasn't just Philippe,' she retorted, resenting her stepfather's knack of making her feel guilty, especially when she had nothing to feel guilty for.
'Some friends of mine happened to mention him—quite by chance, they had no idea that knew him. They were telling me about a girl he'd
been involved with in Paris .'
Her stepfather made an abrupt disdainful gesture. 'A putain; a woman of the world who gives her body in return for gain . . .'
'It doesn't matter what she was,' Danielle protested hotly, 'she was still a person, a human being with feelings. If men were not prepared to buy then women wouldn't sell . . .'
It was plain that her stepfather did not agree with her.
'A man has needs,' he said frankly, 'and when he can slake them nowhere else he will queue in the market-place and buy water. Of course, it will not have the fresh sweetness of water from his own private oasis; it will taste brackish and perhaps not refresh, but it is still water. I had thought you more generous, Danielle, than to condemn a man purely because he indulges a perfectly natural appetite . . .'
Danielle turned away, suddenly close to tears. For all their love for one another she and her stepfather were miles apart. She sensed that were she to say to him, 'What of women's needs; is their "thirst" to be slaked in the same fashion?' he would have been honestly shocked and distressed. It was the old double standard, she told herself bitterly, but her sex wasn't merely enchained by what men expected of it, it was also enchained by its own emotions, for whereas a man could take merely out of need, a woman could rarely give without emotion, without giving something of herself. It isn't fair, she wanted to protest rebelliously, but instead she summoned all her powers of reasoning and logic and said calmly,
'Naturally any man could be forgiven one lapse, but from what I hear your nephew, far from restraining his "thirst" having slaked it once, encourages it to grow stronger. As I said before, I sincerely pity the poor girl who is destined to be his wife. Or one of his wives, I should say.'
'Then you would be wrong.' Her stepfather said coolly. Danielle thought she discerned a mix-ture of pain and admiration in his eyes, but over-riding both emotions was a determination which sent prickles of primitive awareness running along her body until the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck and along her arms rose as defensively as the prickles of a hedgehog.
'Jourdan can only take one wife. I assume you already know the story of his birth from Philippe, but what you obviously do not know is the promise I had to give his mother before I was allowed to take him from her—namely that he was to be brought up in the Christian religion. Even though she died several days after his birth, I adhered to that promise, and despite his prominence in Qu'Har my nephew is as Christian as you yourself, Danielle.'
Then all the more shame to him, Danielle wanted to cry, but for some reason her tongue seemed to have cleaved to the roof of her mouth. A curious sense of unreality enveloped her, a feel-ing of foreboding, intensified by the anxious look in her mother's eyes whenever they rested upon her.
'As my adopted daughter, you will one day be extremely wealthy,' Sheikh Hassan continued, completely changing the subject. 'We have never talked of this before because the subject has not
arisen . As you know, I am an extremely rich man, but I also own and control much family property which can only be passed down from father to son, from brother to brother, or uncle to nephew. There is no female right of inheritance. Were I to die my own private fortune would be divided between your mother and yourself, but my controlling interest in the oil company would go to either my older or my younger brother, since I have no sons of my own. The balance of power in Qu'Har is poised delicately between my brothers, both are intensely jealous of each other, and it sometimes takes the wisdom of Solomon to make them see reason, but were I to die and my share of the oil company not be willed away from them, civil war would surely break out in our small country, and thus would follow the destruction of everything my father, and myself after him, have striven for.
'In addition to this I must make provision for your own safety. On my death you will be very, very wealthy; you have had a sheltered upbringing and know little of men; it is my great fear that you might fall into the hands of one who will mistreat or abuse you, Danielle, purely through greed.'
He made her sound like an over-ripe fruit, Danielle thought half hysterically. Could he really believe she was so incapable of managing her own affairs?
'If you believe that, it might be kinder not to leave me anything at all,' she pointed out logically with a smile. 'In some ways I would rather you didn't. I should like to succeed on my own merits . . .'
Her stepfather's expression softened at the youthful words and earnest expression on the mobile face before him. She was too beautiful for her own good, this adopted daughter of his, with skin like milk and eyes as green as precious stones.
'You are a wise child, Danielle, who already sees the burdens of great wealth and will never abuse its privileges, but you have no need to worry, I have already made provision both for the protection of my controlling share of the oil company and you and the fortune you will one day own . . .' He looked at his wife, and a look seemed to pass between them; seeking on his part, and accepting on hers, but totally excluding Danielle Tension tightened her stomach muscles and a dread she could not understand washed over her like icy cold water.
'How?'
The word was a husky plea, mirrored, although she did not know it, by the expression in her eyes.
Her stepfather came to her and took both her hands in his, his eyes kind.
'There is nothing to fear, little dove. Jourdan knows what a pearl beyond price he is getting in the greatest treasure I own, and he will treat you accordingly . . . When you are his wife all this . . .'
