Mistress Below Deck

by Helen Dickson

  He laughed. ‘One wife is sufficient for any man.’

  ‘So,’ she said, falling into step beside him as they strolled along the garden paths, ‘has your day been productive?’

  ‘I’ve spent my time chasing up the Dey’s scribes and gaining permission to see the register of captives who have been brought to Algiers recently.’

  She looked at him, eyeing him with concern as he frowned distractedly. ‘What is it that makes you look so grim? Did you find anything out about Jane?’ His expression tightened and a cold shiver of fear travelled down her spine. ‘You know where she is, don’t you?’ Coming to a halt, she took his arm and forced him to look at her, her eyes intense. ‘Don’t lie to me, Tobias, and don’t hold anything back. Was she brought here? Has she been sold.’

  ‘I did find her name in the register—and, yes, Rowena, she has been sold.’

  Rowena raised her head and looked at him, her lovely mouth pinched and drawn. ‘Then whoever has bought her—will he take her for his wife?’

  ‘Not unless she converts to Islam.’

  Rowena stared at him. ‘Do you mean she would have to renounce Christianity?’

  Tobias nodded. ‘That is the only way.’

  ‘Then to get her to comply would have to be under duress. Jane is a devout Christian. She would never willingly forsake her faith.’ She shook her head slowly as realisation of what this would mean to her gentle sister became clear. ‘To do so would be a source of shame. She would be despised by Christians, and yet if she doesn’t I believe she will be severely punished until she is constrained to submit. That will happen, won’t it, Tobias?’

  In this instance Tobias would prefer that Rowena did not know the truth of what happened to female captives who were taken into rich men’s harems and forcibly converted to Islam, afterwards having the dubious honour of indulging their master’s sexual whims.

  ‘Jane will be made to convert. You asked me not to hold anything back from you, Rowena, to be honest, so there you have it.’

  ‘They may force her, but she will never give up the consent of her heart. Where is she? Is she here in Algiers?’

  ‘She is being taken to Meknes. She was bought by one of Sultan Moulay Ismail’s agents by the name of Suleiman—a top dealer in white slaves who prides himself on his merchandise. He buys girls of excellent quality for the sultan’s large and prestigious harem, where women and children live in cloistered isolation.’

  Rowena glanced at him sharply. ‘This sultan? Who is he?’

  ‘Ismail Moulay is the Sultan of Morocco—a very powerful man.’

  ‘Tell me about him? He sounds very important. Is he a good man—or a man to be feared?’

  ‘Unfortunately it is the latter. He is a cold-hearted despot who demands absolute deference from his subjects. He is unpredictable, dangerous and utterly ruthless—a man to be avoided at all costs.’

  The clear blue-green eyes anxiously questioned. ‘Where is this place he is taking her to?’

  ‘Meknes is the imperial capital—approximately five hundred miles away from Algiers by land. The sultan’s palace, which resembles an impregnable fortress, has been constructed on a grand scale, built entirely by Christian slave labour—the like of which you cannot possibly imagine. It is a huge complex of luxury that is said to outshine King Louis’s Palace of Versailles, yet designed to withstand the mightiest armies and is protected by the black imperial guard, who are well drilled, vicious and ready to attack anyone.’

  ‘Was there any talk of a ransom?’

  ‘No. Jane was quite outstanding and caused quite a stir among the potential buyers. Some of the other females were plain and lacked grace, but your sister sold for a fine price. She was the central jewel of the whole auction, according to the scribe.’

  Rowena’s rage came to the fore. ‘How dare they treat her like a cow at an auction? How dare they? At least we know where she is being taken, and, now we know, I will follow her and speak to her and hopefully take her home.’

  Tobias’s face darkened. ‘It is not that simple, Rowena. When she reaches Meknes and is installed into the sultan’s harem, then to so much as glimpse inside would cost you your life. No one but the sultan himself and his eunuchs are allowed into the inner sanctum.’

