The Sultan's Bride (15 page)

‘The last few weeks we’ve
spent time together and I have really enjoyed getting to know you and James so
with that in mind I came here this afternoon to ask your parents for your hand
in marriage.’  She gasped. It came as a surprise that he had done this,
despite suspecting that he had feelings for her but this was not expected.

‘I know there has been no
great romance between us and I know that you are not in love with me but after
all that you have gone through I’m offering you and James a home of your
own.  If we were to marry before I went away we could settle you in and
you could get used to the house while I was away and maybe even get used to
me.  It’s not a huge house but it has three bedrooms so there could be a
room for me, for you and one for James if you wanted to.’

‘You would not expect me to
share your bed?’ she asked curiously. 

‘I would not force you into
anything.  I think you have had enough of that in your life.  I see a
young woman who needs companionship and a father for her child and I think you
have already guessed that I’m in love with you.’

‘What if I can’t return your
feelings Richard, or you meet someone else who fell in love with you, what then?’

Reaching up he stroked her
cheek. ‘I knew from the moment I first saw you I never wanted anyone else
Catherine, everything I have is yours and I give it to you freely.’

His thumb wiped away a lone
tear that had rolled down her cheek.  ‘You love me that much?’ she
whispered, barely able to get the words out. 

‘I do love, and I will wait
as long as it takes for you to love me back.’

Dropping to one knee, he kept
her hand in his and kissed it gently.  ‘Catherine Stanton, will you do me
the very great honour of becoming my wife?’ 

Her head was spinning, and
despite her uncertainty she found herself nodding and the words came before she
even thought about it.  ‘Yes Richard, if you will have me, I will be your
wife.’

Everything flew by in a
whirl, at the end of the week they were to be married.  Peter Stanton was
most anxious to get the compensation bid underway and Richard was just as
anxious for Catherine to move into the house and get settled.

Two days before Catherine
went to Richard’s work place and asked to see him.  Shown into his offices
she sat nervously while he took her hand and kissed it. 

‘What is it Catherine?
 Not changed your mind I hope,’ he said anxiously, now stroking her hand
in his, hoping that she was still of a mind to marry him. 

‘I have not but I feel the
need to be completely honest with you,’ she said, ‘There was so much that
happened in the palace that I have not spoken of.’

‘It does not matter to me,’
he said, ‘
Your
past is your past and a lot of what
happened was not wanted by you, I know that much.  I also know you are a
good woman and a good mother to little James.  I know you don’t love me
the way I love you but I am hoping in time that will come.’

Tears welled up in her
eyes.  ‘I hope so too,’ she whispered, his show of kindness overwhelming
her.

The ceremony was private,
just the family and Mr Simpson in attendance.  Richard had no parents;
they had died several years before so Catherine and James were now his
family.  Catherine settled into Richard’s little house with ease. 
She loved having space of her own and he told her she could do whatever she
wanted to the place within reason.  He earned enough as a law clerk to support
them and while they weren’t rich by any means they wouldn’t want for anything.

James had been moved into the
bedroom at the top of the stairs so that he was easy to hear from the bottom
floor if he was asleep up there, with Catherine taking the bedroom between
James and Richard at the end of the hallway.

It was a satisfactory
arrangement for all of them, he doted on James and Catherine and the pair
slowly got used to living together, though at night in his lonely bed he
thought of her on the other side of the wall lying alone and wondered if she
thought of him.

All too soon it was time for
him to leave for the east and she
farewelled
him at
the dock with a chaste kiss on his cheek.  ‘Please tell me while you’re
away you’ll think of me,’ he said, ‘you will be in my thoughts.’ 

She hugged him tightly. ‘I
promise.  I do care so very much for you Richard and I will miss you.’

He looked into those big blue
eyes he loved so much and leaned down.  ‘Then I will give you something
more to think about.’  Touching her hair, he wrapped one of her curls he’d
been longing to touch around his finger and then taking her by surprise he
kissed her, his tongue seeking hers in a long drawn out kiss that took her
breath away.

Then he was gone, aboard the
ship that would take him to the land of her ex-lover and she put her fingers to
her lips, not wanting the feeling to go away.  She did care about him and
it pained her that she had not been able to open her heart to him.  The
sudden loss of her previous life had been a shock and dealing with being home
with her parents had been sometimes difficult.  It should have been the
easiest thing in the world to fall in love with him; he was handsome, kind and
was wonderful with James.  Living with him had been an easy adjustment to
make and she felt she had real freedom for the first time in her life.

It wasn’t until she got home
to an empty house that she realised just how much she would miss him. 
James had fallen asleep on the way home and she put him down for a nap, curling
up on the sofa in the living room with a book and wondering how she was really
going to cope with the quiet.

The evenings became the
worst, all her life she’d had people around her, first her parents, then the
bustle of the palace, then her parents again and James.  Although James
was company at only a few months old now he still slept a lot and she was glad
for Richard’s study which was full of books. 

Several times a week she
would have Richard’s friends call on her.  They had come around to the
little house for tea one morning when she asked, in the middle of a
conversation about their lives and what else had been happening.  Richard
had been gone for two weeks at this time and Catherine was missing his
presence, the house didn’t seem the same without him and the other women sensed
it.

‘Tell us about the Sultan’s
harem,’ Clare suddenly said.  Silence filled the room as the words they
all wanted to say but hadn’t, came out. 

‘What do you want to know
about it?’ Catherine asked, not wanting to spill too much detail about her
former life.  These women were her friends but English society was so very
different from what she had grown up with.