Danielle reeled, hearing nothing more than those fateful words, 'When you are his wife . . .' She was the poor unsuspecting girl who was expected to marry Jourdan, and now she knew why.
'Danielle?'
It was her mother's voice, soft and anxious. She forced herself to fight off the faintness threatening to overwhelm her and respond to it.
'I'm fine,' her voice gathered strength, 'But I will not marry Jourdan. I'd rather starve!'
The moment the words left her mouth Danielle realised how childish they sounded; how prejudicial they were to her intended claim that she was old enough by far to decide the course of her own life.
'Mummy, surely you can understand?' she pleaded.
'Of course, darling,' her mother soothed, glancing anxiously towards her husband. 'But Hassan merely wants to do what is best for you.' She touched her daughter gently on the arm and smiled faintly. 'You know, Danny, you've had such a sheltered life that your father and I only wanted to protect you . . .'
'Oh, Mother1' Danielle sighed, unconsciously deliberately not using the more childish 'Mummy', 'you can't keep me wrapped in cotton wool for ever, you know—and besides, from what I've already heard of him marriage to Jourdan would be far from a bed of roses.'
You must take what Philippe Sancerre told you with a pinch of salt,' her stepfather said calmly. 'While I cannot attempt to speak for Jourdan's past, Danielle, like all men of good sense he knows that marriage is a serious business, and once married . . .'
'It doesn't matter how seriously he takes it,' Danielle interrupted swiftly, 'and it wouldn't alter my views in the slightest if we were talkin
g of some other man; personalities do not enter into my argument, I object to the principle of the arranged marriage, no matter how or why it arises. Oh, I know you have only my welfare at heart, but such a marriage is abhorrent and repugnant to me. I could no more agree to it than I could . . . fly!'
'I understand how you feel, darling,' hers mother said gently. 'Hassan, try to understand,' she appealed to her husband. 'Although Danielle has had a sheltered upbringing, she is not a Muslim girl trained from birth to accept male dominance and her role in life unquestioningly.'
'And nor should I wish her to be,' Danielle's stepfather agreed, smiling fondly at the downbent darkened head and rebelliously taut body of his stepdaughter.
'Then you accept that there can be no marriage between your nephew and myself?' Danielle asked him.
'If that is your wish, but I cannot pretend that I am not disappointed. It would have been a good marriage. Jourdan will have to be told, of course . . .'
'I'm sure he'll soon find someone else,' Danielle said grimly, remembering the girl Corinne had mentioned.
'When it becomes known in our family that he is not to marry you, he will lose face,' her stepfather said sombrely, 'but the fault is perhaps mine. I forgot that for all I consider you to be my daughter, you are not, as your mother does well to remind me, a daughter of the East . . .'
He looked so cast down that Danielle was moved to comfort him. 'I know you were trying to secure my future, but when I marry I want it to be to a man I can respect and share my life with, not a man who looks to me only to bear his children. Besides,' she added firmly, 'I'm not ready for marriage . . .'
For the second time in a very short span of hours her stepfather's wryly encompassing scrutiny of her slender, determined form filled her with embarrassment.
'Perhaps not yet,' he agreed. 'But the time is not far off... If you will not marry Jourdan, then will you at least visit my family as my emissary? As you know, I shall shortly have to go to America on business. Your mother will come with me, and it would please me greatly, Danielle, if you would use these weeks before you start college—if that is what you are determined to do— to show my family how beautiful and chaste a daughter I have.'
'You mean fly out to Qu'har?' Danielle asked. 'Oh, but I couldn't . . .' Couldn't live with complete strangers, was what she meant, strangers who disapproved of her mother and her marriage to their relative; strangers who included the man she had just refused to marry!
It was later when she was preparing for bed that her mother entered her room, so quietly that at first Danielle didn't hear her.
'Danielle,' her mother begged softly, sitting down on Danielle's bed, and watching her daughter brush the gleaming cloud of darkened curls clustering on her shoulders, 'please go to Qu'Har. It means so much to Hassan—far more than he has told you. You have compassion and imagination, surely you can understand how bitter has been his own lack of children, especially in view of his position? To claim you as his daughter albeit by marriage, is one of his greatest joys. Do not deny him the pleasure of showing you off to his family . . .'
'A family who don't want anything to do with us as long as Daddy continues to make money for them,' Danielle protested rebelliously, putting
down her brush and turning to face her mother. 'I can't do it. I can't pretend the way I would have to . . .'
'Not even for the sake of your father?' her mother prodded gently. 'It would be a compromise, Danny. I know Hassan mentioned that Jourdan will lose face over your refusal to marry him, but so will Hassan . . .'
Her sympathy aroused in spite of her own feelings, Danielle stared reluctantly at the floor, knowing what her mother was asking of her and
yet unwilling to commit herself to visiting Qu'Har.
'I can understand Daddy,' she said at last. 'But you . . . surely you knew that I would never agree to such a marriage?'
