AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The effort is not wasted on me, though I must warn you, there could be more danger in knowing.”
Lady Eleanor snorts. “I daresay we’ve been facing enough in ignorance.”
Cautious, he looks about, before nodding.
“It all goes back to a Burmese sapphire, the largest in the world, meant to be a gift for a King from one of his sons.”
Lady Eleanor smiles. “Greed.”
“Yes, and jealousy,” Bentwood adds. “This King had many wives.”
“Whatever for?” I ask.
Feigning innocence, he claims, “Because he failed to acquire one as lovely as you.”
“Pish!” I blush. “Well, go on then.”
“Apparently, when you have many wives, they have varying levels of importance.”
“Preposterous.”
Bentwood laughs. “You needn’t worry, Kat, I’ve no intention of having more than one wife, or any concubines.”
“Concubines?”
I’ve never heard the term. Bentwood hesitates.
“Women who are not wives but…”
“Courtesans,” Lady Eleanor explains. “Kept in seclusion in the royal palace.”
Of course. Bentwood’s expression is mirroring the time he caught me reading the Marquis de Sade. Priceless. Yet I’m the one blushing, again. Thankfully, he cuts off my thoughts.
“In this instance, the King’s favourite was a courtesan. His head wife became jealous and decided to discredit the woman.”
“Head wife?”
This really was a different world.
“Bentwood did say the King had more than one. I assume the first wife was the head wife,” Lady Eleanor guesses. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Bentwood acknowledges. “This head wife manages to steal the sapphire while the King is away, arranging to have it hidden in the concubine’s garments.”
“Oh, dear,” I exclaim, “the poor, unfortunate woman! No doubt thrust into her role without any say whatsoever. No matter what she does, she’s in trouble.”
“Rather like a lurid novel,” Lady Eleanor agrees.
I rather like lurid novels.
Bentwood wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“She escapes, Kat, no need to fret. The concubine’s man overheard the Queen and her accomplice and helped the concubine to escape.”
“Why didn’t she just go to the King?” Lady Eleanor asks.
“It appears they are not easily granted an audience. In any event, he was away, hunting. The damage would have been done. He’d probably never speak to her again, just wave his hand and she’d be executed. So she ran, without taking anything with her, going to the only place she thought safe. A place without connection to the court.”
“CeCe,” I whisper. “CeCe is at the heart of this.”