  What Tobias told her snuffed out the joy Rowena felt on being close to her sister. Despite the heat, she felt the ice move in her veins. Something inside her lurched in terror of what she didn’t know, for surely the worst had happened. ‘But he cannot keep her locked up for ever. There must be something we can do to reach her.’

  ‘Once she is in the harem, there will be little we can do.’

  ‘But—there has to be. I cannot go back without her. You know I cannot,’ she cried in desperation. ‘I could not leave Jane.’

  ‘You may have no choice, Rowena.’ Tobias knew the pain that was in her heart—he could feel it almost as a tangible thing.

  ‘That is not true.’ Her voice rose and she stepped back from him, her eyes filled with horror. ‘There has to be some way of getting her out. I will go there and see this place for myself if necessary. I will speak to the sultan and ask for her to be set at ransom and freed.’

  ‘It’s impossible. There will be risks I don’t want to expose you to.’

  ‘I’m not afraid of danger. Nothing can frighten me.’

  Tobias caught the spark that ignited her blue-green eyes and the temper behind them. He combed his fingers through his hair in frustration, knowing that nothing he could say would deter her from seeking out her sister.

  ‘Dear Lord, Rowena, you never cease to amaze me. You are so headstrong, so strong willed and full of your own invincibility that you are willing to put yourself in danger.’

  ‘I will do anything.’

  ‘You’re deceiving yourself. What will you do? How can you imagine going to Meknes to get Jane back? You wouldn’t get anywhere near her. Be realistic, Rowena. You are doomed if anyone recognises you as a Christian. Your head would soon be used to decorate the walls of the sultan’s imperial palace and your body thrown to the lions.’

  Rowena began pacing rapidly up and down; as her thoughts grew wilder, so her steps accelerated. ‘I will not go home without her. Even if it means working as a slave, under the lash, even if I have to undergo torture,’ she uttered fiercely, loudly, ‘I shall go there myself and seek her out.’

  ‘Stop it, Rowena,’ Tobias retorted sternly. ‘You are being irrational. If you want to go there, it would be as well not to shout it from the roof tops.’

  Overwhelmed by the terrible feeling of defeat and helplessness creeping over her, Rowena stared at the sea below. She realised suddenly, from the anguish that clawed at her heart, just how close and yet how far removed she was from Jane, even now—more so, because without Tobias she did not have the strength to go to Meknes alone, and if she did succeed, she did not have the means to negotiate a ransom.

  Turning from him, she clenched her hands by her sides and closed her eyes so that he would not see the tears that started into them. How could she bear this, knowing that—that devil would soon have Jane at his mercy, that he would take her good, gentle, innocent, beloved sister to be used for his sordid pleasure? She felt sickened at the thought of Jane in the hands of a monster like that.

  When Tobias had brought her to this house, like most English people she had very little understanding about Islam, and she’d felt a strange fascination about the Islamic culture. But now she was beginning to see beneath the surface of the frightening world of Barbary, a cruel, dark and sadistic world, and she longed to see the back of it.

  Chapter Seven

  ‘No matter where she is, I shall go to her. I shall go to the den of that evil creature who has her.’

  Tobias could see that Rowena’s nerves were strung tightly and that any more strain might cause her to snap and send her over the edge into hysteria. She had not for one moment believed that her venture to get Jane back would fail, until now, and she could not accept
it. For a moment he hesitated. Then he reached out and grasped her shoulders, pulling her round to face him. The sight of her wet cheeks sent a physical pain through his heart and made him speak with more violence than he had intended.

  ‘Don’t be a fool, Rowena. Do you imagine for one moment that you will get through the sultan’s guards and come out alive with Jane? It simply is not possible.’

  ‘Are you saying that she might be lost to us?’ she cried, shrugging his hands away and stepping back.

  ‘Tragically that is precisely what I am saying.’

  ‘No,’ she cried. ‘I will not accept that—not ever.’

  ‘For God’s sake, Rowena, be realistic.’

  ‘Realistic?’ she flared, her eyes wide with anger. ‘You dare say that to me? I have been nothing but realistic since the day I learned that Jane was taken from that wretched boat. If that beast harms one hair of my sister’s head, I swear by my mother’s memory that nothing will keep him from my vengeance. I will kill him with my bare hands even if I die for it. One way or another I will go to Meknes, Tobias, so don’t you try to stop me.’

