Page 105 of Silver Angel

“I summed it up rather nicely, I thought. The problem was internal and has been taken care of. England can enjoy Jamil Reshid’s reign without further worry.”

“That’s putting it mildly. According to a report that arrived from Sir John just this morning, in the first few days of Reshid’s return to normal business, he granted us six concessions, two of which the French previously had exclusive rights to.”

“So he was a little grateful—”

“Don’t be so bloody modest. A little grateful? You must not have heard yet about the Barikahian ship that arrived a full week before you did. It was filled to the brim with exotic gifts for His Majesty, gems to put the crown jewels to shame, silks, brocades, parrots, ostriches, twolivepanthers—”

“A drop in the bucket, Marsh. He’s not exactly an impoverished ruler, you know.”

“That’s not even the half of it, Derek. There were also twenty female slaves—” At Derek’s burst of laughter, Marshall frowned. “Would you mind telling me what you find so amusing? It was a bloody embarrassment.”

“I don’t doubt it. So he found an excuse to weed out his harem after all.”

“His harem? They claimed to be from his household—but his harem? No wonder each of them possessed a personal fortune even a duke would envy. But doesn’t he realize—”

“Of course he does. He knew full well they would be set free.”

“Then why didn’t he just free them himself?”

“Come on, Marsh, you know that isn’t the way things are done over there. Slaves are given away quite frequently and for any number of reasons, but rarelyare they granted freedom without recompense. They’re just too valuable a commodity.”

“But in effect he freed them.”

“Yes, but in the guise of gratitude. There is a difference.” And then Derek grinned. “Besides, he probably thought I would appreciate the gesture.”Since I failed to do the weeding for him.

“Which brings us back to your modesty. You must have done something more than simply point him in the right direction.”

“Not at all. They were getting nowhere by suspecting Selim. I might have turned suspicion elsewhere, but it was one of the Dey’s own concubines who discovered the true instigator of the plot.”

“So you claim. Chantelle Burke, by any chance?”

“I don’t recall giving any names in my report.”

“As uncooperative as ever.” Marshall sighed. “You’re just not going to tell me the whole of it, are you?”

“There’s nothing else to tell. England is happy. Barikah is happy. What more could you want?”

“A little honesty between friends,” Marshall grumbled.

Derek stared at him for a long, thoughtful moment; then he finally said, “He’s my brother.”

“Good God! That explains…no wonder…” Marshall cleared his throat, his expression almost comical in his embarrassment. “Sorry, old man, for being so bloody persistent. As you say, there’s nothing else to tell, is there? Shall we rejoin Caroline and your grandfather?”

Derek suppressed a grin. “By all means.”

But his own discomfort returned on finding Caroline alone in the drawing room, the Marquis obviously having deserted her, too. She was finishing a piece on the piano, a melancholy tune that didn’t suit her at all. It suited him, however, when he thought of how disturbed Chantelle had been during dinner and how stubbornly she had tried to hide it.

Of course he knew why, but there was very little he could do about it. He had her tucked in under his roof where he wanted her, and would do everything possible to keep her there. But Caroline thought of this as her second home, and she would be popping around more and more often as the wedding day approached. Meetings between the two would be unavoidable.

The music had ended and Marshall’s voice broke into his thoughts with a surprising “Rather off key, weren’t you, Lady Caroline?”

She stood up, smiling tightly. “I didn’t realize you were tone-deaf, Lord Fielding.”

“And I didn’t realize you were so unaccomplished at the piano.”

Caroline’s gasp was heard clear across the room. “How dare you!”

Marshall shrugged carelessly. “Just pointing out what everyone else is too polite to mention. You would have saved your music teacher a good deal of frustration, I imagine, if you had just told your father that you had no interest in learning the piano. But that wouldn’t do, would it? You’ve never made a decision on your own in your whole life.”