Tears of Pearl Read Online Free PDF Page A

him to witness that. I’ll be along as soon as it’s finished.”
    “Of course,” I said. “Mr. Sutcliffe, would you come with us? It might comfort him to have you there as well.”
    “I shall be with him at every step. He won’t be alone in his sad journey.”
    When we arrived at the yal? , I plied Sir Richard with hot orange blossom water—white coffee, a beverage the cook who came with the house insisted was a panacea—while Mr. Sutcliffe sat beside him, a quiet partner in sorrow.
    “I wish I could offer you port,” I said, pouring another cup of the pale, steaming liquid. Port was my own preferred beverage. I’d first tried it merely to make a point. After dinner, ladies were supposed to be herded out of the dining room, leaving the gentlemen to their liquor, cigars, and, most important, conversation deemed inappropriate for the gentle ears of the fairer sex. Knowing full well this was just the sort of talk I’d love to hear, I’d decided, while in mourning for Philip, to refuse to be exiled to the drawing room at a dinner party of my own. The discourse on that occasion was sadly limited, as my male guests were, on the whole, stunned, but the port seduced me at once. And gradually, the gentlemen of my acquaintance came to accept my eccentricity and welcomed me for the after-dinner ritual.
    “I assure you, it makes no difference, Lady Emily,” Sir Richard said. “The choice of beverage at such a moment is wholly irrelevant. Everything is useless now.”
    “Don’t be hard on yourself,” Mr. Sutcliffe said. “It was too late for you to have done anything.”
    “Had I only known she was here!”
    “You couldn’t have,” his friend said. “The sultan himself wouldn’t have known who she was. After all these years, there probably wasn’t anything English left in her.”
    “She was my daughter, Theodore.”
    “I did not mean to offend. Only to say that even those close to her most likely had no idea of her heritage.”
    “They should have known! I had everyone in the empire on alert to find her.”
    “She was kidnapped, Richard,” Mr. Sutcliffe said. “Undoubtedly her assailants waited until the furor had died down to . . . sell her.”
    “It’s barbaric, all of it,” I said, relieved to see Colin enter the room and save me from saying more on the subject. He nodded to me and shook our guests’ hands.
    “I’ve been to the embassy and arranged for a message to be sent to your son at once,” he said, sitting across from Sir Richard. “He’s sure to come as quickly as possible.”
    “Thank you.” The older man placed the glass teacup on its bronze saucer. “Has there been an arrest?” Ottoman justice was swift. Even before we’d left the grounds of the palace, one of the eunuch guards from the harem had been fingered as the most likely suspect in the murder.
    “I’m afraid so,” Colin said. “He was standing sentry by her room—”
    “She wasn’t killed anywhere near her room,” I said.
    “Quite right.” He refused the cup of white coffee I offered him. “But that doesn’t seem to factor into the charges against him. He was responsible for her safety. She’s dead, and everyone seems to agree it’s his fault.”
    “But is there any evidence?” I asked.
    “None,” Colin replied.
    “He’ll be executed,” Sir Richard said. “And the brute who murdered my daughter will never be brought to justice.”
    “Now, now,” Mr. Sutcliffe said. “The guard may well be guilty. Don’t leap to conclusions. She shouldn’t have been able to leave the harem, correct? Who let her out? Possibly the same person who killed her?”
    “Sir Richard, are you quite certain it’s Ceyden?” I hated asking the question; my skin felt stinging hot. “You haven’t seen her since she was a child, and it’s possible that—”
    “There can be no doubt. All these years I’ve been here, in the same city, and never knew she was so close.” He closed his eyes, rubbed a hand hard over