  Tobias flinched before the cold fury in those glittering eyes and the pallor on that lovely face, the anguish so clearly marked. But when Suleiman reached the sultan’s palace and Jane was installed into the harem, he had to make Rowena see the futility of what she still hoped for. His face hardened with his resolve.

  ‘You will not go to Meknes. I forbid it.’

  Recoiling as though he had struck her, she stared at him wide-eyed, as though seeing him for the first time. He was a towering, masculine presence. Never had he looked so tall, so handsome—or so inflexible.

  ‘You forbid it?’ she gasped. ‘You, of all people, cannot forbid me to do anything. Go to hell, Tobias Searle. I would never have set out on this mad journey if I’d thought I would have to admit defeat. You promised you would help me. You promised. I might have known you would renege on your word. I should have known better than to lay my trust in a man who would hound a cripple for an unpaid debt. Have you so little honour that you would do that?’

  With a haughty toss of her head, turning on her heel she stalked up the path, away from him. She did not see the way his rigid shoulders bunched, nor the way his hands clenched into fists, for her whole body was rising in revolt against this monstrous place that no longer held any appeal to her, where people were held as slaves, thrashed and worked until they died.

  Anger blazed up in Tobias; heedless that there might be watching eyes, he strode after her, and, grasping her shoulders, jerked her round to face him so that he towered above her with all his great strength, his face white and his expression hard and implacable.

  Never had Rowena seen so much rage, so much fury, in any man. He had a way of wiping all expression from his face when he wished and, as she looked at him, she had no idea what he was thinking. She soon found out. He had been angry a moment ago, but now he was incandescent and she knew she had gone too far. But it was not in her nature to draw back. She tensed to meet his wrath as his face was thrust into hers.

  ‘Honour, you say? Aye, Rowena, I have it.’ His eyes were brittle. ‘I have more honour than the man who set fire to my ship and burnt the crew while they slept—the same man who has continued to elude me these past four years. He is the one who must be reckoned with.’

  ‘What are you saying?’

  He laughed shortly. ‘Mason knows what happened on the night your father was shot. Let him tell you. Or you can ask some of the witnesses who were present that night. I don’t need to defend myself to you or anyone else.’ His eyes glowed in the dim light and he gave her a lazy smile. ‘I never claimed to be an innocent, Rowena, but neither am I your black-hearted villain.’

  His words brought Rowena up sharp and for a moment she simply stared at him, before recollecting herself. ‘Whatever the truth of what happened on Antigua, that is not what this is about. It is about Jane, and I will not be dictated to by you.’ Rigid with fury, turbulent tears streaming down her cheeks, she glared at him. His smile vanished and his eyes narrowed and began to glitter dangerously. She did not flinch beneath the barely concealed menace.

  ‘You dare say that to me?’ he flung at her. ‘Are you not forgetting something? You should be on your knees in gratitude for my forbearance and mercy. When I found you on my ship I could have turned it around and taken you back to your father at any time. It was never too late.’

  ‘But instead you took me along, intending to abandon me at the first obstacle that arose.’

  ‘Believe me, Rowena, the sultan is not an obstacle. He is much more than that. But enough of this.’ His voice was hard, flat and biting. He had his own knowledge of the sultan and the situation and he didn’t hold out much hope for getting Jane back once she was in his harem, but somehow he must rebuild Rowena’s self-esteem, and relax those vibrating nerves. With an effort he restrained the urge to move closer, and put every ounce of conviction he could muster into his voice as he said, ‘You are upset—rightly so—but listen to what I say and try to think about it rationally. I am sorry about Jane, and I will seriously consider the situation. If there is anything to be done to get her back I will do it, but whatever we do, you must calm yourself. No young girl’s wiles will see you safe from Moulay Ismail.’