'I knew, but Hassan was so sure he was doing the right thing, so convinced that he was protecting you that only your own reaction could convince him. Having gained so much surely you can afford a little compromise now, darling?'
CHAPTER THREE
A little compromise took one a long, long way, Danielle thought ruefully, staring out of the window of the powerful jet—one of the twelve owned by Qu'Har Air. This jet, though, was special. It was the personal property of her step-father's family, and a courteous, deferential young man had been conscripted from his normal job in the oil company offices to accompany her to Qu'Har.
The whine of the high-powered engines changed abruptly, denoting the fact that they were nearing their destination. In spite of her resolution not to be, Danielle felt nervous. She smoothed the skirt of the silk two-piece she was wearing with fingers that trembled slightly. The silk was peacock green, highlighting her hair and flattering the golden tones the summer sun had given her skin. She eyed it ruefully. Never in all her holidays abroad had she ever tanned. When she had complained about it to a beautician the girl had chided her, telling her she ought to be grateful for having such a delicate English complexion and preserve it at all costs. The colour in it now was only as a result of slow and careful exposure over the entire length of a particularly good English summer, and her stepfather had told her that even though the worst of the humidity had passed the temperature in Qu'Har in August was very high, and would continue to be high throughout the duration of her stay. For this reason she had been careful to include in her packing a good supply of sunscreen, essential if her skin wasn't to get badly burned. The girl in the chemist had also suggested a new sunburn lotion which she had assured Danielle was extremely effective, and that too had been packed with her other cosmetics just in case.
What would her stepfather's family think of her? Although she assured herself that she couldn't care less, for his sake she knew that she hoped they would approve of her. Jourdan, thank goodness, would be in Paris , on business, or so she had been told, and she was grateful to her stepfather who she was sure had been responsible for this diplomatic move. It would have been awkward and embarrassing to have to meet the man who had so callously agreed to marry her, without even seeing her, and she was glad that she would not be called upon to do so.
The jet was descending; she glanced out of the window but could see nothing apart from dazzling blue sky. As she glanced back Danielle saw that her escort was watching her shyly, although he looked hurriedly away when he realised that she had observed his speculative glance. He was about her own age dressed expensively in a Western style suit, his black hair neatly groomed. He was, her stepfather had told her, the son of one of his cousins, in addition to being on the staff of the oil company. In Arab countries nepotism was obviously a virtue rather than a vice, and as the jet came to rest on the tarmac runway Danielle wished that she had had time to study the life style and customs of the people with whom she would be living, a little more thoroughly. What if tihe transgressed against some unknown rule and disgraced herself? Hassan's eldest brother's first wife would take her under his wing, her stepfather had told her, adding that she would like Jamaile, who had already brought up three daughters and had several grandchildren.
More grateful than she was prepared to admit for the presence of the shy young man at her side, Danielle descended the gangway. The staff were lined up at the bottom. The captain asked if she had enjoyed the flight. Although she had been accustomed to the respect people accorded wealth, she had never known the true meaning of the word 'deference' until she became a member of the Ahmed family, Danielle acknowledged; realising with a sudden startled shock that she was a member of that family, even if only by marriage.
That thought gave her the courage to walk calmly to the waiting limousine—no other words could describe the sleek black Mercedes parked prominently on the forecourt flying pennants which Danielle decided must reflect the status of her host and hostess. It was only just beginning lo dawn on her that she would be staying with Qu'Har's Royal Family, and the realisation intimidated her a little.
<
br /> The drive to the palace was completed in silence—an awed one on Danielle's part as she observed the number and variety of buildings being erected on either side of the main road. Beyond them stretched the vast emptiness of the desert broken only by the odd clump of palm trees, until suddenly, quite out of the blue, they came to a vast acreage of tunnel greenhouses, which she was told were part of a new scheme to decrease Qu'Har's dependence on imports from abroad.
'This and the new desalination plant just com-pleted on the coast are the result of Sheikh Hassan's wishes that our people share in the oil wealth of our country,' Danielle's escort told her proudly. And it was something to be proud of, Danielle acknowledged, observing the signs of technology all around her.
One particularly light airy building was pointed out to her as a new girls' school—a very daring innovation and one which had caused consider-able tension and high feeling until the country's religious leaders had given the ambitious scheme their approval. Even so, Danielle caught the hint of disapproval in the voice of her young escort.
'You don't approve of education for women?' she asked him directly.
Colour ran up under his dark skin. Danielle would have had to be blind to be unaware of the admiration in his dark eyes as they rested on her, but apart from being mildly flattered that such a handsome young man should so obviously find her attractive she didn't give the matter another thought.
'It is not the way of the East,' was the only diplomatic response she could get to her question, and sensing that he would prefer not to pursue a subject which obviously embarrassed him, Danielle turned instead to his family and in particular those members of it with whom she would be staying.