‘I only know what I read in
books,’ said Clare, ‘That the women all live together, away from men. But I’ve
heard…’ her voice dropped to a whisper as if she was trying to not be
overheard. ‘That they take care of each other’s needs as only one of them can
be with the Sultan at a time.’

Catherine nodded. ‘That does
happen.’

‘I knew it,’ Clare said
gasping, her eyes widened.

‘But how do they do that?’
asked Mary, ‘They don’t have the bits men do.’

With that the table exploded
into hysterical laughter and Catherine thought they were finished but it soon
became clear that they were waiting for her to volunteer the information. 
She took a deep breath, ‘They use fingers and tongues, the way men do and they
use objects usually made of wood, shaped like a man and smoothed to perfection
to slide…’  She blushed.  
‘Inside.’

She expected the women to
erupt into laughter but they all just stared at her.  She wondered if
she’d told them too much when Beth slyly said, ‘So, where do we get these…
objects from?’

Richard’s thoughts were
occupied with
Catherine,
the two months the trip had
taken to get to
Ajara
there had been nothing and no
one else on his mind.  He resolved that when he went home he would
convince her they should have a real marriage, she would share his bed and they
could start their own family. 

The captain of the ship had
teased him when he got on board as he’d seen the kiss they’d shared on the
dock.  ‘Nice looking woman you have there, I can see why you’d want to a
piece of that before you left.’ 

Richard looked at him,
raising an eyebrow. ‘That is my wife you are talking about.’  The man
sniggered and walked away.

The nights were the worst, at
least at home she was in the next room and he knew where she was, what she was
doing and that she was safe.  Now he felt so far from home and
alone.  Arriving in the palace he was greeted by Omar who showed him to
his room.

‘Excuse me,’ the man said,
‘You are here about Catherine?’ 

‘Yes,’ Richard said, ‘I am
here to claim monetary compensation for her kidnapping and the hell her parents
went through.’

Omar looked down, sadness
written all over his face. ‘I tried to help her,
Arif
wanted to run away when the Sultan had claimed her but they did not get very
far in their escape attempt.’  He chewed his bottom lip, clearly
struggling with the next question.  ‘What of Sarah?’ he finally asked, ‘Is
she well, did Peter make the money he wanted and give her a good life?’

‘You knew her parents?’
Richard asked. 

Omar nodded. ‘The Sultan
played with them but gave them so much in
supplies,
I
think he was trying to cover them for his planned kidnap of the daughter.’

‘They lost everything,’
Richard replied, ‘One of Richard’s business partners took everything while they
were involved in the search for Catherine.  They suffered every day until
she was returned to them thanks to the selfishness of the Sultan.’

Tears welled up in Omar’s
eyes and Richard felt sorry for his outburst.  ‘I apologise.  You are
not to blame and you clearly care about the family.  I just wish this had
not happened to any of them.’

Omar nodded. ‘I care about
them a great
deal,
I tried my best to take care of
Catherine while she was here.  I am so pleased she is back with her
mother.  Was the child’s birth without worry?’

‘She has a son, a beautiful
healthy boy named James,’ Richard said. 

‘James,’ Omar echoed, ‘
A
good English name.  Please, if there is anything I
can do for you while you are here you only
have
to
ask.’

He turned to leave. ‘She is
married to me now,’ Richard said suddenly, ‘I appreciate your care of her and
the attempt to get her home to her parents.’

Omar smiled. ‘I was only too
pleased to help, both mother and daughter meant a lot to me.  I am pleased
she is married to someone who is willing to fight for her.  
Arif
will make things very difficult for you while you are
here, he was not happy I helped return her to her parents.’

‘Understood,’ Richard said
with a nod, wondering for the first time if he was the best choice to be
negotiating the settlement.  Had Simpson been younger he would have no
doubt travelled himself but the fear he would find the journey too much was
great.

It was two more days before
Arif
sent for Richard.  Omar was right about
Arif
making things more difficult.  Richard hoped the
negotiations would be easy, the message they had received back had been that he
was open to talks so the delay frustrated him.

He also missed Catherine and
James terribly and this was not helping.  Omar had been back a few more
times to check on him and make sure he was comfortable but more than anything
he just wanted to get a deal finalised and get home to his family.

When
Arif
finally sent for him he was relieved. 
Arif
however was in a playful mood, he had come to realise why his father had been
so manipulative.  It was fun playing with people and now he was the
Sultan, anyone was a target.

‘So you are here to discuss
compensation for the lovely Catherine’s family,’
Arif
said, ‘She gave myself and my father many hours of pleasure, I am more than
happy to provide for them.’  Richard’s stomach tied up in knots and the
temptation to be rude was building but he held it in for Catherine’s sake.

‘I was thinking that there
should also be compensation for Catherine herself,’ Richard replied, ‘After all
she was deprived of a childhood with her parents and had no choice when it came
to marriage.’ 

Arif
nodded. ‘That is
fair,
I
will be generous to her and her child.  Tell me Richard Black, is she
well, is she happy?’

‘Both,’ Richard replied,
having already taken a dislike to the young Sultan, ‘She has a healthy child
and is happily married.’ 

Arif
looked surprised. ‘She has remarried, already? 
Her husband is a lucky man, her blood runs hot.  There are many here who
miss her in their beds.’

Richard glared and
Arif
laughed. ‘I think you are the husband? 
Congratulations, she is a wonderful woman and I’m sure as you’ve found out very
satisfying in the bedroom.’  The look on Richard’s face gave
Arif
all the ammunition he needed.  ‘
Ahhh
you have not taken her to your bed?’