  Rowena stepped back. Fear rose within her, not of him but of herself, for in spite of her cruel, accusing words about her father, she wanted him to help her in this more than anything. But she realised exactly what she was asking of him. To go to Meknes he would be placing not only himself, but others he would have to take with him in danger. Little wonder he was concerned and reluctant to do it. Wrapping her arms round her waist and drawing herself upright, she gulped down her tears and nodded.

  ‘Yes—you are right. Does—does that mean you will not abandon Jane?’ she asked hesitantly, hardly daring to hope.

  He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Perhaps.’ He eyed her blandly. There were lines in the corners of his mouth, but his gaze was steady.

  Rowena looked at him, conscious as always of an unwitting excitement. Feeling the heat in her cheeks, she averted her eyes. Then looking back, she met his look with a little frown, her body taut, every muscle stretched against the invisible pull between them.

  ‘I’m sorry, Tobias. I do appreciate everything you have done for me—even though it may not look like it.’

  His smile swept for a brief instant across his face, but there was a world of warmth in the blue eyes that had seen so many storms, so many days of gazing in the sun and wind and the sky from a heaving deck. He had told her to be rational and realistic, and yet how could he expect her to be wise at her age?

  ‘Your apology is accepted. To abandon Jane would be to abandon you, Rowena, and I will not do that. I would like to be your friend to my last breath, so I am obliged to help you. If it is in my power, I will free your sister.’

  ‘You will? Thank you,’ she whispered, her anger draining from her.

  ‘Besides,’ he murmured, his hands closing round her upper arms and drawing her close, his cool manner now ripped away, ‘we made a bargain, you and I. You have not forgotten?’

  ‘How can I, when you constantly remind me? It would no longer stand if we do not find Jane.’

  His face was in the shadows, but his eyes seemed to glow, laughing at her, gently mocking her. ‘Listen well, Rowena. If our mission fails, one way or another I will see it out. I promise you that.’

  ‘I don’t work like that, Tobias. No Jane, no deal. That is the arrangement we made.’

  He smiled assuredly, bringing her closer to his chest, his arms going around her and tightening. ‘We have a long way to go. Whether we succeed in freeing Jane or not, I shall have my night of love. I promise you that.’

  In the next instant his lips were on hers and his fiery kiss warmed her to the core of her being. All her restraints broke as she felt again the fierce thrill of being in his arms. He kissed her with ardour and passion and she could think of nothin
g but the exciting urgency of his mouth and the warmth of his breath and the feel of his strong muscled legs against her own.

  When Tobias felt her melt against him, with iron control he released her lips and straightened his body, and through the haze of heated passion, Rowena was aware of his strong, surprisingly gentle hands trailing down her back. Beneath the fine fabric of her clothes, her skin felt the warmth of them. That one kiss had been too much and too little, leaving her hungering and aching for more.

  Ever since the day of their interlude on the beach something new and miraculous had sprung up between them, growing like a tender shoot into some as yet unknown and lovely flower. There had been no repeat of the intimacy, but everything between them had changed. Slowly but surely she knew they were both lowering their guard. But she would have to be careful and even though she would like to go on kissing him whenever the opportunity arose, she must not forget that as far as she was aware she was promised to another, a man her father approved of—Tobias Searle he did not.

  Recollecting herself, she looked up at him and he chuckled softly, his eyes holding hers in one long, compelling look.

  ‘Don’t look so aggrieved, Rowena. Your virtue is safe with me—for the time being.’

  ‘Safe?’ Tension rode heavily on her words. ‘Already you have taken too many liberties. When you are with me I feel as if there’s but one thought in your mind.’

  ‘Because that’s exactly how it is.’ The whisper came close to her ear as he smoothed her tumbled hair from her brow. ‘Of late, watching you has become my favourite pastime, and you don’t know how hard you make it for me to resist you.’

  ‘What do you suggest we do now?’

  ‘Go and change out of those clothes. I will take you back to the ship.’

  ‘And what then?’

  ‘We will go to Sale. Suleiman hopes to purchase more captives from ports along the way. If he has left for Meknes, then we will try to apprehend him. Time is of the essence. We must act quickly.’