Tears of Pearl Read Online Free PDF Page B

abandoned him. If you hadn’t been willing to pursue the investigation with such vigor, I’m quite certain I’d be swathed in mourning.
    I must confess that at present it feels as if I’ll never be able to leave your parents. Robert’s business still keeps him in town, and your mother refuses to let me return alone to our estate. I appreciate her generous concern, but must admit that confinement with her is like being violently tamed by an unstoppable force of nature. I do fear for you, Emily, when your own time comes. There’s not enough paper in England for me to list all she’s doing to ensure I have a boy, but I can tell you that I’m quite tired of having beef broth forced on me six times a day.
    Every corridor and nook in this house reminds me of the pleasant days you and I spent together as children. Just this morning I pried open that loose board in the solarium floor—the one we begged the butler not to have fixed—and found the box we’d hidden there long ago. Do you remember? In it there’s a copy of Candide, a badly written statement pertaining to the outrage we felt at not being allowed to pursue employment as pirates, and a splendid collection of small rocks. All things considered, I do believe we’ve done well to abandon our thoughts of pirating.
    Give Colin my best, and implore him to take care of you. I don’t want to hear any stories of you being embroiled in intrigue while you’re away.
    I am, your most devoted friend, etc.,
    Ivy Brandon

3
    “Madam?” Meg opened our bedroom door a few inches after knocking. “An urgent message has come for you from the palace.”
    I pulled myself away from the perfect comfort of Colin’s arms and sat up. The room was dark—tightly fit shutters keeping out the sun—and our silk quilted duvet and cotton blankets a perfect pool of soft warmth. The furniture, neither particularly Western nor Eastern, had simple, pleasing lines, and there were niches, lined with flower-painted tiles, cut out from the wall for candles on either side of the low mahogany bed. “The queen? Come in, Meg.”
    “No, madam. Not Buckingham Palace. Top—Top—Oh, I don’t know that I could ever figure out how to say it.” She shrugged and handed me an envelope heavy with the scent of lavender.
    “Topkap? Saray?.” I leaned back as Colin raised a mountain of bright silk-covered pillows against the headboard. “A place undoubtedly full of exotic treasures, Meg. I’d love to see it, and you would, too.”
    “Oh, madam, I’m not sure I’d want to go there. There’s a harem, you know. I might never come out.”
    “I shan’t let the sultan claim you, Meg,” Colin said. “Without you here, Emily might force me to do her hair.”
    “Thank you, sir.” Meg blushed, not looking at him, still embarrassed at finding him in my room. “Is there anything else you need?”
    “No. We’ll be down for breakfast in another hour or so,” Colin said. She dipped a curtsy and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
    “That long?” I kissed him. “What if I’m hungry before then?”
    “I’ll try to keep you distracted.”
    “You’d better.” I opened the envelope. “I can’t imagine the sultan using fragranced paper.”
    “I can’t imagine the sultan writing to a European woman.”
    “He’s very cultured,” I said. “And more Western than I’d expected. Surely you don’t doubt I could charm him?”
    “Quite the contrary. But though he may be cultured, he’s a difficult man. Extremely paranoid—won’t allow electricity in the city because when someone explained to him how it works, he mistook ‘dynamo’ for ‘dynamite.’ ”
    “Perhaps he’s overwhelmed. He is, after all, ruling an empire in an advanced state of decay—a situation that’s growing worse faster than expected. People accustomed to being in a position of strength often assume it will last. I often wonder about our own empire.”
    “Britain is not in a state of decay at the moment,”